Paper or Digital: Patient Records Jump in the Pool, or Do They?

July 22nd, 2009

By Anna Gueldenhaupt, Europe

We’re all aware of the potentials that electronic patient record (EPR) could bring to patients and clinicians and these kinds of systems are currently being implemented in healthcare across the developed world. By enabling the storing and sharing of health information electronically and online, a number of benefits could be achieved: enhanced clinical communication, reduced number of errors and more effective diagnosis and treatment. Additionally, it gives patients the control over their own healthcare.

However, enabling this access to this kind of sensitive data also carries with it new risks in privacy and security. In England, the National Programme for Information Technology (NPfIT), a 10-year programme that is aimed at implementing EPR systems across the country, has been running for seven years.

In an Ideal World
The idea behind the system is to convert billions of patient records from paper to digital to achieve:

• An electronic ‘choose and book’ system to give patients the ability to book, change and cancel their own hospital appointments
• An electronic prescription service that will link General Practitioners and pharmacists
• A new NHS broadband network and internal email system that will allow better communication between staff
• Near-instant access for clinicians to x-rays and scans.

In brief, it hopes to transform the NHS in England into the modern, computerised organisation everyone would like it to be.

The Real World
We know the broadband infrastructure is in place, but at huge costs to the NHS. Additionally, the ‘choose and book’ ability is working, but it’s not used in the primary or secondary care setting, while the electronic prescription service, once available, could prove extremely useful.

However, the main problem is that the National Electronic Health Record, the main purpose of the NPFiT will not be available for years, if at all. As far as I’m aware no other country has managed to connect up its healthcare system into a single digital system and implement a country-wide EPR system. Still, nor has England.  So, it comes as no huge surprise that the Conservative party has commissioned a review of the NPFiT programme, which could lead to abandonment of the programme with a new suggestion of storing data on the internet with companies such as Microsoft and / or Google. I believe this is cause for great concern.

Your Health Records in the Hands of Google or Microsoft?
From a personal perspective, I would feel a little uncomfortable if my health information was saved online with the likes of Microsoft or Google, where anyone clever enough could potentially hack into it. I’m aware that the proposed EPR systems are also now immune to these kinds of attacks. However, by putting my trust in the NHS in general, I also hope to be able to trust their IT systems. But do I really trust this over budget IT system that has been subject to delays, errors and looks unlikely to be finished in the next few years?

Entry Filed under: Healthcare IT