Technology

Many people are very mindful when exposing their financial information. However, maybe it is more alarming for someone to know that hisher medical records are being accessed by someone he does not know. This is discussed in the article by Brian Wheeler entitled Who is looking at your medical records published on the BBC website. IT practitioners are being challenged on how they are going to make a system which will satisfy the needs of the medical practitioners as well as that of the patients.

Much like any other database, only a limited number of people are given access especially since data stored in the database is highly sensitive. It has already been established that the database will greatly help forward medical research however, the privacy of the people becomes an issue. The people working on the database can limit the access of researchers. It must be programmed in such a way that only the attending physician can gain access to a persons medical records in the database. Researchers should be given access to medical histories but identifying information such as name and address should not be made visible. Researchers should however be able to view demographic data such as age and gender since such information is important in a research design.

How the programmers will program the database will determine if the technology will succeed or fail. They must balance between what the industry needs while at the same time protecting the interest of the general public.