Ethical and Legal Considerations of Healthcare Informatics

Abstract

Internet, cloud computing, social networks and mobile technology, all facilitate information transfer. Healthcare professionals, physicians and patients can use informatic devices in order to simplify their access to medical information, to streamline testing, and to understand clinical results. The use of computers and software facilitate doctor-patient interactions by optimizing communication and information flow. However, digital interfaces also increase the risks that information specialists use information without fully complying with ethical principles and laws in force. Our premise is that these information specialists should: 1) be informed of the rights, duties, and responsibilities linked to their profession and laws in force; 2) have guidelines and ethical tutoring on what they need to do in order to avoid or prevent conflict or misconduct; 3) have renewed specific training on how to interpret and translate legal frameworks into internal rules and standards of good practice. The purpose of this paper was: 1) to familiarize professionals who work in healthcare informatics with the ethical and legal issues related to their work; 2) to provide information about codes of ethics and legal regulations concerning this specific area; 3) to summarize some risks linked to wrong or inadequate use of patient information, such as medical, genetic, or personal data.