EMR securuty

Switch To EHRs Raising Some Privacy Concerns.

I don't think the concerns below are warranted, really.  Paper is much less secure than electronic communications which can be password protected and given user level security. 

The Fort Worth Star Telegram (12/19, Branch) reports, "As the transition from paper to electronic medical records gains momentum, so have concerns that more confidential patient information will fall into the wrong hands. Privacy advocates warn that without proper safeguards, digital records could make large caches of personal medical data vulnerable to theft or improper use, such as discrimination by employers." Psychiatrist Dr. Deborah Peel, who is also the "founder of Austin-based Patient Privacy Rights and an outspoken critic of how digital records are being implemented," said, "The security issues are extreme. .. Some of these systems are very poorly protected, and you are going to have patients without control over who is looking at their health information."