Final answer:
HITECH deals with vital privacy issues such as the protection of electronic health records, balancing patient confidentiality with public health needs, and safeguarding online data against breaches. Legal frameworks like HIPAA and GINA provide some protection, but policies must continually adapt to technological changes.
Step-by-step explanation:
HITECH and Privacy Concerns
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act addresses several major issues related to the privacy of health records. A primary concern is the balance between the benefits of electronic health records (EHR) in improving treatment quality and efficiency against the risks to individual privacy. Developing policies must therefore consider the following:
- How to ensure that the privacy of electronic health records is protected while allowing for the necessary sharing of information among healthcare providers?
- What legal and ethical guidelines must be established to control access to and use of personal health data, especially in cases where there are conflicting interests between patient confidentiality and the need to inform others who may be at risk, such as sexual partners in the context of sexually transmitted diseases?
- How to manage and secure cyber data, particularly with the rise of large-scale data breaches that compromise online privacy and security?
Legal considerations, like those outlined in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), offer some measures for protecting health information. Nonetheless, the ongoing development of technology and the increasing sophistication of cyber threats necessitate constant evaluation and adaptation of privacy policies.