Doctors: Benefits Outweigh Harm Of Patients Having Full Access To Medical Records
The authors of a new study say allowing patients total access to their medical records lets them find errors or request changes to their treatment. In other health IT news, people are turning to telemedicine for their mental health needs, and a robot is eliminating the need for invasive surgery in some cases.
Reuters:
Patient Can't Always Access Complete Medical Records, Doctors Say
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) gives U.S. patients the right to access their medical records and control who else has access to the information, physicians note in an essay in the Annals of Internal Medicine. But in reality, the contents of electronic records may be limited by doctors’ concerns about disputes with patients about what the records say, fear of malpractice litigation, and questions about how much information to give certain individuals like minors and people with mental illness, these physicians argue. (Rapaport, 5/23)
Bloomberg:
Telehealth Increasingly Used for Mental Health Care
The rapid growth of telehealth services for mental and behavioral care means employers should consider the rewards and risks associated with this delivery of health care, particularly when it comes to privacy and state laws. ... Telebehavioral counseling and other services are providing more and more people with the help they need by bringing the treatment to the privacy of an individual's home, eliminating the need to take time off from work and the fear of stigma, Wojcik said. (Douglas, 5/23)
McClatchy:
Hard To Swallow? Tiny Robot Will Perform Surgery Inside You
Swallowing a robot is normally cause for a trip to an emergency room to get that Transformer out of your 3-year-old. But instead of fishing this tiny robot out of your stomach, doctors are having you swallow it – on purpose. Scientists have created a tiny robot that can be swallowed and sent to retrieve objects that were errantly ingested. (Welsh, 5/23)
