A recent news story from the last 12 months that I believe demonstrates the topics covered in this

course is from the article by Chicago Tribune, titled Advocate Condell Medical Center to pay
$5.5million over data breach: record HIPAA settlement. The settlement with the federal
government follows an investigation that began in 2013 when Advocate reported three separate
data breaches involving its physicianled medical group subsidiary, Advocate Medical Group.
The breaches involved the electronic health information of 4 million people, including medical
information names, credit card numbers and birthdays, etc (Schenecker 2016). The event
connects to the topics of this course because given the facts of current medical practicethe use
of the electronic medical record stored on networks, telemedicine, and information that routinely
crosses state linesfederal protection has become a necessity. In 1996, Congress passed the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). As part of our course goals, I will
by the end of the course understand the impact of information technology on privacy. As well as,
understand the relationship of privacy and security to health care and appreciate the importance
of electronic medical records. As stated, In July 2013, four unencrypted laptops with personal
health information were stolen from an administrative office in Park Ridge (Schenecker 2016).
If the laptops were somehow encrypted data breach would have been prevented. Radio frequency
Identification (RFID) tags as mentioned in chapter 1 is utilized to keep track of medical devices,
medications and of patients. The article also mentioned an unauthorized third party accessing the
network of an Advocate business associate, potentially comprising the information of more than
200,000 patients. As mentioned in Chapter 2, when data are sent over the Internet, they are
encrypted using software; that is, they are scrambled; the date can only be seen by someone with
a decryption key. But with that said, hackers are still able to gain entry and get passed the
encryption.
Burke, L., & Weill, B. (2013). Information technology for the health professions. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Schenecker, L. (2016, August 5). Advocate to pay $5.5 million over data breach: Record HIPAA
settlement. Retrieved August 26, 2016, from http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ctadvocate-settlement-privacy-0805-biz-20160804-story.html

HITECH is another law we want to pay attention to. What is HITECH and how
can we comply with it?
Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) is part of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), signed into law on February 17, 2009, by
President Barack Obama. HITECH encourages the meaningful use of electronic medical
records (Burke & Weill, 2008, p. 19) with $19 billion in incentives through Medicare and
Medicaid for doctors and hospitals to adopt them. HITECH seeks to improve American health
care delivery and patient care through an unprecedented investment in health information
technology. The provisions of the HITECH Act are specifically designed to work together to

provide the necessary assistance and technical support to providers, enable coordination and
alignment within and among states, establish connectivity to the public health community in case
of emergencies, and assure the workforce is properly trained and equipped to be meaningful
users of EHRs (Burke & Weill, 2008, p. 21).
In 2009, HITECH made significant changes to the privacy and security rules of HIPAA,
extending their reach and imposing breach notification requirements on HIPAA covered entities
and their business associates (Burke & Weill, 2008, p. 296). For the first time, all patients have
the right to see their medical records and request changes; patients will have some knowledge of
the use of their medical records and must be notified in writing of their providers privacy policy.
HIPAA gives patients more control over their medical information. Under the rule, medical
records must be supplied within 30 days of the patients request, and the patients are allowed to
review and copy their own records as they wish. Prior to HIPAA, many states did not give
patients the legal right to see their records. Additionally, the patient can request amendments be
made to their records if their appeal is justifiable. HIPAA gives patients more control over the
medical information. Under the rule, medical records must be supplied within 30 days of the
patients request, and the patients are allowed to review and copy their own records as they wish.
Prior to HIPAA, many states did not give patients the legal right to see their records.
Additionally, the patient can request amendments be made to their records if their appeal is
justifiable (Burke & Weill, 2008, p. 302).
Burke, L., & Weill, B. (2013). Information technology for the health professions (4th ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
HWK 1000 words
Identify two or three items from your review that are the most interesting to you, list them,
and sketch out why in preparation for producing your assignment submission.
From the syllabus,
Information technology is a growing field meaning it is here to stay for a very long time. After
reading the course syllabus and skimming the topics covered in this course by reading the Table
of Contents and all of the material before the first chapter and skimming the rest of the textbook,
I will be covering areas that are the most interesting and least interesting to me. Finally,
reflecting on the real world event I posted in the discussion forum.
Subsequently, when I first received the book Chapter 12 caught my attention. Here we learn how
to protect our privacy and the privacy of our patients when using network databases and internet
sites. This is very important to know since a lot of hospitals now use network databases enabling
providers to work from home or anywhere they want. My hospital, Kaiser Permanente provides
cellphones to providers with applications installed to let them access medical charts, labs, their
schedules, emails and etc anytime and anywhere. The patients are able to email their providers

and are usually able to receive a respond that same day making it very convenient for the patient.
The con of that is if the providers are connecting to Wi-Fi outside of our network how secure is
it, what measures have we implemented to make sure there will be no data breach? I want to
learn the terminology behind it and know what I am taking about when faced this dilemma.

Next, in Chapter 4 we discuss the role of the telenurse. This area interests me because one of my
many roles as a nurse in the OB/GYN clinic is assisting in the teletriage of patient calls. It starts
with a call from a worried female patient with a question to the nurse or their doctor. I then ask a
series of question based on their complaints to aid in the diagnosis and creation of an
intervention plan for the patient. I have heard good reviews of the VA telephone care program
offered at the VA in Mather AFB I worked at. Though I did not get to see it up close, patients
seem to like the immediate availability of an expert since it is a very arduous process to get an
appointment at the VA.
Another area I am looking forward to is Chapter 8 where we will be discussing the significance
of the Human Genome Project and its contributions to the understanding of genetic diseases. I
have been fascinated with the complexity of our genetic make-up. I have wanted to do a DNA
test just to see what it would tell me about myself. However, with so many companies available
it is hard to decide which one will be a good fit for me. I like the fact that it is open for the public
to read on the research and evidence based data the scientists from across the world have
gathered. It is a big library at our fingertips since the internet has made it possible to be shared.
Identify two or three items from your review that are the least interesting to you, list them,
and sketch out why in preparation for producing your assignment submission.
1. List the uses of computers in dental surgery.
2. Describe the emerging field of teledentistry
Module 7 Information Technology in Dentistry is one of those areas I find to be least
interesting to me simply because it does not relate to my career field. I love learning and it
seems to be a fun subject. I am open to learning something new and expanding and
challenging myself.
Reflect on the real world event you posted in the discussion forum(when it occurred, what
it was, why you believe it relates to what you will learn in this course.
A recent news story from the last 12 months that I believe demonstrates the topics covered in this
course is from the article by Chicago Tribune, titled Advocate Condell Medical Center to pay
$5.5million over data breach: record HIPAA settlement. The settlement with the federal
government follows an investigation that began in 2013 when Advocate reported three separate
data breaches involving its physicianled medical group subsidiary, Advocate Medical Group.

The breaches involved the electronic health information of 4 million people, including medical
information names, credit card numbers and birthdays, etc (Schenecker 2016). The event
connects to the topics of this course because given the facts of current medical practicethe use
of the electronic medical record stored on networks, telemedicine, and information that routinely
crosses state linesfederal protection has become a necessity. In 1996, Congress passed the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). As part of our course goals, I will
by the end of the course understand the impact of information technology on privacy. As well as,
understand the relationship of privacy and security to health care and appreciate the importance
of electronic medical records. As stated, In July 2013, four unencrypted laptops with personal
health information were stolen from an administrative office in Park Ridge (Schenecker 2016).
If the laptops were somehow encrypted data breach would have been prevented. Radio frequency
Identification (RFID) tags as mentioned in chapter 1 is utilized to keep track of medical devices,
medications and of patients. The article also mentioned an unauthorized third party accessing the
network of an Advocate business associate, potentially comprising the information of more than
200,000 patients. As mentioned in Chapter 2, when data are sent over the Internet, they are
encrypted using software; that is, they are scrambled; the date can only be seen by someone with
a decryption key. But with that said, hackers are still able to gain entry and get passed the
encryption.