...But How Will they Be Taught?

Jeff Byers, Senior Writer

It seems you can’t turn around without being asked to link one platform of your digital life to another platform. Whether it’s needing a Facebook account to join Spotify, allowing Twitter to post notifications through an iPhone or going through an Outlook website portal to access your professional email off-site, there’s a lot of personal data being thrown around out there.

Because the world wide web will only continue to be incorporated into our professional and personal lives, it’s imperative to be able to navigate between platforms. Otherwise, there are going to be mistakes. In some cases, the accidents are humorous and lead to an ultimate good cause. However, in healthcare, that luxury isn't afforded when patient care is on the line.

A recent article in Health Affairs addresses this noting that physicians need to learn health IT competency earlier to reach quality and cost containment goals. The call couldn’t come at a more opportune time.

In the past month alone, we’ve reported on personal data faux pas in Florida, Georgia, California and on the FTC releasing data security best practices. A report from HIMSS Analytics even states that human error remains the greatest threat to data security across the healthcare industry.

So how do we get from here to the ultimate in secure use of patient data? We’d love to hear how you’re tackling the issue.

Jeff Byers
Senior Writer, CMIO
jbyers@trimedmedia.com