Informatics: Electronic Health Records: A Boon or Privacy Nightmare?

The article explores the advantages and disadvantages of electronic health records (EHR) in the U.S. Electronic record systems have an audit trail, which is required by the privacy regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Under the provisions of HIPPA, people had the right to ask for an accounting of disclosures of medical information for a period of six years prior to the date of the request. However, the legislation remained unclear on defining the responsibilities of business associates.