Disclaimer

This morning in class, sir Quimbo asked who among us used nicknames in their blogs. Guilty, I raised my hand. But I didn’t see any comments on my blogs. So then, it wasn’t me after all. Hehehe. I thought he was talking about me because Ina is my nickname; but since there are no comments on any of my posts, I guess I’m not guilty, after all. But I changed my last name to the hyphenated one anyway, for easier reference.

How important is it anyway to be accurately identified? In Health IT, I submit that it is very important. Health IT is a system that stores the medical information of patients on a computer. In theory, it should make healthcare more efficient. Orders for prescriptions and tests, as well as results of tests and physician’s notes are computerized. That would make it easier for health professionals to make decisions and give advice to patients. It could do away with testing for allergic reaction to drugs that need to be administered in no time, like in cases of emergency. And what about adverse reaction to substances that don’t register as allergy, like say, G6PD deficiency? It would surely be helpful if the doctors know what not to administer to a patient right off the bat.

But to any good thing, there’s always a catch. Unauthorized access and unauthorized use of information come to mind. And there’s also identity theft. Surely, no one would want to be billed for a procedure they didn’t have and didn’t even need in the first place. These issues once fixed might make Health IT a suitable system of health care. There is of course the reality of always finding a snag and building on it; and of always finding a way to fix and prevent the snag. This is one cycle someone using Health IT has to live with.