Colleague Post Response Legal and Ethical Implications

RESPONSE

Response (Legal and Ethical Implications)

Latoya E

My colleague in this case opted to focus on the utilization of personal communication devices (PCDs) in the healthcare realm. PCDs, as McBride and LeVasseur (2017) point out, could be inclusive of, but they are not limited to tablet computers and smartphones owned by healthcare staff. It would be prudent to note that although the utilization of PCDs has been associated with a number of benefits in as far as the further promotion of efficiency and achievement of better coordination is concerned, there are a number of concerns – on the ethical and legal front – that practitioners ought to be aware of on this front. This, according to my colleague, is more so the case when it comes to privacy and confidentiality. This is an assertion further reinforced by Bromwich and Bromwich (2016), who are categorical that “risks associated with the use of smart phones to produce and store medical images include privacy breaches, insecure data storage and physician or institution liability for failure to obtain patient consent” (856).

Gloria Asiamah Fosu

Yet another issue that could have legal and ethical repercussions – despite being associated with immense benefits in as far as the facilitation of healthcare and advancement of patient wellbeing is concerned – is telemedicine. Some of the key benefits of telemedicine, according to Rheuban and Krupinski (2017), are reduced cost of healthcare and increased access to healthcare services. However, as my colleague points out, concerns have been raised in the past regarding the maintenance of confidentiality and privacy in the course of deploying and utilizing telemedicine solutions. These concerns, and many others, have been outlined in past research studies. For instance, in a recent systematic review by Ftouni, Aljardali, Hamdanieh, Ftouni, and Salem (2022), the authors make an observation to the effect that although telemedicine was one of the most beneficial technologies deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the concerns revolving around its use were inclusive of “privacy, data confidentiality and reimbursement, physical examination and diagnostics, special populations challenges, training of healthcare providers and patients, doctor-patient relationship, and acceptability” (77).