Frank, thank you for your comments about the usefulness of patient data in both paper and digital format. My family practice implemented its first simple administrative digital patient record in place for 7,500 patients in 1985. I moved to another practice in 1993 in order to accelerate the use of digital records, and to give patients copies of their records. We were quite rightly obliged to run parallel paper and digital records for clinical and legal reasons. Staff training in the use of the digital
systems takes time and I would recommend Pontefract and Wilson's paper:
Using electronic patient records: defining learning outcomes for undergraduate education *S K Pontefract, K Wilson
PMID: 30670000 PMCID PMC6341543
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6341543/
DOI: 10.1186/s12909-019-1466-5 <https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-019-1466-5>
Abstract
Background: Healthcare professionals are required to access, interpret and generate patient data in the digital environment, and use this information to deliver and optimise patient care. Healthcare students are rarely exposed to the technology, or given the opportunity to use this during their training, which can impact on the digital competence of the graduating workforce. In this study we set out to develop and define domains of competence and associated learning outcomes needed by healthcare graduates to commence working in a digital healthcare environment.
I would also recommend working with patients throughout the planning, commissioning, implementation, and auditing phases of the instantiation of digital records. Medical records soon come up against the needs for patient access, the search for and management of errors and omissions in records, and for the management of very sensitive data that patients do not want to be shared under any circumstances.
As a Data Protection Officer, I recommended compulsory testing and certification of personnel's data handling knowledge, skills, and attitudes before they could access and process personal digital health data. A stitch in time saves nine.
Richard Fitton
HIFA profile: Richard Fitton is a retired family doctor - GP. Professional interests: Health literacy, patient partnership of trust and implementation of healthcare with professionals, family and public involvement in the prevention of modern lifestyle diseases, patients using access to professional records to overcome confidentiality barriers to care, patients as part of the policing of the use of their patient data Email address: richardpeterfitton7 AT gmail.com