Ethical issues in electronic health records: A general overview

Electronic health record (EHR) is increasingly being implemented in many developing countries. It is the need of the hour because it improves the quality of health care and is also cost-effective. Technologies can introduce some hazards hence safety of information in the system is a real challenge. Recent news of security breaches has put a question mark on this system. Despite its increased usefulness, and increasing enthusiasm in its adoption, not much attention is being paid to the ethical issues that might arise. Securing EHR with an encrypted password is a probable option. The purpose of this article is to discuss the various ethical issues arising in the use of the EHRs and their possible solutions.