The Health Information Professional In Ehealth:Ethical Considerations For An Interjuristical Setting

Issues such as privacy, security, quality, etc. have received considerable attention indiscussions of eHealth; however little attention has been paid to the fact that eHealth situateshealth information professionals (HIPs) in an ethical and legal context that differs importantlyfrom that of traditional health care. In traditional health care HIP services are pragmaticallyuseful but not inherently necessary; in eHealth, however, HIPs are not only the interfacebetween physicians and patients but the instrumental facilitators of eHealth itself. With this,their professional standing acquires a fiduciary parameter it did not have before, and oldermodels of the ethics of health information professionals are no longer wholly sufficient toprovide guidance. Matters are complicated further by the inter-jurisdictional parameters ofeHealth, which introduce dimensions that do not exist in the traditional intra-jurisdictionalsetting. This paper outlines the issues and sketches a possible approach for addressing thesituation.