Hacking Of Nude Photos Demonstrates Risk Of Electronic Medical Records
By Dr. Brian McDonough, Medical Editor
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - There has been a great deal of attention paid to the hacking of nude photos of numerous celebrities and high profile athletes and their distribution on the Internet. While some are disgusted and others amused by this invasion of privacy, there is an even more disturbing problem that it highlights.
You have probably noticed that in the medical world your doctors and hospitals are rapidly turning to the use of electronic records and documentation. At this point the technology is quite crude compared to some of the devices that you may use in your own world in various industries and entertainment, but make no mistake - crude or not - the changes are coming with an ultimate goal of being able to have health professionals access medical records from the cloud and provide accurate, quality care.
This is a lofty goal and worth achieving but there is a fear that I have - one that I share with many others - what protections will be in place for your most intimate health secrets and who will hack the data?
Today we are dealing with nude photos on the internet and leaks of business-related documents. What about your personal health record? It is a serious concern.