The Computer-Based Patient Record and Confidentiality

Abstract

In various ways computers can help people become more active participants in their own health care and that of family members, as emphasized earlier by Kassirer.¹ Computers can help people acquire medical information, interact with care givers, connect with support groups when illness strikes, and in some cases, carry out a treatment plan. Electronic linkage of patients and their families to support groups and medical libraries is well under way and is likely to increase in popularity as computers become standard equipment in the American home. Information bestows power, and making medical information more easily accessible is a way of . . .