[Ethics & Public Health Informatics (Propsal)]

by

Acknowledgement

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I, [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

Chapter 1: Introduction

Background of the study

Some of the early notable achievements in informatics occurred in the 1960s. The first version of the National Library of Medicine's MEDLARS/MEDLINE bibliographic database was released in 1963. In 1966, Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multiprogramming System was created in Octo Barnett's laboratory as one of the first systems designed specifically for hospital staff to interact with a clinical database. Several large companies such as IBM, 3M, and Hewlett-Packard created medical systems in the 1970s to 1990s with variable success. From 1982 to 1985, the Veterans Administration (VA) began a project to create a decentralized computer network throughout its hospital system, which in 1994 was renamed VistA (Veterans Health Information System and Technology Architecture). It is the current system used to integrate and manage all the clinical information systems throughout the VA network.

Problem Statement

Public health practice and research raise unique ethical dilemmas. In contrast to medicine, which is patient-centered, public health activities aim to protect and promote population health and must balance risks and benefits to individuals against those to communities or society as a whole. Students and practitioners of public health should recognize the ethical basis of public health activities and make decisions that are consistent with the underlying ethical values and norms of the field. Because key public health threats change over time, ethical values evolve, and multiple disciplines inform the efforts of public health activities, defining a distinctive ethical orientation or normative framework for public health is challenging. This entry aims to reflect areas of consensus that have emerged in recent literature.

Research Aims and Objectives

The aims and objectives of this study are to:

Access the use of technology in healthcare settings.

Address the ethical issues behind the public health informatics systems being implemented at healthcare institutions.

Significance of the Study

Much of the recent growth of the use of public health information systems and of legislation surrounding their implementation stems from two reports released by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) from 1999 to 2001. These reports catalyzed change in the medical community and brought clinical informatics to the forefront by identifying areas where modern medicine was failing to provide safe and effective care.

Rationale/ Nature of the study

Ethics, public policy, and law are overlapping sources of guidance for determining acceptable behavior for citizens, professionals, and government officials, allocating limited resources, and defining individual rights and responsibilities. Policies may be inconsistent or outmoded, they may not always reflect society's moral consensus, and they do not provide guidance for decision making in every ...