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Ethics and the Electronic Health Record in Dental School Clinics
Author(s) -
Cederberg Robert A.,
Valenza John A.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of dental education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1930-7837
pISSN - 0022-0337
DOI - 10.1002/j.0022-0337.2012.76.5.tb05292.x
Subject(s) - curriculum , medical education , health records , medicine , dental practice , dental education , ethical issues , electronic health record , family medicine , psychology , dentistry , health care , engineering ethics , political science , engineering , pedagogy , law
Electronic health records (EHRs) are a major development in the practice of dentistry, and dental schools and dental curricula have benefitted from this technology. Patient data entry, storage, retrieval, transmission, and archiving have been streamlined, and the potential for teledentistry and improvement in epidemiological research is beginning to be realized. However, maintaining patient health information in an electronic form has also changed the environment in dental education, setting up potential ethical dilemmas for students and faculty members. The purpose of this article is to explore some of the ethical issues related to EHRs, the advantages and concerns related to the use of computers in the dental operatory, the impact of the EHR on the doctor‐patient relationship, the introduction of web‐based EHRs, the link between technology and ethics, and potential solutions for the management of ethical concerns related to EHRs in dental schools.