In the aftermath of the controversy sorrounding the treatment provided by Apollo Hospitals at Delhi to the late former Cabinet Minister, Mr Kumaramangalam, the accountability of the medical professionals has been brought into sharp focus. This debate on the limits upto which the medical professional is responsible for his judgements will further accentuate as the Medical Insurance Industry develops in India. If not the individual, the insurance industries would expect and try to force a higher degree of standards in medical practice.

In the light of this general trend, progressive Medical Practitioners and Hospitals who are trying to use the developments of Information Technology to improve the standards of medical service would also have to watch their backs, lest they may be let down by the technology. Apollo is one institution which is reported to have already instituted a system whereby diagnostic reports and patient records are transmitted over a nwtwork and shared by experts. Internationally there has been reports of critical medical advice being sought by medical practitioners from experts through the internet even while a patient is being operated upon in a surgical unit.

Additionally, several reputed corporate entities are putting their reputation on the block through bold initiatives to run "Health Portals".

While such initiatives are welcome in the larger interest of the community, it is extremely important for the medical community to realise that there are "Security Issues" they should be concerned with and the consequential legal liabilities.

While the liability for "Wrong" or "Inefficient advice" may be attributed to the medical personnel involved, there is a danger of these people being victimised by either a playful or criminally intentioned hackers who can intercept and alter the critical information that may be floating around.

Imagine the possibility of an e-mail interceptor changing the dosage of a drug or the drug itself while the doctors prescription is being transmitted on the net. Or let's say that the patient's records in the hospital database is tampered with to mislead the doctor attending on him. While this may sound to be fiction at this point of time, one cannot rule out the possibilities of well planned murder conspiracies to executed by the misuse of technology.

The medical community should therefore address this issue of ensuring "Security" in communication and storage of information besides the normal risks of technology failures at crucial times.

In India, the legal framework is yet to be established to meet these emering needs. It is however in the interest of the medicl community that they should through appropriate industry fora address this issue and develop norms which may later be converted to law. If they don't take pro-active steps, the legislators may in their anxiety to "Do some thing", rush into formulating "Tele-Medicine Practice Laws" which may be imperfect and dangerous.

I therefore urge medical practitioners to start thinking on the needs of "Security Issues in Modern Medical Practices". naavi.org would be happy to provide assistance to the medical community in this regard to the extent feasible.

Naavi

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