Standards and Regulations on Healthcare Administrators in Saudi Arabia

Therefore, if such information were to be released publicly, it could potentially cause the harm or embarrassment. Also, it would negatively impact the physician to patient trust, and patients will no longer share their private information with physicians (Asiri, 2013). In turn, the physicians will be limited regarding the data to work with and their capability to provide the best healthcare impeded. When there is an environment of trust between a patient and their doctor, the patient can speak freely to the doctor, and this helps the doctor to take better care of the patient as they have a better understanding of the condition. Healthcare providers, therefore, have the obligation of maintaining the privacy of health records of a patient and should never disclose the information unless the patient gives them consent to do so.

The purpose of the study was to look at privacy in Saudi Arabia regarding regulations, perceptions, awareness and technical controls in different sectors of the economy (Alsulaiman & Alrodhan, 2014). It highlights the privacy regulations from an international view whereby a lot of nations protect privacy in many ways starting from the constitution which protects individual privacy to the policies in place for the protection of information privacy. In the US, for instance, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act has established rules and regulations that ensure maintenance of confidentiality of health records in Electronic Health record systems (Alsulaiman & Alrodhan, 2014). In Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, there is no specific law for ensuring information privacy. However, through the ministry of Communication and Information Technology, the government have proposed an e-privacy statute to protect information like other countries.

The article concludes by proposing a way of improving on the issue of privacy in Saudi Arabia which I believe is required indeed. Summary of the Second Article Another article talks about the factors that hinder adoption electronic health record systems among nurses in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia (Mahalli, 2015). The article talks about how the electronic health record system is beneficial to the health sector but despite this fact many nurses in the eastern province are hesitant in adopting the system. The study took place in three government hospitals which used the same software for health records, and the findings were that the systems were either underutilized or in some cases not utilized at all (Mahalli, 2015). So what lead to this underutilization.

With some little training on IT, this will become relatively easy. The article talks about three governmental hospitals all of which do not utilize electronic health record systems. In my opinion this is a serious underutilization of resources which are very beneficial. Saudi Arabia hospitals ought to embrace these resources like the rest of the world. Summary of the Third Article The third article I will review is titled “Negative ethical behaviors in Saudi hospitals: How prevalent are they perceived to be?” discusses the prevalence of ethic violation particularly when it comes to patient autonomy, informed consent and breach of confidentiality (Fayez et al. Failure to do so may make patients to withhold information which would have been beneficial to their care.

Summary of the Fourth Article The next article is a study on data security and patient privacy when it comes to electronic health records (Mahfuth & Drus, 2016). It starts by stating how much there has been a development in Information Technology over the last couple of years even in healthcare. As such there the concept of e-health has been introduced which is composed of the electronic health records system. This electronic health records system consists of every information pertaining a patient like their biodata, diagnosis, etc. This is because, as per the other point presented in the article, these security concerns can be dealt with by putting in place strict security measures. The article presents benefits of electronic health record systems and I believe these benefits are worth adopting the system despite the security risks.

Another point presented is the challenge of setting up this system in developing countries but I believe efforts should be made to begin the process where possible. Summary of Last Article Another article titled “Health Information Privacy Laws and Policies: Do We Need More Policies in the Arab World?” written by Hanan Ahmed Asiri presents an argument on whether or not more policies are required to protect the privacy of health information (2013). In their article, the researcher discusses both sides of the argument but indicate that their stand is with the introduction of more policies. I will echo one point presented by the side that argued for these policies. Indeed, the more a patient knows that their information is kept private and confidentiality is maintained, the more willing they will be to open up to a doctor.

The counterargument presented that more privacy policies leads to limitation of speech and hence patients will withhold information is not adequate in my opinion. Another point contrasts this by saying that privacy policy makes the patient feel safe which I believe is a normal reaction of a human being. Conclusion In conclusion, the essay has presented many key points on the issue of medical privacy, autonomy and electronic health records in reference to several articles that have been summarized in the essay. A. , & Alrodhan, W. A. Information privacy status in Saudi Arabia. Computer and Information Science, 7(3), 102. , Baharoon, S. , Binsalih, S. , & Al Sayyari, A. Negative ethical behaviors in Saudi hospitals: How prevalent are they perceived to be?–Statement agreement study. Avicenna journal of medicine, 3(3), 57.