What are the biggest challenges facing the NHS in going “paperless”?
Security
At the moment the NHS uses paper to store files and information about people. The
advantage of them using paper is that hackers will not be able to steal information from a
far, if they want that data they will have to break in and steal it physically. The disadvantage
of using paper is that it will not necessarily be easy to access for doctors, for example if you
go in for a check-up and another doctor has your file, the doctor that is seeing you might
turn you away and tell you to come back later. This could waste time and could prevent
diagnosing illnesses as quick as they could be, also reducing the productivity of the system.
If the NHS did go paperless, one of the challenges they would have to face is security.
Security is important as you only want the people who have knowledge in medicine to have
access to your personal files. An advantage to the files being stored digitally is that doctors
could have access to them from their computer, this is beneficial as they can bring up you
medical history quickly if need be. However a disadvantage to the NHS going paperless is
that they could be a keen target for hackers, for example if the NHS put all your personal
files onto a data base with poor security, it could leave them vulnerable to hackers getting
that data and using that information to take advantage of people.
Cost
The NHS using paper to store information on people is secure to an extent but is it cost
effective? The advantage of using paper is that they don’t need I.T technicians to work there
as there are no systems to check and keep running, this money they save not having an I.T
system can go towards other departments like the printing cost of peoples files or to hire
more staff. However a disadvantage to using paper is that the NHS are spending lots of
money printing paper to store files which could lead people to criticise them on using lots of
paper instead of changing their system to an I.T based one.
If the NHS went paperless the cost advantage would be they wouldn’t need to spend so
much on paper as their files are stored onto a digital database that doesn’t need paper to
run plus they would get praised by people who feel they should be doing more to use less
resources for things that could be made reusable or recyclable. The disadvantage to this
would be that they would need a team of I.T technicians to maintain the servers and make
sure the systems is still working.
Security
At the moment the NHS uses paper to store files and information about people. The
advantage of them using paper is that hackers will not be able to steal information from a
far, if they want that data they will have to break in and steal it physically. The disadvantage
of using paper is that it will not necessarily be easy to access for doctors, for example if you
go in for a check-up and another doctor has your file, the doctor that is seeing you might
turn you away and tell you to come back later. This could waste time and could prevent
diagnosing illnesses as quick as they could be, also reducing the productivity of the system.
If the NHS did go paperless, one of the challenges they would have to face is security.
Security is important as you only want the people who have knowledge in medicine to have
access to your personal files. An advantage to the files being stored digitally is that doctors
could have access to them from their computer, this is beneficial as they can bring up you
medical history quickly if need be. However a disadvantage to the NHS going paperless is
that they could be a keen target for hackers, for example if the NHS put all your personal
files onto a data base with poor security, it could leave them vulnerable to hackers getting
that data and using that information to take advantage of people.
Cost
The NHS using paper to store information on people is secure to an extent but is it cost
effective? The advantage of using paper is that they don’t need I.T technicians to work there
as there are no systems to check and keep running, this money they save not having an I.T
system can go towards other departments like the printing cost of peoples files or to hire
more staff. However a disadvantage to using paper is that the NHS are spending lots of
money printing paper to store files which could lead people to criticise them on using lots of
paper instead of changing their system to an I.T based one.
If the NHS went paperless the cost advantage would be they wouldn’t need to spend so
much on paper as their files are stored onto a digital database that doesn’t need paper to
run plus they would get praised by people who feel they should be doing more to use less
resources for things that could be made reusable or recyclable. The disadvantage to this
would be that they would need a team of I.T technicians to maintain the servers and make
sure the systems is still working.
