title: Advanced technology and confidentiality in hand surgery.
abstract: Advanced technology has the potential to improve the quality of care for our patients, but it also poses new challenges, especially in maintaining patient confidentiality. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the newly enacted Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act provide certain guidelines governing patients' medical record confidentiality. This article discusses the other new challenges facing hand surgeons, such as the use of social media, telemedicine, e-mails, and the Internet.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Southern Illinois University; the Southern Illinois Hand Center, Effingham, IL; Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK. Electronic address: nnaam@handdocs.com.
authors.forename: Nash H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Naam
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Southern Illinois University; the Southern Illinois Hand Center, Effingham, IL; Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK.
authors.forename: Sandy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sanbar
mesh_terms: D003219:Confidentiality; D034742:Electronic Mail; D005568:Forms and Records Control / Q000592:standards*; D020408:Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008499:Medical Records / Q000592:standards*; D061108:Social Media; D017216:Telemedicine; D014481:United States
keywords: Confidentiality; health; privacy; records; technology