The responsibilities arising from the use of information and communication technologies in health professional practice

Abstract

The increasing use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the health setting has given rise to the current phenomenon of eHealth or eMedicine, terms equivalent to the cyberspace concept, but refer exclusively to health. Due to the appearance of Web 2.0 it can be stated that we are dealing with a phenomenon much greater than just using the technologies: we are facing a real social change, giving rise to that called Health 2.0.The legal regulation of this cyberspace requires two different types of rules. Some that regulate cyberspace itself, and others, the actions performed with its use and to those that appear applicable to conventional law. In this latter case, we are referring to the applying of already existing laws to actions performed using ICT, as is the case of medical actions.Within these latter situations, two clearly different ones have to be distinguished: the professional responsibilities arising from medical actions carried out within health organisation settings when the use of ICT is introduced, and those other actions carried out voluntarily, individually and privately, using personal media and devices. It is in these types of actions where the legality, as regards data protection and privacy of the patient, appears to be violated, and at the same time the professional may be held responsible.