Patients to view Norwegian EHR data logs
Norway’s most modern hospital, St Olav’s University Hospital in Trondheim, is opening the data logs of its EHR system to patients. This will allow them to see exactly who in the hospital has viewed their patient record.
St Olav’s, which serves the mid-Norwegian region, is the first fully integrated hospital in the Norwegian health service. The hospital features an EHR system fully integrated with its PACS system, with medical images and toolsets available from within the EHR application. The hospital also has advanced medical imaging built into its operating theatres.
The hospital decided to make its EHR data logs available to the public on request following complaints from ten patients. They believe hospital staff have had unwarranted access to their records. One complainant was herself a member of staff at the hospital.
The hospital has strict rules against unauthorised staff access to patient records. It believes the problem is wider than acquaintances or family viewing the records, and can particularly affect patients who are either well known in the media, or political and business leaders. Providing patients access to their data logs will act as a further deterrence. But the hospital points out that with an EHR system, it is now far easier to identify who is viewing individual patient records.
