A4 Refereed article in a conference publication
Missed chances and wrong choices in patient information? An ethical evaluation of the Finnish implementation of the EU Database Directive
Authors: Koskinen Jani S S, Kainu Ville M A
Editors: Terrel Ward Bynum, William Fleishman, Anne Gerdes, Gitte Møldrup Nielsen, Simon Rogerson
Publication year: 2013
Book title : ETHICOMP 2013 Conference Proceedings : The possibilities of ethical ICT
Series title: Ethicomp
First page : 288
Last page: 294
Number of pages: 7
ISBN: 978-87-92646-72-9
Abstract
Patient information is a critical instrument in modern healthcare. The different interest groups
involved in health care hold an interest for patient information. As the interests of these groups are
to a degree mutually exclusive, the de jure status of patient information is of vital importance.
Problematically, the Finnish legislation regulating patient information is, as this paper shows,
neither clear nor does it meet the demands of efficiency or ethicality.
As ethics hold a critical position in determining the justified owner of patient information, the
legislative solution to the different interests ought to be ethically well justified. This paper argues
that an ethically acceptable formulation of ownership, if passed into law, prevent the harmful effects
of unethical use of patient information. A strong philosophical understanding of patient information
is necessary to judge whether the legislative solution is reasonable or not.
This paper presents some arguments from Locke and Kant, which point out problems in directive
96/9/EC, the so-called database directive, and in particular its Finnish implementation as regards
patient information databases. This paper concludes that citizens should be the owners of their own
patient information, in the sense of datenherrschaft, to meet the demands of ethicality.
Patient information is a critical instrument in modern healthcare. The different interest groups
involved in health care hold an interest for patient information. As the interests of these groups are
to a degree mutually exclusive, the de jure status of patient information is of vital importance.
Problematically, the Finnish legislation regulating patient information is, as this paper shows,
neither clear nor does it meet the demands of efficiency or ethicality.
As ethics hold a critical position in determining the justified owner of patient information, the
legislative solution to the different interests ought to be ethically well justified. This paper argues
that an ethically acceptable formulation of ownership, if passed into law, prevent the harmful effects
of unethical use of patient information. A strong philosophical understanding of patient information
is necessary to judge whether the legislative solution is reasonable or not.
This paper presents some arguments from Locke and Kant, which point out problems in directive
96/9/EC, the so-called database directive, and in particular its Finnish implementation as regards
patient information databases. This paper concludes that citizens should be the owners of their own
patient information, in the sense of datenherrschaft, to meet the demands of ethicality.
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