From smart phones to iPads, the world has grown increasingly reliant on new technology.
In this ever-expanding digital age, medicine is at the forefront of these new technologies.
In the field of dermatology and general medicine, digital images have become an important
tool used in patient management. Today, one can even find physicians who use their
cellular phone cameras to take patient images and transmit them to other physicians.
However, as digital imaging technology has become more prevalent so too have concerns
about the impact of this technology on the electronic medical record, quality of patient care,
and medicolegal issues. This article will discuss the advent of digital imaging technology in
dermatology and the legal ramifications digital images have on medical care, abiding by
HIPAA, the use of digital images as evidence, and the possible abuses digital images can
pose in a health care setting.
Semin Cutan Med Surg 32:199-204 © 2013 Frontline Medical CommunicationsFrom smart phones to iPads, the world has grown increasingly reliant on new technology.
In this ever-expanding digital age, medicine is at the forefront of these new technologies.
In the field of dermatology and general medicine, digital images have become an important
tool used in patient management. Today, one can even find physicians who use their
cellular phone cameras to take patient images and transmit them to other physicians.
However, as digital imaging technology has become more prevalent so too have concerns
about the impact of this technology on the electronic medical record, quality of patient care,
and medicolegal issues. This article will discuss the advent of digital imaging technology in
dermatology and the legal ramifications digital images have on medical care, abiding by
HIPAA, the use of digital images as evidence, and the possible abuses digital images can
pose in a health care setting.
Semin Cutan Med Surg 32:199-204 © 2013 Frontline Medical Communications