In medicine, exsanguination is the uncontrolled loss of blood from the body that will cause death. It’s caused by an external insult to the body (i.e., traumatic injury) or from an internal derangement that compromises the integrity of a bodily surface (e.g., esophageal varices). By either mode, the protective nature of the body is breached leading to death, if left uncontrolled, or potential significant disability even if control is gained. The keys to gaining control in the setting of potential exsanguination are prevention and mitigation—blocking or staunching a breach.
Whether an external or internal breach leads to exsanguination, it can be further characterized in terms of whether the breach was by an intentional act (e.g., gunshot) or by a negligent act (e.g., motor vehicle accident). The distinction is important in that it speaks to issues of prevention.
Dr. Johnson from the Center for Digital Strategies at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth as authored a paper: Data Hemorrhages in the Health-Care Sector, (PDF, covered here), that likens the threat of P2P–clients to informational hemorrhage. Johnson discusses two intentional causes for this informational hemorrhage: healthcare fraud and identity theft.
Image 1. “Consequences of Data Hemorrhages” (from Johnson)
Contrary to the conclusion in Image 1, healthcare fraud and identity theft are not the consequences of “data hemorrhages,” but rather the causal events. These causal events may have either an intentional or a negligent nidus. Intentional in terms of installing P2P–clients on hardware with the intent to obtain information by fraud or theft. Negligent in terms of failing to protect one’s hardware from the installion of P2P–clients or failing to control the installation of P2P–clients by third–parties (e.g., employees).
Image 2. Informational Exsanguination
With the current impetus to digitalize the paper–laden healthcare industry with the current governmentally–incentivized move to EHRs, is the movement alone the singular major hurdle? Or, as Johnson suggests, the potential for hemorrhage of healthcare information so great that we are only beginning to appreciate—because of the increasing need to mitigate and staunch the blood flow? The “E” in EHR may, with this appreciate, not stand for the mode of storage, but rather for the ongoing problem—exsanguinating health records…
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With regards to the external and internal breach that leads to exsanguination, I was looking for a more elaborate explanation on how to identify if it is done intentionally or an act of negligence. but on the whole, it is one informative post.