EHRs have revolutionized the scale, speed, and granularity at which health data can be collated and summarized for epidemiologic purposes. 

Dr Shelli L. Feder joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Dr Kathleen M. Akgün: “Whom Should We Regard as Responsible for Health Record Inaccuracies That Hinder Population-Based Fact Finding?”

Coded data from patients’ health records are used in epidemiological research about incidence or prevalence of disease, drug safety monitoring, or long-term cohort tracking.

Dr Thaddeus M. Pope joins Health By Law to discuss updates to the Uniform Law Commission’s Health-Care Decisions Act.

Dr Peter Steen joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Drs Nubia Chong, Maria Mirabela Bodic, Ludwing Salamanca, and Stephanie LeMelle: “What Should Students and Trainees Learn About Patient-Centered Documentation?”

Paternalistic language in patients’ health records is of specific ethical concern because it emphasizes clinicians’ power and patients’ vulnerabilities and can be demeaning and traumatizing.

Poor oral health has been neglected as a public health threat, despite recognition as “epidemic” in scale by the US Office of the Surgeon General.

Clinical decision supports create ethically complex risks and need to align patients’ and caregivers’ professed values.

Dr John Banja joins us to discuss the promises and perils of artificial intelligence in health care applications, including potential “megarisks” posed by AI tools themselves.

AI models might advance human welfare in unprecedented ways, but progress will not occur without substantial risks that will have to be managed.