Course Description:
Computing is ubiquitous within the medical
environment. This course will examine the dynamics of biomedical computing
from legal, ethical and social perspectives.
Since these considerations cannot be undertaken without a solid knowledge
of the technologies and techniques at issue,
the course will also provide the student with a grounding in the fundamentals
of
scientific and professional practices, including
the evolution and implementation of architectures & networks, the design
and theory of record-keeping systems, therapeutic
devices, clinical decision-making techniques, the digital laboratory
and integrated health management systems.
Legal and ethical topics will include: privacy
& confidentiality, risk & liability, professional responsibility,
legislative
mandates and processes, computational genomics,
intellectual property and economic issues.
Classes will be conducted in seminar format.
Opportunities will be afforded to visit facilities involved in these areas
and to communicate with professionals working
within the field. The successful completion of the class will require
the preparation of an original research paper.
A portion of the course will be devoted to individual advising and
assistance in research. Students will be exposed
to contemporary online and library-based information resources.
Tours of the UCONN Health Center and Law School
libraries will be offered and use of these facilities will be
encouraged.
This course is appropriate for students in
the computing, legal, bio-engineering and managerial disciplines as well
as
for professionals who are involved in clinical
or administrative aspects of computing within health care or research
environments. A knowledge of programming,
network architecture and basic principles of A.I. are helpful, but not
absolutely required. Students without a computing
background may be required to consult additional, introductory
technical readings.
Course Texts:
1. Online Articles
2. Class Handouts and Slides
3. Reserve Materials located in Computer
Science Office
Course Evaluation:
1. Section Analysis Summaries [30%]
2. Paper Preparation Research Assignments
[20%]
3. Course Research Paper [40%]
4. Class Participation (including attendance)
[10%]
Assignment:
Warner, Medical Informatics: A Real Discipline?,
JAMIA, 2: 207-214 (1995)
Assignment:
Reserve:
McLean, Chapter 4: Types of Privacy in McLean:
Privacy and Its Invasion, pp. 47-60
Gellman, Prescribing Privacy: The Uncertain
Role of the Physician in the Protection of Patient Privacy (1984), pp.
8-11
Hippocratic
Oath
Supplemental:
Warren
& Brandeis, The Right to Privacy
Olmstead
v. United States 277 U.S. 438 (1928)
HEW
Code of Fair Information Practices (1973)
Privacy Act of
1974 (Public Law: 93-5795; USC 552a: 88 Stat. 1896)
FOIA
(5 U.S.C. 552) section on non-disclosable data
** Paper Topic Due in Class or by Email by 2/24**
Assignment:
Starr, Health & the Right to Privacy,
25 Am. J. L. and Med. 193 (1999)
Supplemental:
Epic
Health Confidentiality Bibliography
Whalen
v. Roe 429 U.S. 589 (1977)
General
Accounting Office "Medical Records Privacy (February 25, 1999) (.pdf
file) [Tentative]
Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Pub. L. 104–191(.pdf
file)
HHS
Regulations (1999)
Uniform
Health Care Information Act (overview
/ .pdf file)
HHS
White Paper on Universal Identifier
Assignment:
Smart
Cards: Scientific American 274, no. 8 (August 1996): 40-45
Szolovits
& Kohane: Against Simple Universal Health-Care Identifiers (pdf
file)
EPIC
White Paper on Unique Health Identifier
Assignment:
Murphy,
Patient-centered E-mail: Developing the Right Policies (2000)
Supplemental:
Spielberg, Online Without a Net: Physician-Patient
Communication, 25 Am. J. L. and Med. (2000)
Kane, et al., Guidelines for the Clinical
Use of Electronic Mail, JAMIA, 5: 104-111 (1998)
** Paper's "Main Sources" due in class
or by email by 4/01**
Assignment:
Smith, Limits of Correctness in Computers,
Report CSLI-85-36, Center for the Study of Language and Information,
Stanford University, California, October 1985
Snapper, Responsibility for Computer-Based
Decisions
Miller & Goodman, Ethical Challenges in
Use of Decision-Support Software
Assignment:
Leveson
& Turner, An Investigation of the THERAC-25 Accidents, IEEE Computer
26(7) (1993)
Snapper, Responsibility for Computer-Based
Decisions in Health Care
Miller & Goodman, Ethical Challenges in
the Use of Decision-Support Software in Clinical Practice
** Paper Outline Due in Class **
Assignment:
Salon
- Decoding the Genome
Scientific
American - Bioinformatics Gold Rush
Assignment:
Boyle Chapter - Reserve
All papers are due in class tonight.