The utilization of information and communication technologies in almost all spheres of modern society has changed the social picture in significant ways while simultaneously leading to tensions with regard to traditional ethical and legal practices—particularly given the global context of its application. Where these technologies impact on the practice and implementation of healthcare, it is vital to recognize the extent and nature of the ethical and social impact both at the level of professional practice and the patient.

Ethical, Legal and Social Issues in Medical Informatics presents a fundamental compendium of research on the ethical, social, and legal issues facing the healthcare industry as it adopts information technologies to provide fast, efficient, and cost effective healthcare. An essential resource for every reference library, this comprehensive book offers a multidisciplinary perspective, drawing from the expertise of a wide variety of global industries including law, ethics, medicine, philosophy, and computer science.

Coverage:

The many academic areas covered in this publication include, but are not limited to:

Advanced decision support systems
Applied ethics and ICT-systems in healthcare
Cyber medicine
Electronic healthcare information
Electronic social record
Ethics in medical informatics
Implications of telemedicine
Internet doctors
Medical Informatics
Online medical consultations
Privacy/security in healthcare
Responsibility in electronic health
Telemedicine
Trust and clinical information systems

Reviews & Statements

This book brings together the perspectives of authors from a variety of disciplines; computer science, information science, medicine, law, philosophy, and the social sciences, to offer an international overview of the ethical, legal and social issues inherent in the application of information communication technologies in the healthcare sector.

– Penny Duquenoy, Middlesex University, UK

The book is an essential resource for every research library. It provokes thought, stimulates debate, and provides a foundation for further work in the field.

– SirReadalot.org (August 2008)

This book is a concise as well as comprehensive Medical Information Science Reference imprint of IGI.

– Book News Inc. (September 2008)

This book occupies a unique position in a wide range of similarly emerging titles on medical informatics because of its broad and comprehensive coverage of contemporary issues of ethical, legal, regulatory and technology nature in a single volume. The depth of treatment and analytical style in which the content is presented is inspiring.

– Online Information Review (February 2009)

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Editor/Author Biographies

Dr. Penny Duquenoy has a first degree in Philosophy from the School of Cognitive and Computing Science at Sussex University, UK, and a Ph.D. in Internet Ethics. She is a Senior Lecturer at Middlesex University, London. Penny has been an active researcher in the field of Computer Ethics for a number of years, with more than 30 publications on the ethical implications of ICT. Key areas of research are the ethical implications of intelligent technologies in everyday life (described as ‘Ambient Intelligence’ in European Union research) and medical informatics. She has acted as an expert ethics evaluator for the European Commission (Information Society and Media Directorate-General) and given invited presentations on ethics and ambient technologies at EU level and internationally. She is Chair of IFIP Working Group 9.2 (Computers and Social Accountability), member of IFIP Special Interest Group 9.2.2 “Taskforce on Ethics”, and Manager of the British Computer Society Ethics Forum.

Dr. Carlisle George is a lawyer and computer scientist. He holds a masters degree (LLM) in Information Technology & Communications Law from the London School of Economics, and a doctorate (PhD) in Computer Science from the University of London (Goldsmiths). He has also been called to the Bar of England and Wales at Lincoln’s Inn (London) and the Bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. He is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computing Science (Middlesex University, London, UK) and Convenor of the ALERT (Aspects of Law and Ethics Related to Technology) research group at Middlesex. Dr. George is the author of many academic publications and a member of various professional bodies including the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, The Society of Legal Scholars, The Society for Computers and Law, The Eastern Caribbean Bar Association, the Higher Education Academy and the International Federation for Information processing (IFIP) Working Group 9.2.

MSS Kai K. Kimppa holds a masters degree in Philosophy from the Department of Philosophy in University of Turku and has defended his Doctorate Thesis in the Department of Information Technology in the same university, in Problems with the Justification of Intellectual Property Rights in Relation to Software and Other Digitally Distributable Media. He is a Lecturer at University of Turku, Finland. He has been active in the research in the field of Computer Ethics for five years, with approximately 20 publications on the ethical implications of ICT. Key areas of his research include justification of IPRs, ethics of medical informatics and ethics of online computer games. He has given presentations in both academic and business conferences, as well as at EU level. He is Secretary of IFIP Working Group 9.2 (Computers and Social Accountability) as well as IFIP Special Interest Group 9.2.2 “Taskforce on Ethics”, and a member of the Finnish Information Processing Association Ethics Group, which he also represents as a National Representative in the IFIP SIG 9.2.2.

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