Abstract
An electronic patient record consists of electronically stored data about a specific
patient. It therefore constitutes a data-space. The data may be combined into a patient
profile which is relative to a particular speciality as well as phenomenologically
unique to the specific professional who constructs the profile. Further, a diagnosis
may be interpreted as a path taken by a health care professional with a certain specialty
through the data-space relative to the patient profile constructed by that professional.
This way of looking at electronic patient records entails certain ethical implications
about privacy and accessibility. However, it also permits the construction of artificial
intelligence and competence algorithms for health care professionals relative to their
specialties.
Keywords
Electronic Patient Record - Ethics - Data-space - Information - Diagnosis - Narrative
