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Someone recently told me that they went to their dentist’s office for follow-up care and was in the chair being prepped when they were asked about some care options. It all seemed routine until the person was being asked about things to be done that they had not heard of before. They were there for something completely different from what was being presented. Something that, when asked, was not on the card that the dentist was reading from. After some back and forth, it was discovered that it was the wrong patient card.

Important strides have been made in health sectors worldwide to move forward with achieving a complete digital ecosystem with electronic medical records (EMR) central to this.

Jamaicans are highly suspicious of technology, especially those that require the sharing of personal information. I was recently privy to a discussion among doctors and they were of the view that there should be great concern if EMR is implemented in government health facilities as too many people would be able to access individuals' health records.

The recent devastating impact of natural disasters in the Caribbean and North America has underscored the dangers we face here in the region.

The region is no stranger to this as many of us has had to rebuild several times after a natural disaster.

In preparing for these disasters we usually think of the loss of our fixed assets such as cars, homes and other property, but we seldom give consideration to the possibility of the loss of important data.