Technological progress creates advantages, but also disadvantages in health care (Source: "Technological Advances Create Digital Divide in Health Care", in George W. Reynolds, Ethics in Information Technology, 3rd ed., Boston, Course Technology, Cengage Learning, 2010, p. 295.) Health care costs soar, with annual premium increases insurance in double digits. A multitude of factors are involved, including the rising prescription and hospitalization costs, expanded coverage mandated by state and federal governments, spending excessive bureaucracy and last but not least, costly technological advances. Yet some of these advances are designed to reduce the costs of health care, less, in theory People with diabetes can buy blood sugar monitoring devices such as glucose tests or devices like the Health Buddy, which collects the results and transmits them to the database of the health care provider Health Hero by through a telephone line; the patient's health care provider may, by Next, examine this data. The goal of the program is to prevent diabetes attacks and decrease spending. It is still important to ask the following question: what will be the repercussions of this system on the medical expenses of an individual insured? The will patients have to pay for all or part of the Health Buddy? Will this system lead to increased or decreased patient costs? Ironically, technological advances in medicine can not only prolong life and improve the quality of life, they also create norms and expectations that can either lead the health care system into a crisis, or accentuate inequalities between the rich and the poor. Patients who cannot afford these new technologies will fall in the digital divide of the healthcare system. The success of programs like this of the Health Buddy depend not only on the ability of the United States to avert the crisis, to reduce health care costs, but also their ability to reduce costs for patients.

Issue 2

In this second case, we can see that technological advances in medicine can cause an increase in the cost of care. Robotic Process Automation (ARP) (in English robotic automation process - RPA) is a technology that has the potential to reduce operating costs by automating processes.

a) Describe what an ARP is. What are the advantages of implanting an ARP?

b) Would it be a good strategy to introduce PRAs into the telehealth network? Justify your reasoning using the course resources that deal with PRAs and those of the Commission on Ethics in Science and Technology.

Issue 3 This case study mentions the increased mobilization of technologies like the Health Buddy in the healthcare system, emphasizing the resulting digital divide. We could design this technology as a scaled-down version of those that can be used in telehomecare in Quebec.

a) search on the Internet and find at least one scientific article that deals with the telehomecare in the Quebec or Canadian health care system. Provide the complete reference of the text found.

b) With the help of this article, the opinion entitled "Clinical telehealth in Quebec: a look ethics" and the article by Auger ("Health system: the era of the ATM"), identify ethical, legal and societal issues, challenges, benefits and disadvantages of this IT integration. Explain further how it participates in a type particular responsibility and say if we can perceive a form of gap in it digital, potentially different from the one mentioned in the case study.