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Doctors and Facebook: Is There a Privacy Risk?

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Q1. Describe one key legal issue and one key ethical issue that concern most organizations as they seek to take full advantage of the Internet. Concerns about patient confidentiality in the age of e-medicine motivated Congress to pass the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Organizations "must put in place safeguards to protect" patient information, such as encrypting patient data that is stored online and they "must reasonably limit uses and disclosures to the minimum necessary to accomplish their intended purpose" (For consumers, 2012, Health information privacy). Organizations must train employees how to follow appropriate procedures to protect patient heath information and ensure that they have contracts with outside entities to limit the inappropriate use of patient data. "A major goal of the Privacy Rule is to assure that individuals' health information is properly protected while allowing the flow of health information needed to provide and promote high quality health care and to protect the public's health and well being" (Summary of the HIPAA privacy rule, 2012, HHS). Legally, patient data must be protected by the organization. However, there is also an ethical responsibility that healthcare providers protect patient privacy in their personal online interactions. "Doctors with a Facebook profile could be jeopardizing their relationship with patients if they don't correctly use the website's privacy settings, according to a study in the

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