Rua: We Can, But Dare We?. Currently Technology Has Become

In nursing school HIPAA is one of the first and foremost topics covered. It is not simply a skill that can be tested on paper and filed away into the back of your mind. HIPAA is a crucial concept and practice that all workers in the field of healthcare must strictly adhere to. Although it should seem like common sense to respect the privacy and rights of a patient, there are far too many incidences where boundaries have been crossed, and information breached. The case of Carolyn Strom should serve as a pertinent example reinforcing how rapid the response can be when posting on social media, even if you think you are being discreet or anonymous. Patients need to be looked at not as chart numbers, but as humans who have a sense of pride

. HIPAA privacy rules are complicated and extensive, and set forth guidelines to be followed by health care providers and other covered entities such as insurance carriers and by consumers. HIPAA is very specific in its requirements regarding the release of information, but is not as specific when it comes to the manner in which training and policies are developed and delivered within the health care industry. This paper will discuss how HIPAA affects a patient's access to their medical records, how and under what circumstances personal health information can be released to other entities for purposes

It is essential that health care researchers and/or managers abide by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA) before sharing any patient health information to the public. The Privacy Rule under HIPPA will permit the sharing of health information without patient permission for payment, treating, and health care operations, and other specified purposes (Koontz, 2015). In addition, the Security Rule under HIPPA is designed to ensure that patient health information is protected from the unauthorized disclosure and access (Koontz, 2015). After all, the increase in health information technology makes it easier for researchers to obtain patient health data (Largent, Joffe, & Miller, 2011). However, the health care researcher

HIPAA is a public federal law gives patients a legal right to keep their health information private and secure, but it also allows healthcare providers to disclose patient information for patient care, as needed (Iron Mountain, 2015). HIPAA included provisions that required the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to adopt national standards for electronic health care transactions, unique patient identifiers, and security (Ong, 2011). Being aware that advances in electronic technology would risk the privacy of health information, Congress also included provisions that mandated privacy protections for individually identifiable health information. HIPAA is the first government mandate that regulates how healthcare providers share

165). The HIPAA regulations are set as a protection of Personal Health Information (PHI) and all of its areas of concern, i.e. – name, condition, symptoms, etc… Legally, the nurse is not subjected to any clearly defined healthcare related laws, at the federal level, liable under the Privacy Acts of 1974 which protects any personal identification records or information relating to the patient’s privacy. The nurse takes photographs of the patient’s demographic information from his electronic health record which violates the regulations set forth by the Privacy Acts of 1974 (Privacy Act of 1974, n.d.). In many aspects of this scenario, a major concern lies on the nurse’s ethical, unethical, practice. The American Nurses Association (ANA) delineates in Provision Three of the Code of Ethics for Nurses “The nurse promotes, advocates for, and protects the rights, health, and safety of the patient.” (ANA, 2015). The nurse is in many violations enough to end their career in this situation. The privacy of the patient is a right not a privilege. With the increase usage of social media, this invasion of privacy on the patient could potentially be leaked and could lead to jeopardizing the patient’s safety while in the hospital.

Patient privacy has been a major concern for patients and medical staff for many years. Patient privacy goes hand in hand with HIPPA and the privacy rule. This protects the privacy of any person of all health information (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Even with this a concern for many, a study conducted by Zogby Internation studies more than 2000 adults to obtain their views on patient privacy. This studied determined that individuals would rather have individual choice and control over personal health information instead of others (Patient Privacy Rights, 2010).

“The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 made it illegal to gain access to personal medical information for any reasons other than health care delivery, operations, and reimbursements” (Shi &ump; Singh, 2008, p. 166). “HIPAA legislation mandated strict controls on the transfer of personally identifiable health data between two entities, provisions for disclosure of protected information, and criminal penalties for violation” (Clayton 2001). “HIPAA also has privacy requirements that govern disclosure of patient protected health information (PHI) placed in the medical record by physicians, nurses, and other health care providers” (Buck, 2011). Always remember conversations about a patient’s health care or

As human beings and citizens of the world, everyone values their privacy. It is a right that is often looked over and taken for granted by most. Since the beginning of time, there have been concerns about individuals’ rights to privacy and their personal information remaining confidential. Our founding fathers had concerns about this which is why, “…this right has developed into

In the world today, smartphones are becoming the “norm”, with basic phones becoming nearly obsolete in recent years. Pairing the overwhelming presence of social media with the rise in usage of smartphones brings to light an entirely new set of problems and challenges regarding patient privacy. According to a 2010 study conducted regarding various boards of nursing, 67% of executive officers surveyed reported receiving complaints about nurses misusing social media (Spector & Kappel,

Privacy is what allows people to feel secure in their surroundings. With privacy, one is allowed to withhold or distribute the information they want by choice, but the ability to have that choice is being violated in today’s society. Benjamin Franklin once said, “He who sacrifices freedom or liberty will eventually have neither.” And that’s the unfortunate truth that is and has occurred in recent years. Privacy, especially in such a fast paced moving world, is extremely vital yet is extremely violated, as recently discovered the NSA has been spying on U.S. citizens for quite a while now; based on the Fourth Amendment, the risk of leaked and distorted individual information, as well as vulnerability to lack of anonymity.

Personal health information includes a patient’s name, address, birthdate and social security number. It also includes a person’s health or mental status whether it is in the past, present or future. HIPAA gives people the right to have access to their medical records. It also states that people have the right to either give consent or deny consent of their information being shared or released. All health care facilities, insurance companies, pharmacies, vision, and dental offices must adhere to the HIPAA guidelines. Though patients have a right to their information being kept confidential, their information may be shared for necessity in regards to treatment, billing, to protect the public health, and if the law requires disclosure. Penalties are set in place for violations of the HIPAA laws ("HIPAA summary,"

Social-networking sites have security vulnerabilities, which makes the use of them unsafe in health care organizations. Social-networking sites are designed for sharing information, and their security is “lax or confusing,” which makes it easy for unauthorized users to access people’s information. Keeping up with the updated security options is difficult because these sites change their security options on a “haphazard basis” (Ciampa, 2015, p.52).

The correlation of increased potential patient rights violations and sensitive personal health data among electronic medical records than paper records is growing at an alarming rate. An estimated 52,000 public comments was reviewed by the Department of Health and Human Services requiring privacy regulations governing individually identifiable health information since the passage of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1966 (HIPPA). The individually identifiable health information includes demographic data that relates to the individuals past, present, or future physical or mental health condition. In addition, the provision of health care rights of the individual, confidentiality, protection of

While advancements in technology have positively impacted the nursing field, it has also created huge concerns with patient privacy and sharing of protected health information leading to detrimental effects to patients and their families. Indeed, technology is changing the face of healthcare with positive innovations to reduce medication errors and documentation errors. However, technology at our fingertips has created immense concerns with sharing of protected health information of patients via social media, email and other means of communication via technology. This paper addresses why I feel the advancement of technology has numerous deficits that need more research and implementation of new laws and policies to safeguard the

Privacy and confidentiality are basic rights in our society. Safeguarding those rights, with respect to an individual’s personal health information, is our ethical and legal obligation as health care providers. Doing so in today’s health care environment is increasingly challenging (OJIN, 2005).