Overall, human service professionals are bound to their job with laws and regulations that
must be followed. In order for a human service professional to adequately perform their job
duties they must abide to HIPPA and PHI laws. The most important part of their job is patient
confidentiality. Keeping our patients records confidential and not sharing any information not
only protects the patient, but the employee helping them and the company/ organization they are
working for. Understanding all job duties including the policies that must be followed will help
keep everyone safe and avoid fines. Another important factor of a human service career is
cultural sensitivity. As a human service professional, you will be dealing with a huge diverse
clientele and it’s important to value other people’s beliefs. You can provide the best course of
action but understand that it may go against some people’s beliefs; in that case we need to be
accepting and understanding of that and try to look for another solution. Being open minded
when dealing with others who have different beliefs can help create a trusting and understanding
relationship.
Laws and regulations are put into place to keep everyone safe, and this goes for working
in healthcare settings as well. In order to comply to these if someone is looking for a patient’s
information a human service professional needs the patients consent. If there is a legal court
order to release this information such as a subpoena, it’s important to double check and make
sure it’s a real document. “
Once a subpoena is received, don’t ignore it, but also don’t
immediately disclose the records, as you could be in violation of HIPAA or state privacy laws
and face severe penalties.” (Raj Shah) If the subpoena is signed by a judge, magistrate, or a
grand jury the information must be disclosed. The only information that is needed is the specific
information asked for, not anything else, that can result in violations of HIPPA. If a third party
