We Can, but Dare We? A View into Social Media and Healthcare “According to the Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 by the International Telecommunication Union, nearly 3,000 million people use the Internet, which is more than 40% of the world 's population (7,200 million). There are almost as many mobile-cellular subscriptions (6.9 billion) as people on Earth, more than three quarters of them (5.4 billion) in the developing world, and more than half (3.6 billion) in the Asia-Pacific region” (Fernández-Luque & Bau 2015). With the ever-increasing use of technology, it was only a matter of time before it was integrated in the way healthcare functions and communicates. This media is increasingly becoming a tool for supporting …show more content…
Protecting Patient Rights In 1996, The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted to protects patient’s medical record, as well as exchanges between healthcare professional about patient care and treatment. In addition to HIPAA, the Privacy Rule was published in December 2000, but later modified in August 2002. “This Rule set national standards for the protection of individually identifiable health information by three types of covered entities: health plans, health care clearinghouses, and healthcare providers who conduct the standard healthcare transactions electronically” (Secretary n.d.). The Privacy Rule covers the individual’s past, present, and future physical or mental health or condition; provision of healthcare; and the payment of provision from electronic, paper, or/and oral media. Violation of this act can cause a patient economic harm, embarrassment, and discrimination, which violates the medical bioethics of nonmaleficence – to do no harm. There are two ways in which a healthcare professional can include actual patient information that are acceptable by HIPAA regulations. One, a patient can sign a consent form allowing their personal information to be shared on a social outlet. Second, a patient’s personal information can be de-identified. De-identified health information neither identifies nor provides any practical way to identify an individual, a
US Congress created the Hipaa bill in 1996 because of public concern of how their private information was being used. It is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which Congress created to protect confidentiality, privacy and security of patient information. It was also for health care documents to be passed electronically. Hipaa is a privacy rule, which gives patients control over their health information. Patients have to give permission any healthcare provider can disclose any information placed in the individual’s medical records. It helps limit protected health information (PHI) to minimize the chance of inappropriate disclosure. It establishes national-level standards that healthcare providers must comply with and strictly investigates compliance related issues while holding violators to civil or criminal penalties if they violate the privacy of a person’s PHI. Hipaa also has boundaries for using and disclosing health records by covered entities; a healthcare provider, health plan, and healthcare clearinghouse. It also supports the cause of disclosing PHI without a person’s consent for individual healthcare needs, public benefit and national interests. The portability part of Hipaa guarantees patients health insurance to employees after losing a job, making sure health insurance providers can’t discriminate against people because of health status or pre-existing condition, and keeps their files safe while being sent electronically. The Privacy
. 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
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a set of national standards created for the protection of health information; it is also known as a “Privacy Rule”. This rule was employed in 1996 by the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to address the use and disclosure of an individual’s health information as well as the standards for the individual’s privacy rights to understand and control the manner in which their information is used.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed by congress in 1996, and helps to ensure the privacy and security of Electronic Health Records (EHR's). By following the rules and regulations set forth under HIPAA, we can ensure the safety of patients' EHR's. We are responsible for protecting patients' records, and there are many measures we can take in order do this. Firstly, we must always keep patients' health information private. This means no discussing the records with people that are not authorized to know, and even then, we should only disclose the minimum necessary amount of information possible. For covered entities, we must designate a privacy and security officer to ensure the privacy
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was intricately designed to provide not only a more efficient health care system but also as a protection for private patient information and data. With the widespread use of technology and computers in hospitals, the availability of patient information, their health portfolio, and their previous care has greatly improved the efficiency of health care. However, this also means that there is greater leeway for that information to be lost and/or shared without patients consent.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a brilliant set of laws put into place to protect patients’ privacy rights. These laws are extremely tedious, covering every single aspect of privacy rights, what is considered a breach of privacy, and what happens to the individual who commits this breach. When looking at the legal consequences given to those who break HIPAA laws, they are no slap on the wrists. HIPAA violations can lead to fines in the millions and even jail time for so much as a peak at a patient’s private documents. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment.
HIPAA (Health Insurance and Portability Act of 1996), outlines rules, regulations and the rights of patients to access their healthcare information such as notifications of privacy practices, copying and viewing medical records, and amendments. This paper explains why confidentiality is important today and discusses recourses patients can use if they believe their privacy has been violated. This paper will also discuss criminal and civil penalties’ that can occur for breaking HIPAA privacy rules.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was signed into legislation in 1996, with the final version of its privacy rules going into effect in 2002. In addition to insurance and healthcare transaction regulations, HIPAA includes two key features. First, the portability of health care for workers who transition between jobs. Second, HIPAA regulates how patient’s health information must be secured with detailed privacy policies. It is important that HIPAA practices are employed by the clinic for several reasons. First and foremost, it is legally required by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HIPAA non-compliance can lead to financial penalties and lost accreditation with The Joint Commission which will have
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
“The HIPAA Privacy Rule establishes national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and other personal health information and applies to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and those health care providers that conduct certain health care transactions electronically. The Rule requires appropriate safeguards to protect the privacy of personal health information, and sets limits and conditions on the uses and disclosures that may be made of such information without patient authorization. The Rule also gives patients the rights over their health information, including rights to examine and obtain a copy of their health records, and to request corrections.”
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was passed to protect patients, it offer the following benefits (a) enables the patient to find out how their health records can be used, (b) limits the release of personnel health records, (c) patients have the opportunity to receive a copy of their health records, and (d) gives the patient the authority to control if their information will be disclosed to a third party. Under HIPPA any information that can be used to identify an individual is covered under the law.
Since the adoption of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, there had been some modifications and interpretations made to its provisions to ensure that the requirements of the law are strictly adhered to. Thus, the “two sets of federal regulations were implemented… the Privacy Rule and the Security Rule” (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015, p. 157). Briefly, the Privacy Rule addresses the limited use and disclosure of patients’ health information, while the Security Rule refers to the need to safeguard “patients’ health information from improper use or disclosure” (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015, p. 157). The case scenario discussed in this paper relates to the Privacy Rule and Security Rule of HIPAA.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), public law was enacted on August 21, 1996 (HIPAA - General Information, 2013, April 2). HIPAA required the Secretary to issue privacy regulations to rule individually identifiable health information (HHS.gov, n.d.). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) applies to health plans, health care clearing houses, and to any health care provider who carries health information into electronic form in connection with transaction (HHS.gov, n.d.). One of the many most important goals of the privacy rule is for individuals to get the assurance that their health information is being protected while having the flow of health information needed to promote and provide high quality health care and to make sure that the public health is being protected (HHS.gov, n.d.). By doing so brings a balance that allows important uses of information while still protecting the people privacy within the facility (HHS.gov, n.d.). Anything forced by the Privacy Rule are held accountable for abiding by those requirements in March 2002 the Privacy Rule was released to the public for any comments (HHS.gov, n.d.). HIPAA includes don’t tell anyone anything meaning all the information you know should not be shared with a coworker, a friend, or a family member, mental health patients and caregivers causes problems with the law because the inability of sharing information can most
HIPAA requires that individually identifiable information be protected. This information includes but not limited to any information pertaining to physical or mental health, provisions of health care, payment or any other information that can lead to the patient’s identity. Currently, there aren’t restrictions on de-identified information. The entity must first ensure that there are no individually identifiable information within the document before disclosing the information.
“Social media have invaded health care from at least three fronts: innovative startups, patient communities and medical centers” (John Sharp 2010). The Social Media arena helps the health care system for their planning strategy and their marketing. However, their use is very controversial. There is a discussion about the use of social media in the healthcare settings due to its vulnerability. Even though social media is important for the healthcare development, the security issues will remain big concerns for the healthcare system.