Ethical Issues Of The Healthcare System

Confidentiality is a concept of vast importance for professionals in the medical field. It is a professional obligation in this field and is considered to be an ethical concept that falls in line with integrity, compassion, veracity, charity, and fidelity as explained in both the International Council of Nurses Code for Nurses (1973) and the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics (1985). However, in today’s ever growing world of technology and demand for information, challenges continue to arise that force doctors and nurses to reexamine virtues such as confidentiality.

19. According to the utilitarians, the beneficial consequences of maintaining patient confidentiality include the following:

According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, the Affordable care Act from President Obama gives consumers more options and benefits when seeking coverage from insurance company. It offers lowering cost as well as gets more access to high quality of care. This law creates Patient’s Bill of Rights that is very effective to protect consumers from any abuses or fraud from insurance company. Some preventive services are available to many Americans especially Medicare recipients at no cost. Not just that, they also receive a special offer of 50 percent discount for any well-known drugs in the market place under Medicare named “donut hole.” The Affordable Care Act helps other organizations and programs to convince healthcare providers

It is also just as important to keep a confidentiality because of data protection legislation which enforces the rights of the individual to have their personal information protected (Legislation.gov.uk, 1998). So legally, healthcare professionals have a duty to protect the healthcare user’s personal information, at least to the legal minimum, or face proceedings. On top of this though, there is a further responsibility placed on the healthcare professional to respect the right of the user to their private life and beliefs. This is outlined by the NMC’s Code (2012) which reiterates the Data Protection Act, 1998 and further clarifies the lengths that healthcare professionals should go to ensure the healthcare user’s confidentiality and privacy is protected.

“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

Confidentiality in the Healthcare arena can be simply defined as the moral and ethical duty of the Practitioner to keep all the patient’s bio-data under lock and key, and offer a disclosure of those facts that the patient is legally mandated to disclose or deems fit to enhance their positive health outcome. According to the Segen’s Medical Dictionary, “Confidentiality is the ethical principle that a physician may not reveal any information disclosed in the course of medical care, unless the patient who disclosed that information poses a threat to him, herself or others’’

There are laws in place that protect a patient in the health care setting. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 or HIPAA, as it is known in the healthcare field, was designed to protect the privacy,confidentiality and security of patient information (Pozgar, 2013).Employees the health care field are very aware of HIPAA and the rights of their patients. All staff knows that patient information can only be discussed with qualified individuals on a need to know basis. Speaking about cases outside of work is strictly prohibited. Photography or recording of any patient interaction is also a breach of a patient's rights as well. The problem with this is that there are many policies in place to protect the

As a professional health care worker, the implication confidentiality breach regarding ethical dilemmas are significant to nurse and patient. The information disclosed can cause problems on a personal and professional level. Breach of confidentiality occurs when the heath care work discloses the patient 's medical or personal information without the patient 's informed written or verbal consent. Confidentiality is needed between the nurse and the patient to maintain a good open and honest relationship between both parties. There are several ethical implications regarding breach of confidentiality, for example,

The moment a patient’s information is entered into a healthcare system, they are given patient rights; one of those rights is the right to patient information confidentiality. This right confirms that the patient’s information will only be accessed by care providers, people who are providing reimbursement for care, when information is ordered by the court or if the patient gives written consent for the release of information. The patient is allowed access to view their medical records (Confidentiality, Patients ' Rights and Responsibilities, 2014). The healthcare team can assist in building a trusting relationship with their patients by ensuring the patients right to privacy. By ensuring a patients right to privacy, this encourages the

Healthcare management usually involves a wide range of activities. It in loves planning, administration, regulations and legislation all aimed at enhancing the quality of the system for the benefit of the patient and the medics. Planning is important as it provides efficient health care to all who are seeking medical intervention. However, planning should not be used as an intimidating tool denying the individual his or healthcare unless such intervention is necessary to the public health interest (Brody 2010). This has been none of the ethical issues surrounding the healthcare system. There has been a debate on what entails patient autonomy and the extent to which the healthcare team should participate in decision

Nurses are constantly challenged by changes which occur in their practice environment and are under the influence of internal or external factors. Due to the increased complexity of the health system, nowadays nurses are faced with ethical and legal decisions and often come across dilemmas regarding patient care. From this perspective a good question to be raised would be whether or not nurses have the necessary background, knowledge and skills to make appropriate legal and ethical decisions. Even though most nursing programs cover the ethical and moral issues in health care, it is questionable if new nurses have the depth of knowledge and understanding of these issues and apply them in their practice

The question of when is it justified to disclose patient confidentiality depends on the risks associated. Keeping of patients’ records remains important to any clinical officer. The CMA code of ethics advices the keeping of patient’s personal health information private and can only be released to the third party as outlined by law (Fowler, 2008). In the case study, patient’s confidentiality has been put to test in that there first existed keeping of the patient records confidential and proper treatment was offered but this has been betrayed. The forgery of the record and refused to cooperate with the patient poses a threat to the recovery of the correct information necessitating reporting the case to the police; acting according to the state

The solution needed for this scenario is both ethical and practical. Is there any improvement that can be done to prevent a scenario in the solution? Of course. The weaknesses that might be found in the solution is even though the caregivers communicate, they are not communicating concise, accurate information to the staff as a whole, but simply telling one staff member and expecting that staff member to pass the information along the same way it was received could be miscommunicated to the rest of the staff. It is possible the health record could be annotated incorrectly causing the possible misdiagnosis, which would cause unnecessary harm to the patient by prescribing the wrong medications, an overdosing or even worse, death.

Confidentiality and privacy are hallmarks of health care in Ontario. A person’s health information belongs to that person and they have a right to consent to the use, collection and disclosure of that information, with limited exceptions. They also have the right to access their personal health information. Most people are very concerned about their privacy, especially when it comes to matters of their health. Moreover, privacy and confidentiality are cornerstones of establishing trust in the therapeutic relationship between the practitioner and the patient/client. This includes keeping any other personal information about a patient/client confidential. A patient/client who can trust that his/her personal health information is being protected is more likely to provide a complete health history, which would enable more effective treatment (CKO, 2013).

Everyday, healthcare professionals are faced with ethical dilemmas in their workplace. These ethical dilemmas need to be addressed in order to provide the best care for the patient. Healthcare professionals have to weigh their own personal beliefs, professional beliefs, ethical understandings, and several other factors to decide what the best care for their patient might be. This is illustrated in Mrs. Smith’s case. Mrs. Smith is an 85 year old who has suffered from a large stroke that extends to both of her brains hemispheres which has left her unconscious. She only has some brain stem reflexes and requires a ventilator for support. She is unable to communicate how she wishes to proceed with her healthcare. Mrs. Smith’s children, Sara and Frank have different views regarding their mother’s plan of care. The decision that needs to be made is whether to prolong Mrs. Smith’s life, as Sara would like to do, or stop all treatments and care, as Frank feels his mother would want. In the healthcare field, there are situations similar to this case that happen daily where moral and ethical judgment is necessary to guide the decision that would be best for the patient. The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss, compare and contrast the personal and professional values, ethical principles, and legal issues regarding Mrs. Smith’s quality of life and further plan of care.