HIPAA Legal Case Study

Many healthcare professionals and organizations have not been following the regulations set forth by HIPAA. Whenever violations of HIPAA’s privacy or security laws occur the organizations responsible must be held accountable resulting in a fine or penalty. Penalties provide incentive for organizations to guarantee patient privacy and security. Recently, certain people have failed to follow through with the laws and restrictions and were forced to accept the penalty. This paper will provide three real examples of such HIPAA violations as well as solutions or ways each violation could have been prevented.

For this week’s discussion I have read the article assigned this week regarding HIPAA violations. I will summarize the case against the physician and what the HIPAA law states. I will also discuss what the penalties are for a HIPAA violation and if this physician could have faced further charges.

HIPAA is the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The primary goal of the law is to make it easier for people to keep health insurance, protect the confidentiality and security of healthcare information and help the healthcare industry control administrative costs. Under HIPAA, patients have the right to access and control their health records. In order to safeguard protected health information (PHI, or patients’ individually identifiable information), health care providers must restrict access to the information and have patients’ permission to disclose it.

1. Mrs. Smith had a pregnancy test. Mr. Smith called Mrs. Smith’s physician and requested a copy of Mrs. Smith’s test results. Can/Should the physician release the results of the pregnancy test to Mr. Smith over the phone? (Use law and ethics to defend your answer) Why or why not?

HIPAA, what is it? It is privacy, control, and peace of mind. You have the right for your medical information to be kept confidential. You have the right to decide whether or not family members are privy to your medical information. If you are changing jobs, why worry about health insurance coverage. Picture this. A woman called a local hospital and inquired about the condition of a patient. She was informed by the nurse that the patient was on a ventilator and could not talk. Even though interaction seems perfectly harmless, it was actually a clear violation of the privacy of the patient. A prescription for a local analgesic was presented to the pharmacist for a patient with a name similar to a patient already on file. The prescription was filled for the current patient who was actually the father, and not the patient. The pharmacist assumed that the patient was the father and shared with the patient that there was another medication that he had filled for you and asked, “Would you also like to pick up that medication also”? The father was not present and therefore could not object to the sharing of this information with the son. In the past, if you had a preexisting disease such as chronic fatigue or pregnancy, you could be denied health care coverage. Because Congress stepped in to assist and fix the healthcare system, denial of insurance because of a preexisting disease is not accepted. In view of this significant law, this paper will

We human beings have been gathering data since the dawn of mankind, whether it was in the form of pictures drawn on stones or in the form some text typed and saved on your computer.

Specific Purpose: I want to inform my audience about HIPAA “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act”.

Did you know that violating HIPAA can lead to criminal charges and even possible jail time? Also can cost you up to $1.5 million a year depending on the violation (Brown,2014). Violating HIPAA can be something as little as talking about the treatment of your patient that day to another nurse in the elevator. In this paper HIPAA will be defined and the importance of HIPAA in the health care system. As well as outcomes of what will happen if laws are violated. In addition, the scenario ending and what should happen to the nurse. Lastly, the advantages and disadvantages of cellphones and electronic devices in healthcare.

HIPAA has benefitted the general public in many ways, such as protect the privacy, confidentiality, and security of patient information. Healthcare provider cannot shire patient information between them. Patients and clients give permission healthcare provider to shire the information. Patient has right to see, copy and correct his or her medical record. Polies and procedures created that all patients and providers must follow HIPAA rules, and how whoever violated may be punished. Most facilities have username and password that patient information can be viewed with someone who has permission. Also HIPAA protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families

The regulation I choose to discuss is the Health Insurance and Accountability Act also known as HIPAA. The reason I choose this regulation due to being a licensed Health and Medicare agent this is something I have to comply with each and every day in order to protect my licenses and my clients. This was established on August 21, 1996 and what this regulation does is protect confidential information pertain to health information. This healthcare regulation protects patients, pharmacies, covered entities and healthcare business associates. This act protects the patients by making sure there information is protected by the federal law and it should only be disclosed if the patients give you the proper authorization or consent to disclose this

HIPAA privacy regulations expressly permit hospitals to release the patient's name, location in the hospital, and general condition , so long as the patient has not told you not to release the information. The hospital has a responsibility to tell patients what information will be included in the hospital directory and to whom that information will be disclosed. The patient has the option to expressly state that he or she does not want information released“including confirmation of his or her presence in the facility. In some cases, patients will not have had the opportunity to state a preference about having their information released. For example, a patient's medical condition may prevent hospital staff from asking about information preferences

Additionally, the penalties that were assessed within this case was based on the compliance of the policies and procedures of the HIPAA laws and was settled against Rite Aid by the rights of health information privacy. “Jill Granger and Laura Cataldo (2013) reports this standardization, originally suggested as a cost-saving measure by healthcare groups, eventually evolved to include federal protection of privacy with the introduction of the Privacy Rule, effective in 2001, for individually identifiable health information. This mandate established standards that dictated the use and disclosure of protected health information (PHI), and addressed issues such as administrative handling of information and the keeping of records, as well as the

HIPAA impacts almost every area of MCW, as well as interactions with, and operations of, their affiliate hospitals including Froedtert Hospital, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, and the Veterans Administration Medical Center. MCW has a website to provide all MCW Faculty, Staff, Residents, Students and others access to information on the Privacy Regulation and a list of who to contact with questions. In addition, if anyone (faculty, staff, students, or residents) request information from MCW they must do so in writing. MCW has implemented policies and procedures that comply with the federal government standards. However, MCW has an Ombuds office whom primary role is to serve as a confidential, independent, informal and neutral resource

However, another paper from Julia Slutsman,Nancy Kass, John McGready and Matthew Wynia addreses “Health Information, The HIPAA Privacy Rule, And Health Care: What Do Physicians Think?” indicates that HIPAA Privacy Rule and Health Care protected the individual privacy, does not improve the protection of confidentiality health information. [2] The report states that implementing HIPAA rule would impede the sharing data in regards with the patient information, hence this rule caused a negative effect on patient care and lead to the high cost for further health quality service. [2]

One of the huge issues at the time of conception was the transition to electronic means of storage and transfer. At the time this technology was new, and not widely used as it is today. However with the implementation of HIPAA, it helped create a sense of trust and security that was not present before. By creating procedures to follow when storing and transferring information electronically, it educated many on how patient information was really being handled. The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that HIPAA helped the adoption of electronic prescribing among physicians and other clinicians, overall adoption rates increasing from 5% to 18% (HIPAA: Impact). Essentially it helped usher in a new age of technology and assisted in its assimilation into the health industry, which provides far more convenience and utility than previous methods.