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Health Care Rights Essay

Decent Essays

I. Introduction 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 …show more content…

Other concerns are conversations within the hospital cafeterias/lobbies about patients and their families, and employees sharing information throughout the hallways without a “need to know.” Once employees discover their colleagues looking at patient information without a “need to know basis,” and, other wrong doings according to the agency’s standards, their own sense of what is right and wrong instantly comes into question. Reporting the unethical behavior, the employee who had discovered the violations of patient rights is presented with a number of difficult choices. The legal basis for imposing liability for a breach of confidentiality is more extensive than ethical guidelines, which dictate the morally right thing to do.
The creditability of our profession is undermined when we face the temptation to ignore our ethical responsibilities. The author of “Ethics & Critical Thinking” asserts the most common ethical fallacies rely on poor judgments, enormous stress, and conflict. Patient violations are committed everyday when our thoughts maintain “it’s not unethical even if our acts have caused harm as long as the person we harmed had it coming, provoked us, deserved it, was really asking for it, or practically forced us to do it—or, failing that, has not behaved perfectly, is in some way unlikable, or is acting unreasonably.” Integrity and values guide our behaviors and ethical commitment

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