Health Consumer Privacy And Confidentiality

Listed in provision 3 of the current code of ethics for nurses is the position statement titled the “Protection of the Rights of Privacy and Confidentiality”. The statement was introduced to nurses due to today’s advancing technology such as the internet, social media, and medical databases. The statement states “The American Nurses Association (ANA) believes that protection of privacy and confidentiality is essential to maintaining the trusting relationship between health care providers and patients and integral to professional practice” (Privacy and Confidentiality, 2015). This means that nurses must advocate for and strive to protect the safety, health, and rights of their patients. The title of this statement is a basic right that all patients have and it is vital for nurses to safeguard their patients’ by understanding their roles as protectors and to understand that they are held accountable for whatever actions or decisions they make.

While I understand the need for both, I think that Congress should make HIPAA the law of the land with regards to medical privacy. Every individual’s rights and information should have the same level of protection no matter where in the United States they are located. Not only would a universal law help to eliminate the confusion between states, it would also remove a few of the barriers associated with universal healthcare. With better communication across state lines, patients will be able to send and receive information in a timely manner improving patient outcomes and quality.

Confidentiality, privacy and security are three main and related concepts that are usually interchangeably used when discussing health information protection within the healthcare systems.

Protected Health Information (PHI) is the definition used by HIPAA. It is any health information recorded or spoken that was received by a health care provider, health plan, public health authority, life insurer, school or university that describe the past and present physical or mental health occurred of an individual. This health information is personally identifiable to the patient and this information was exposed during the health service care. PHI was established to guarantee safety of the population. However, when the confidential information is violated and HIPAA protocols are not followed, the individual will have dealt upon a classification (Credentialed and non-credentialed faculty and students). Depending on the severity of the

Patient Privacy is the utmost concern in the healthcare field. Ensuring compliance of HIPAA regulations is very important, considering they created and maintains regulation over confidentiality of the patient being seen and ensuring privacy of symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. HIPAA also regulates to whom a patient can grant disclosure information to.

There are many reasons that healthcare professionals should ensure the privacy of their patients. Not only does HIPPA require (De Bord, Burke, & Dudzinski, 2014) confidentiality, healthcare professionals are bound by codes of ethics as well as state and federal agencies (Fordney, 2014, p. 23). The healthcare industry is highly regulated and ever one in the healthcare industry are held to the highest levels of scrutiny (Fordney, 2014, p. 23). We, as healthcare professionals, must know all Federal, State, and Local laws pertaining to a patient’s health information. In my opinion, one of the basic rules we should follow is learning what is ethical and moral. This only makes common sense to me that we should keep our opinions to ourselves, not gossip about other’s, and keep private individuals' personal information. We should respect all individual’s privacy and maintain complete confidentiality.

“Standards of practice are guidelines used to determine what a nurse should or should not do” (Nursing Standards of Practice, 2016). It provides a guide to the knowledge, skills, judgment, and attitudes needed to practice safely. When change is implemented, healthcare workers are responsible for and accountable to every patient for the quality of care the patients receive.

The issue of protecting patient information in health care is not a new issue; however, the use of social media in distributing this information is a relatively new problem. The use of social media has posed a lot of ethical challenges to the profession of nursing. Patient’s privacy and confidentiality of information are protected by HIPAA. Using social media in an improper manner could potentially violate HIPAA, and could result in consequences including: being sued, loss of licensure, and termination. Additionally, nurses are held to a higher standard than most and should act on their personal pages as such. Patients frequently search the nurses ' online profiles in order to determine their behaviors outside of the workplace, thus

There has always been much debate concerning confidentiality in the mental health field, and the health field in general. Psychologists and doctors alike are primed to be ethical and keep a patients’ information private and confidential. Once a patient walks into a therapist’s office or doctor’s office, all that is spoken about is supposed to be iron clad and kept in confidence. However, there are instances in which confidentiality must be broken. The terms for breaking confidentiality between patient and doctor were of great discussion for years. In our day and age laws have been set on when and how to break the confidentiality of a patient’s information. These laws came after the controversial lawsuit of Tarasoff v. Board of Regents of the

The word “privacy” is often thrown around, but a deeper look into the word reveals that there is actually no universally accepted definition of the term (Nass, Levit, Gostin & Rule, 2009). Today, more than ever, confusion persists over what the word means, the value it holds, and its scope. This is because at a personal level, privacy holds a different and unique meaning to the individual. Healthcare organizations harness some of the most highly skilled competencies of any labor force, which equates to massive amounts of collaborating. Healthcare providers, administration, and others will share protected health information (PHI) with each other, as necessary, to carry out treatment plans, process payments, or any other operations necessary

Confidentiality in health care is the primary value. It is mandatory for healthcare providers to preserve patient’s personal health information private unless the patient provides consent. Forming a trusting environment by respecting patient’s secrecy reassures the patient to seek care and to be completely truthful about their health care visit. Patients regularly provide personal information with their health care providers. If there were a breach of confidentiality within the patient-providers relationship confidence would be diminished and their health maybe adversely impacted.

Others may say the incident that happens in the case represented is not improper or illegal, however it is illegal due to the fact that reviewing private information (medical records) is not an action protected by any law, regulation or statute. By committing this act the nurse is not providing the patient with a safe place and the patient could not feel comfortable. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was designed to protect and keep safe the privacy of sensitive patient information and combat fraud in the healthcare industry, simplify administration of health insurance, and promote the use of medical savings plans for employees.

The Privacy Principle supports statement 1. Which is significant to follow as a health administrator, because I believe that it is essential to uphold the patient’s confidence and trust in the organization. I will ensure that patient’s health records are held confidential and medical information is not publicly disclosed. I will not let a stranger or a third person know the patient’s condition or purpose of visit unless the patient has given consent. I will follow the HIPAA regulations and avoid any privacy violations.

Respecting as well as safeguarding the patient’s health care, individual and private information is an honourable obligation. Sometimes it may be difficult and bring in occasions within the healthcare situation where particular problems are experienced resulting in the decision to discuss and share the private and personal information. The writer of this document believes that preserving privacy is of highest importance. Privacy or confidentiality can be described as preserving the personal privacy of those that the medical and healthcare professionals will be taking care of.

The nursing profession holds values such as honesty, human dignity, equality, commitment, care, competent, responsibilities to prevent the suffering of the sick and needed personnel (Gokenbach, 2012). As a professional nurse and an individual of the society, the writer of this paper believes in the values such as compassion, respecting the self-esteem, responsibility, honesty, conviction and impartiality. As individuals we all required to support and help each other and writer believes that our action and behavior make difference in patients and their loved one 's life. Respecting each other values, believes, culture, providing privacy in patient centered care indicates compassionate care as well as precise and accurate care improves patient safety, satisfaction and upholds the trusting relationship between caregiver and receiver.