Healthcare 's Application Of Petronio 's Communication Privacy Management Theory

As human beings and citizens of the world, everyone values their privacy. It is a right that is often looked over and taken for granted by most. Since the beginning of time, there have been concerns about individuals’ rights to privacy and their personal information remaining confidential. Our founding fathers had concerns about this which is why, “…this right has developed into

When there maybe a conflict or dilemma in relation to sharing information and maintaining confidentiality.

Although sometimes constraints make it impossible to choose a perfect setting, it is important to, where possible, consider privacy. Privacy is one of the keys to good communication, as the client is likely to be disclosing information of a confidential and sensitive nature (Argyle 1998).

Society has become increasingly comfortable with the release of personal information, though it has allowed this with or without full knowledge, there is no doubt this information is used for personal gain. Jeffry Rosen addresses societies usages of privacy in his article “…everyone who is subject to the scrutiny of the crowd-from celebrities to political candidates to the families of terrorist victims- will feel pressure to parcel out bits of personal information in order to allow unseen strangers to experience a sense of vicarious identification.” (Rosen J., p. 161), and Ian Bogost addresses the perks of surrendering privacy in Disney parks with the magic band “The FAQ clarifies, in the vaguest possible way, that theses long- range readers

* Confidentiality – the steps that are taken when people’s information is not kept confidential and on a need to know basis

Privacy is one of the most controversial, yet most essential topics in the discussion of civil liberties. Some treat it as a necessity along with life, liberty, and property, whereas other people see it as something that shouldn’t get in the way of things like security (Sadowski).

Modern Americans see privacy as one of the greatest freedoms. When Edward Snowden revealed the NSA surveillance program, the citizens of the United States were appalled by the extent of access the NSA had to personal information. However, according to Dan Tapscott in his essay, “Should We Ditch the Idea of Privacy?” we post just as many details daily on our numerous social media outlets. The majority of the information we freely post is not meaningful and does no harm to us by being public, yet there is a dangerous side to our open-book nature.

Privacy is what allows people to feel secure in their surroundings. With privacy, one is allowed to withhold or distribute the information they want by choice, but the ability to have that choice is being violated in today’s society. Benjamin Franklin once said, “He who sacrifices freedom or liberty will eventually have neither.” And that’s the unfortunate truth that is and has occurred in recent years. Privacy, especially in such a fast paced moving world, is extremely vital yet is extremely violated, as recently discovered the NSA has been spying on U.S. citizens for quite a while now; based on the Fourth Amendment, the risk of leaked and distorted individual information, as well as vulnerability to lack of anonymity.

Leadership in innovation in healthcare is no different, as its initiative is to progress while maintaining strict confidentiality and maintaining an overall safe and trustworthy establishment. Healthcare laws are issued to help safeguard patient information creating a moral medical healthcare environment. Healthcare laws secure patient information and medical history and it has helped against fraudulent practices such as identity theft. Knowledge and practice of such laws strengthen leadership. For example, HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) privacy rule was created as a way to secure patient identifiable healthcare information and limiting its disclosures for legitimate purpose use only. To explain, the HIPAA Privacy Rule is an arrangement of selected models to secure the protection of patients' health records as these guidelines give patients access to their health record and control over how their own health record are utilized and disclosed (2015). In any event, the Privacy Rule addresses a guideline for understanding situations where disclosure can be given without patient consent. For example, court proceedings, insurance billing, and

In this paper, I will discuss the principles that permit disclosure of protected health information with or without the patient’s consent for each of the four categories, government agencies, legal agencies or representatives and research groups. I will also state whether I feel privacy safeguards are adequate to support those principles.

Communication Privacy Management Theory is designed to help explain the decision where people balance the advantages and disadvantages of revealing or concealing information to certain people in certain contexts. One major factor in this balancing act, the theory argues, is that of boundary linkage. In short, by disclosing information to another party, the sharer is transferring co-ownership of that information to that party, and without the establishment of rules regarding that information, that new party is able to then transfer the information ownership to additional parties. This creates a tension in that the initial owner still holds the belief that they are the true owner of information, and yet they’ve lost a certain measure of control; this tension, or boundary turbulence, can in turn lead to concern or distress. By looking into these feelings of tension and concern that occur after decision to disclose or conceal information have been made, a better understanding of what effects boundary linkage has on people’s decisions can be obtained.

Privacy and confidentiality are basic rights in our society. Safeguarding those rights, with respect to an individual’s personal health information, is our ethical and legal obligation as health care providers. Doing so in today’s health care environment is increasingly challenging (OJIN, 2005).

Individuals have different levels of disclosure and when combined with another individual’s disclosure level can have positive or negative outcomes. The decision to communicate can also cause uncertainty within relationships. Prior research was conducted to try and measure what exactly causes the uncertainty and negative results to show up in a relationship. Intimacy, security, problematic events, and irritations are all different elements that can be stronger or weaker in the relationship based on the disclosure (Theiss and Solomon 2006).

Today, individuals are sacrificing privacy in order to feel safe. These sacrifices have made a significant impact on the current meaning of privacy, but may have greater consequences in the future. According to Debbie Kasper in her journal, “The Evolution (Or Devolution) of Privacy,” privacy is a struggling dilemma in America. Kasper asks, “If it is gone, when did it disappear, and why?”(Kasper 69). Our past generation has experienced the baby boom, and the world today is witnessing a technological boom. Technology is growing at an exponential rate, thus making information easier to access and share than ever before. The rapid diminishing of privacy is leaving Americans desperate for change.

Privacy either encourages or is a necessary factor of human securities and fundamental value such as human embarrassment, independence, distinctiveness, freedom, and public affection. Being completely subject to mutual scrutiny will begin to lose self-respect, independence, distinctiveness, and freedom as a result of the sometimes strong burden to conform to public outlooks.