Hippa Theory

. HIPAA privacy rules are complicated and extensive, and set forth guidelines to be followed by health care providers and other covered entities such as insurance carriers and by consumers. HIPAA is very specific in its requirements regarding the release of information, but is not as specific when it comes to the manner in which training and policies are developed and delivered within the health care industry. This paper will discuss how HIPAA affects a patient's access to their medical records, how and under what circumstances personal health information can be released to other entities for purposes

Disclosing confidential patient information without patient consent can happen in the health care field quite often and is the basis for many cases brought against health care facilities. There are many ways confidential information gets into the wrong hands and this paper explores some of those ways and how that can be prevented.

In the health care business, there are certain standards and laws that have been put in place to protect our patients and their personal health information. When a health care facility fails to protect their patient’s confidential information, the US Government may get involved and facilities may be forced to pay huge sums of money in fines, and risk damaging their reputation.

Patient’s fifth right is for respect and care without discrimination from all members in the healthcare field. The right to confidentiality and privacy of their health information is sixth on the bill of rights and addresses their right to read, copy and request corrections to their medical record, to talk privately their medical providers and be assured their healthcare information is secure. The seventh right is for patients to have a “fair, fast, and objective review of any health care complaints” (Consumer Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, 1998). And finally our eighth right as patients are our responsibilities we have as the consumer of healthcare services. Patients need to comply with the orders of the medical provider so they can get and stay well. As a patient you must treat other patients and healthcare workers with respect, pay your medical bills in a timely manner, and abide by your selected healthcare plans coverage. As patients become more involved in the total healthcare process they increase the success of their treatment while assisting in lowering associated costs without a reduction in the quality of the healthcare they receive.

The article, Keep Privacy in Health Records, was written by the Monitor's Editorial Board on February 2, 2009. It condemns some of the provisions of a House Bill that was passed by the ACLU and other privacy groups. According to this bill, data encryption would ensure that authorized persons are barred from accessing patient’s health records in the institution. Audit trails are also crucial in determining and tracking who accessed the records, at what time and what type of information did he/she get. Lastly, the patients should be allowed to see their records to improve their notification and strengthen enforcement in health institutions. However, despite these initiatives to improve accountability and confidentiality of patient’s records in most institutions, the board believes that the bill has not solved some of the privacy issues as far as patient health records are concerned.

HIPPA is the law to protect health information communicated in any manner. It states the privacy and security regulations on the rights and standards of the patient. It also defined the penalties for those who fail to protect the individual’s identifiable health information. The information on patient’s name, diagnosis, important activities for the shift and room number are all included in the HIPPA privacy rule. HIPPA privacy rule part § 162.1002 Medical data code sets. (i) Prevention. (ii) Diagnosis. (iii) Treatment. (iv)

Sule stated that, “The Patient Bill of Right adopted by American Hospitals Association states that ‘a patient possesses the right to be informed of the medical consequences of his or her actions and decisions and refuse treatment to the extent permitted by the law’. However, this is true only if the patient is in position to understand the consequences of his treatment. Incompetent, senile patients neither have the correct judgment regarding which treatment is appropriate for them, nor are they in a state of understanding the implications of their treatment. In such case, their willingness to grant or deny consent cannot dictate the course of treatment.” Problem with the Act is being able to find that the patient component enough to make such a call. Another issue that Sule stated was on confidentiality and autonomy. According to Sule, “This is another ethical issue erupting from the conflict of patient's rights and professional ethics in nursing job and profession. The Patient Bill of Right makes it mandatory for the medical practitioners to reveal the form and extent of the ailment along with the course of treatment to be undertaken by the practitioners. However, this law of autonomy clashes with the nursing ethic that the professional should maintain high degree of confidentiality regarding the patient's health and treatment.” This can cause conflicting issues in the NP’s

This article has shown how different issues relating to patient privacy can be tricky. There is always the question about what the right thing is to do but there are laws and regulations

HIPAA, (Health Insurance and Portability Act of 1996) outlines rules and regulations and the rights of patients to access their healthcare information such as, notifications of privacy practices, copying and viewing medical records, and amendments. This paper explains why confidentiality is important today and discusses recourses patients can use if they believe their privacy has been violated. This paper will also discuss criminal and civil penalties’ that can occur for breaking HIPAA privacy rules.

HIPPA is a rule that helps protects a patient’s privacy when it comes to their health or medical information. It is also known as a security rule that helps in protecting electronic health information as well. As in the health care patient safety and confidentiality is an important rule to follow at all times. A standard of HIPPA is privacy. When it comes to privacy it is meant by protecting a patient’s medical information in any form needs to be controlled at all times. It is a rule that is balanced and used to protect the disclosure of the patient’s health information that is needed for patient care and treatment. It is important that any person working in the health care setting is aware of this rule as it is important to follow when

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.

There are laws that govern the delivery of health care, the financing of health care, the ethics of health care and laws that concern patient privacy. To conceptualize this vast concentration of study, it does help to classify the field into four major applications: (1) Health care law and Industry, (2) Public and population health, (3) Global Health, and (4) Bioethics. Health care law and industry is inclusive of hospitals and health care systems, pharmaceutical delivery and device manufacture, and law or standards that govern practitioners. Here, mandates are set to avoid abuse and malpractice. The field of compliance has evolved to assure that contractual standards are meant to avoid punishment.

The department of Health and Human Services protects and guides the health and well being of individuals here in America (Thacker, 2014). They fulfill these duties providing Americans with adequate and efficient health and human services and monitoring services designed to increase the efficiency of care in the health system (Thacker, 2014). One of the services being monitored by the department of Health and Human Services is the electronic health record system, which carries private and vital information of patient’s health record enabling all eligible participating health workers access to these records (Thacker, 2014). A breach of the protective health information of patients in a health organization creates chaos as these are against the health insurance portability and accountability (HIPAA) law (Thacker, 2014). Hence, measure will have to be put in place to determine what caused the breach and how to rectify it to ensure the breach never happens again (Thacker, 2014).

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).

The first principle is that with very few exceptions, health care information about a consumer should be disclosed for health purposes only. The information should be easy to use for those purposes, and very difficult to use otherwise. The second principle is that technical security safeguards be maintained for computerized data. Including audit trails that identify who accessed the data and the prosecution against anyone who used the records for illegal or improper purposes. The third principle is consumer access. The patient should have ability to access his or her records and know others that also have access to them. Patients should be aware of the laws, regulations, and policies that protect their information. The fourth policy is defined as accountability, which is of relation to security and consumer control. Fines and imprisonment are required to those who breach security of personal health information. The final policy is public responsibility. Legislation must be balanced between personal, private interests and national priorities of public health, research, and law enforcement. The excessive flow of information, without patient authorization, is essential to the immediate discovery and investigation in public health crisis. AHIMA's acknowledgement of these five principles are abroad outline of a sensible public policy that balances personal privacy