Health professionals have several overlying legal obligations including duty of confidence with respect to all information received in the course of a health-care relationship. Confidentiality is a patient’s right and is central trust between health professionals and patients.
A “health professional” is defined in the Act and means a person who is registered under a health practitioner registration Act; for example the doctor, physiotherapist, dentist, midwife, or registered nurse1. A health professional also include the person who provides a health service; for example a social worker or dietician. The duty applies to any “confidential information” that could identify someone who has received or is receiving a public sector health service. Confidential information includes any information collected by the Department during the course of providing a health service to an individual; for example: name, address, date of birth, health and medical information2.
The duty to maintain confidentiality means that a health professional is not allowed to disclose any medical information revealed by a patient or discovered by a health professional in connection with the treatment of a patient3. A disclosure of private information that the doctor has learned within the patient-physician relationship to a third party, without patient consent or court order, is a breach of confidentiality.
Disclosure takes place when staff discloses confidential information to any other person,
Confidentiality: Acknowledgement of the process of keeping trusted information private by the clinician, while distinguishing the reason for breaking one’s promise in keeping information secret; through written and verbal communication.
Confidentiality is a concept of vast importance for professionals in the medical field. It is a professional obligation in this field and is considered to be an ethical concept that falls in line with integrity, compassion, veracity, charity, and fidelity as explained in both the International Council of Nurses Code for Nurses (1973) and the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics (1985). However, in today’s ever growing world of technology and demand for information, challenges continue to arise that force doctors and nurses to reexamine virtues such as confidentiality.
Roles and responsibility of the work are adhered to. Personal information about patient are kept confidential except where it is necessary with other staff that care for the same patient or to the health care team attending to them.
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.
It is also just as important to keep a confidentiality because of data protection legislation which enforces the rights of the individual to have their personal information protected (Legislation.gov.uk, 1998). So legally, healthcare professionals have a duty to protect the healthcare user’s personal information, at least to the legal minimum, or face proceedings. On top of this though, there is a further responsibility placed on the healthcare professional to respect the right of the user to their private life and beliefs. This is outlined by the NMC’s Code (2012) which reiterates the Data Protection Act, 1998 and further clarifies the lengths that healthcare professionals should go to ensure the healthcare user’s confidentiality and privacy is protected.
Therefore every care practitioner should endeavour to promote theses rights when dealing with services users and their relatives. Furthermore, it is crucial for service users to understand that any information they give will be with strict confidentiality. It is a legal requirement for health and social care services to keep personal data confidential.
Describe the responsibility of the medical office specialist to protect all protected health information (PHI).
Quality patient care requires the communication of relevant information between health professionals and/or health systems. Healthcare professionals who regularly work with patients and their confidential medical records should contribute to the development of standards, policies, and laws that protect patient privacy and the confidentiality of health records/information.
In this report I will be explaining how equality, diversity and rights are promoted in a health and social care settings. This report will be based in a residential care home. I will explain the principles of the care value base within the care settings. There are many different procedures that are taken place within the care home to provide good care for the residents.
Confidentiality is considered a core value or principal in the medical practice. Confidentiality is a right that all people have within the medical field. This is the requirement of health care providers to keep a person’s information exclusive unless the patient or the person consents in the form of a release to share that information with other people that practice. Usually the consent is given when a doctor wants to consult with a different doctor for example. In this case it would be for the betterment of the person.
Confidentiality implies any data that is held around a specific individual is favoured and private. It is the obligation of all health care providers to verify that this data is open just to those approved to have admittance to it… Information around an individual ought to regularly just be shared on a need-to-know premise. All data held inside of my department is secret to the hospital in general. Confidential data about people can be examined with other social nurture bona fide reasons, for example, for one specialist to hand over toward the end of their day of work to another who has quite recently gone ahead obligation or when one health care provider needs to cover the work of their partner whilst they are on leave. General exchange around
Health care professionals are subject to a multitude of professional, legal, and ethical responsibilities which call for personal judgment to be utilized in such a manner as to protect clients as well as public wellness and interests. Overall considerations in handling such duties may be considered to be respect of a client’s autonomy, confidence, and recognition of obligations owed to all clients. While the aforementioned acts fall within the professional realm, there are also legal implications that guide care. Therefore, it can be said that ethical considerations occur in observation of legal responsibilities. Confidential information is perceived as private facts which are disclosed with the
“Professional integrity derives its substance from the fundamental goals or mission of the profession” (Wakin, 1996, para. 15). Meaning to say, individuals seek for a professional’s valued and ethical advice to which the professional holds their responsibility to maintain and exceeds the level of their expertise. For example, a general practitioner will treat a variety of patients, from all different walks of life with a plethora of different problems. It is their duty to diagnose and treat the patient to the best of their professional ability without prejudice. Another aspect of their duties is the principle of patient confidentiality. Medical professionals are legally bound to not divulge any information provided to them by their patients.
Confidentiality is central to trust between doctors, medical team and patients. Patients have a right to expect that information about them will be held in confidence. The birth of the Hippocratic Oath in the fourth century started the responsibility of physicians to preserve the privacy and confidentiality of their patients. One of the provisions of the Oath lays the ethical foundation for the physician’s duty of confidentiality even beyond the circumstances of medical care. The Florence Nightingale Pledge, which was composed in 1893, was a modification of the “Hippocratic Oath,” a statement of the ethics and principles of the nursing profession. Included in the pledge is to hold in confidence
When working with other clients, individuals, or employees it is important to keep all information confidential. Confidentiality is extremely important, because violation is breaking HIPPA laws and the code of conduct. Confidentiality protects a client’s rights, where all information that is given is kept private. “Privacy refers to the person’s right to keep specific information private which includes the facility’s