Summary: HIPAA Negligence

. 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

The main goal of HIPAA is to protect unauthorized access and misuse of confidential health information. It allows for the safe storage of any health facts used, collected, transmitted or maintained by any health organization. It states that all health information about a particular client is completely confidential, regardless of what the format is and whether it is transmitted, maintained or collected. Protected information is that health information that already identifies the patient or could be used in order to identify the patient; it also relates to any of the patient’s past, present or future health conditions, any treatment the patient receives and any payment the patient makes toward their care.

Although the EHR is still in a transitional state, this major shift that electronic medical records are taking is bringing many concerns to the table. Two concerns at the top of the list are privacy and standardization issues. In 1996, U.S. Congress enacted a non-for-profit organization called Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This law establishes national standards for privacy and security of health information. HIPAA deals with information standards, data integrity, confidentiality, accessing and handling your medical information. They also were designed to guarantee transferred information be protected from one facility to the next (Meridan, 2007). But even with the HIPAA privacy rules, they too have their shortcomings. HIPAA can’t fully safeguard the limitations of who’s accessible to your information. A short stay at your local

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed by congress in 1996, and helps to ensure the privacy and security of Electronic Health Records (EHR's). By following the rules and regulations set forth under HIPAA, we can ensure the safety of patients' EHR's. We are responsible for protecting patients' records, and there are many measures we can take in order do this. Firstly, we must always keep patients' health information private. This means no discussing the records with people that are not authorized to know, and even then, we should only disclose the minimum necessary amount of information possible. For covered entities, we must designate a privacy and security officer to ensure the privacy

What the HIPAA law states. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a law that was enacted in 1996 establishing safeguards and rules to protect patients demographics and medical records. These rules limit the circumstances of how health records are used or obtained without the patient's authorization. HIPAA has set national standards that require these safeguards to maintain the attainability of health records and keeping them classified. This rule applies to any institutional and noninstitutional providers and only a written authorization by the patient will allow any use of their health records be disclosed.

During this research, there has been a collection of data that had been connected to the instances of HIPAA violations within the United States. There are various cases that have been reported through patients and employees where very personal medical information has been exposed unlawfully for personal gain. These cases have not only put a company at reputational risk. But these cases can also place a patient and or healthcare company in a terrible financial stipulation. This thesis will include a series of charts and tables that describe the fluctuation of such cases involving different examples of HIPAA violations. Not only will there be data of these instances but there will be illustrations of how both patients and healthcare employees exemplify HIPAA violations. These cases will be verified from an external and internal evaluation. Suggestive protocol will be demonstrated to guide one along to ensure the possibility of another case of HIPAA violation is prevented. Protocols and examples are being credited by diverse information.

Although, it was a mistake the hospital should feel obligated to inform the patient about the incident. I agree with the physician because it is the duty of a physician to reveal the truth because the patient has trusted her with his privacy. Not only is it morally correct, but as a future nurse to be so far we have learn that patients privacy is very important and people are counting on us as the healthcare profession to take care of them while maintaining their privacy. The first mistake that was done in this scenario is that the secretary should of double checked before sending the document. When faxing sensitive documents the person in charge of faxing should always double check that they have type the correct information. Not only is it important for them to tell the patient but they should also field an incident report. By feeling an incident report this will bring to the attention the situation so that in the future incidents like this one will not

I do think that HIPAA is more compliant in regards to electronic records because from its beginning concept it was known that health data was going digital. I think because of that knowledge it has been a main focus in its development through the years. Yes, I do believe that today HIPAA does protect my personal and healthcare records more so than 5 years ago because of the January 2013 HIPAA modifications. As stated in the article, these modifications implemented changes that increased the HIPAA sanctions and enforcements to include the business associates and subcontractors of the healthcare organizations. This is important because it stated that 20% of all breaches are caused by business associates. This means that they are now held to the

Even though hipaa violations are an important standard in preventing many individuals from causing several breaches of information from getting out, it is important to work on a strategies within several health care organizations that will work with the privacy rules regarding violation laws. “Jill Granger & Laura Cataldo (2013) reports When working in the healthcare setting, it is important to consult with the guidelines established by one's institution and to participate in any training programs to insure that the appropriate steps are being taken to maintain privacy. There are also a variety of additional resources available from the federal government and professional organizations to assist in the training process that may be especially

Medical records and medical correspondence are increasingly going digital. This has different risks than traditional paper records. Starting with HIPAA compliant software helps keep digital records safe. The IT end of things is a critical piece of the puzzle and one that can be a burden for small offices

2. In this case, how would you be able to correct your error and provide the missing documents to the patient while still protecting patient confidentiality under HIPAA?

Dr. Patterson’s office called to give patient Sara Martin her results, but her husband answered and asked to relay the message. As a doctor, she cannot give out patient’s information to anyone but the patient. In this situation Dr. Patterson should explain to the husband that information can only be released to the patient and; although he is the husband she would have to sign an information release form. If this information where to get released and she did not want anyone else to know , this would be a HIPAA violation and there can be fines to pay and may lose her

There are four components of Administrative Simplification Subsection/HIPAA (Gartee, 2011). The four identified components under “Title 2, subsection f” include: Transactions and Code Sets, Uniform Identifiers, Privacy, and Security (Gartee, 2011, pg. 71). “Health plans, clearinghouses, and healthcare providers” that are regulated in those four areas by HIPAA’s Administrative Simplification Subsection are considered to be covered entities (Gartee, 2011, pg. 71). Business associate agreements apply to the privacy and security components of the Administrative Simplification Subsection under HIPAA (Gartee, 2011). Most covered entities rely on other individuals or businesses for certain functions. These other businesses and individuals are referred

Received a call from an attorney asking for information about his client's husband. The attorney had called the SPD Branch and he was told they cannot share any information because the are prohibited by HIPAA Law. He was informed it is because the DHS workers are not allow to share information due to public assistance laws

When working in the medical industry, patient security is a top priority. Under HIPAA regulations, sending emails and faxes to another provider must be secured. The most common way to exchange information is via email. This is the easiest way to get patient records or any type of information over to other providers. When sending emails, make sure the email system uses SSL or TLS encryption. This will protect the information of the patient in the email being sent from being intercepted somewhere between the sender and the receiver. Using a standard email account without a secure encrypted file to send patient information is a violation of the HIPAA security and privacy rules. When it comes to faxes, this methods could be inherently insecure.