Essay On Patient Privacy And Confidentiality

US Congress created the Hipaa bill in 1996 because of public concern of how their private information was being used. It is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which Congress created to protect confidentiality, privacy and security of patient information. It was also for health care documents to be passed electronically. Hipaa is a privacy rule, which gives patients control over their health information. Patients have to give permission any healthcare provider can disclose any information placed in the individual’s medical records. It helps limit protected health information (PHI) to minimize the chance of inappropriate disclosure. It establishes national-level standards that healthcare providers must comply with and strictly investigates compliance related issues while holding violators to civil or criminal penalties if they violate the privacy of a person’s PHI. Hipaa also has boundaries for using and disclosing health records by covered entities; a healthcare provider, health plan, and healthcare clearinghouse. It also supports the cause of disclosing PHI without a person’s consent for individual healthcare needs, public benefit and national interests. The portability part of Hipaa guarantees patients health insurance to employees after losing a job, making sure health insurance providers can’t discriminate against people because of health status or pre-existing condition, and keeps their files safe while being sent electronically. The Privacy

. 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 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was established in 1996. This Act was put into place in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the health care system. The HIPAA law includes a Privacy

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a set of national standards created for the protection of health information; it is also known as a “Privacy Rule”. This rule was employed in 1996 by the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to address the use and disclosure of an individual’s health information as well as the standards for the individual’s privacy rights to understand and control the manner in which their information is used.

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.

All healthcare providers, health organizations, and government health plans that use, store, maintain, or transmit patient health care information are required to comply with the privacy regulations of the HIPAA

Data Protection Act: Patient information has to be kept private. Health care professionals and their affiltes must not allow unauthorised access to sensitive patient information. The Health information portability and accountability act of 1996, also known as HIPAA, contains a clause designed to protect patient privacy. The rules ensure that health care professionals take prudent steps to protect the confidentiality of communications with individual patients. Patients can also request that health care professionals correct may inaccurate person health information in their records.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was created to protect the personal and medical information of a patient obtaining medical treatment. HIPAA came into effect in 1996 and it was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, after approval by congress. The HIPAA covers personal information such as name, date of birth, address, etc. Results of tests, diagnosis and treatments for ailments are also covered under HIPAA. A persons protected health information can be divulged if express permission is given by the person that the protected information pertains to. There are exceptions for permission to divulge information which can include an investigation of a crime, suspected cases of child abuse or other law enforcement purposes as required by law. Protected health information (PHI) can be disclosed in aiding treatment or payment for a service. Title II of the health insurance portability and accountability (HIPAA) establishes the rules of compliance for electronic processing of transmissions, disclosure of PHI ( Protected Health Information), or the

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.

HIPAA is the Health insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It became law in 1996. The original intent was to help employees change jobs and keep their health insurance by making their coverage portable. Later, on April 14, 2003 lawmakers broadened the law to include the Privacy Rule. Protected Health Information(PHI) is a HIPAA term, it includes all medical information of an individual. All patients health information is protected no matter what form it is in. PHI can be controlled in many forms such as backup disk or tapes, insurance statements, lab reports, prescription forms, patient form, email, etc. Five steps to comply with the Privacy Rule are:

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 or better known in the industry as HIPAA. When first introduced, the law was to help employees keep their health insurance while changing job due to one reason or another. Along with that, it sets standards for the exchange of patient information in electronic form. With these new privacy laws, clinics and hospitals could not longer share medical information with any random person. Under the law are that are called Covered Entities, which are required to keep the protected health information private. The law considers covered entities as: health plans, health care clearinghouse, health care providers, and insurance reimbursements information. What is not consider covered entities

Privacy and confidentiality as it relates to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) are used interchangeably but they are not the same. A health care member can keep a patient healthcare information from the public and at the same time breached the confidentiality by discussing the patient medical situation in public with a family member or a friend (Wiener, & Gilliland, 2011). Privacy, as it relates to health insurance portability, can be defined as the “privacy rule that protects an identifiable health information which is called protective health information (PHI)” (Wiener, & Gilliland, 2011). This information incorporates patient names, address, social security numbers, email, and phone numbers etc.

The main focus of the article is to look at the absolute value of patients’ confidentiality. Blightman et al. look at the pros and cones of breaking patient’s confidentiality and conclude that a breached of confidentiality is in order when it is necessary to obtain consent, as required by law, or when it is in the best interest of the public. The article is useful to my subject, since it examines in details the main issues involving the safeguard of patients’ information. In addition, the authors define confidential information, looks at breaching confidentiality for consent, audits, protection of children, disclosure to family and friends, statutory disclosure, prevention of crime, public interest, public safety, public health, and disclosure to the media. The paper publication is Continuing Education in Anaesthesia, Critical Care & Pain, which s a joint publication of the British Journal of Anaesthesia and The Royal College of Anaesthetists in the UK. It is also the official journal of The Faculty of Pain Medicine and The College of Anaesthetists of Ireland. Publication in such an esteemed journal requires utterly scrutinized of reliability and credibility of the information provided. I found the article educational and thorough in its coverage of aspects of breach of patient information. It is also well written and easy to understand.

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).

Medical cases that concern confidentiality are not always cut and dry, adding family to the mixture causes even more turmoil and confusion as it applies to patient-doctor confidentiality. In the case of Carlos R. (who is HIV positive), and his sister Consuela who is acting as a care giver; I believe that the doctor should maintain patient-doctor confidentiality and respect the wished that Consuela not be told about the HIV diagnosis.