The Patient 's Confidentiality ( Data Protection Act 1998 )

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.

not transferred to countries outside European economic area unless country has adequate protection for the individual

In accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council,(NMC, 2015) The Code Professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses and midwives on clause 5 Respect people’s right to privacy and confidentiality safeguarding patient information, no names or places will be disclosed. Therefore, throughout the following reflective case study, the patient will be referred to as Mariam. Patient

Essentially, this is Ontario statute, established in 2004, and it offers a set of guidelines concerning assemblage, usage, and revelation of individual well-being statistics. Through PHIPA, Fred Victor has to seek consent before it embarks on collection, use, and disclosure of personal health information (Bearwood and Kerr, 2004). The legislation directs that Fred Victor as a health information custodian is required to treat all personal health information as confidential and hence, maintain its security. Finally, Fred Victor is directed to ensure accountability through the affording the right to individuals the right to complain when they identify any error in their personal health information.

Finding out that people blame doctors for when their patient commits a crime puts my mind in utter disbelief. The law of patient confidentiality clearly states that the physician must keep all information a patient informs them in confidence, unless it acquires serious medical care, but if the doctor breaches the confidentiality by informing a third party without the patient’s consent, he or she could be sued. Doctor-patient confidentiality is based on the belief that a person should not be worried about seeking medical treatment in alarm that his or her problem will be shown to others. The objective of the relationship between the patient and their doctor is to make patients feel as comfortable as possible by providing them with any information they way need about their symptoms. This helps the doctor to make a correct diagnosis, and overall helping the patient feel comfortable enough to trust their doctor so that they may receive the best care. Once a physician takes a patient on, they must keep all the patient says and does in confidence; moreover, he cannot inform any third party of the patients wellbeing, but there are some exceptions like if the patient intends on causing harm to oneself or other or if it is an issue in a lawsuit. The court system claims A patient must have full confidence that their doctor will be able to keep all his or her medical issues private which helps the patient trust their physician. The professional duty of confidentiality not only covers

The patient described in this paper will be referred to as Jonathan Toews to ensure patients confidentiality. Jonathan Toews, is a sixty three year old man, born on August 23rd 1956, and lives with his eldest son. He was married two times and has three children, two children from his first marriage and one from his second. He lives in northern Ontario but originally was not born here, he moved here shortly following his second divorce. He is of Italian decent and is a practicing catholic. The patient weights 95kgs, is 178cm tall and has a body mas index (BMI) of 28.3. He said he used to play soccer when he was younger but since does not keep active or get the recommended amount of daily activity. Jonathan says he smokes around one pack or cigarettes a day and has a alcoholic drink roughly three to four drinks per week, he also describes that he eats fast food a few times a week. The patient now has congestive heart failure as a consequence of his MI. He was transferred from another hospital at the beginning of November and currently is waiting for more testing before he can be discharged from the hospital or moved to another facility. The patient has some known comorbidities that can exacerbate his CHF, this includes smoking, obesity, and noncompliance with medications.

Initially to maintain confidentiality the patient will be referred to as Mr Brown. Mr Brown has given permission for his nursing notes and details to be referred to through out this assignment. He is also aware that is identity will remain unknown and that a false name was chosen for assignment purposes. This can be identified in the NMC Code in ‘respecting people’s right to

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) provides data privacy and security regarding of safety medical information. HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) was created to help the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology. EHR (Electronic Health Record) is a digital version of a patient's paper chart. Through EHRs you can easily find patient information. HIPAA and HITECH lay out strict standards governing information security and privacy of patient information by using EHR.

R.H. has a large, active family in the area who assist in his care and plan of treatment as much as possible, and provide daily visits. Prior to the most recent hospital admission, the family reports he was an active man who lived alone, and was quite capable of caring for himself and his house. He has a wife who suffers from dementia and is cared for by their children. He meets with his primary care doctor as well as a home health nurse frequently to monitor his condition and review treatment options. Additionally, the patient is a non-practicing Catholic, with a close group of friends and other support systems within the community. Even with the high level of support he has, the patient is still at an increased risk for ineffective coping due to the sudden onset of his symptoms. Due to his continued weakness and confusion related to high levels of pain medications, much of the decision making is left up to his family, particularly his eldest daughter causing stress for the whole family. Because of his self-care deficit, which will likely extend after discharge, he will likely require extensive rehabilitation as well as being required to live either with family members or in a care facility. The patient and family will need to be continually monitored for ineffective coping for the duration of his hospital stay, as well as following discharge.

His wife was the one person who knew him and dealt with the disease first hand. Due to his flat affect and severe anhedonia John was unable to be intimate with his wife and I can only imagine this to be very difficult for her especially when she was not aware of his disease. After learning of his diagnosis his wife grew fearful of him and was unable to trust him alone with their child. Again, I can only imagine the pain in not being able to leave your child with its father without fear of the child being harmed.

Confidentiality is one of the main duties of health care providers. They are required to keep a patient’s health information private unless patient consent to release of the information (De Bord et al, 2013). Dilemmas in patient’s confidentiality may arise when there is disagreement between the principle of confidentiality and other ethical principles such as avoiding harm to the patient or others.

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.

The popular belief among our society has always been “Parents know what's best”. While their kids are young, parents know how to make their medical decisions for them. Parents know what's best for their children, they know how to keep them safe and healthy. However, their children soon turn into teenagers who should be trusted to make their own choices regarding their health care. They’re no longer the children they once were; they can comprehend the extension of every decision they make. Services and treatments should not be restricted to them because of their age or need for parental consent. Teenagers should be given confidential health care and should be trusted to make the choices that regard themselves. They should be allowed the privacy from everyone, including their parents make those choices.

The confidentiality of patient visits and medical records are essential in providing the highest quality of health care. Under penalty of law, a patient's medical records or any other information regarding the patient may only be released with his or her authorization. Exceptions to this are certain cases specified by law for example, health care providers are required to report certain communicable diseases such as measles. Many organizations and laws have been developed to maintain patient's rights of confidentiality and access to their medical record. Guided by the principle that confidentiality is essential in developing strong trust between patients and healthcare providers, the

Act was made law in 1984 but was replaced by a new Act in 1998 to