Why Medical Practices Should Be Legal

While advancements in technology have positively impacted the nursing field, it has also created huge concerns with patient privacy and sharing of protected health information leading to detrimental effects to patients and their families. Indeed, technology is changing the face of healthcare with positive innovations to reduce medication errors and documentation errors. However, technology at our fingertips has created immense concerns with sharing of protected health information of patients via social media, email and other means of communication via technology. This paper addresses why I feel the advancement of technology has numerous deficits that need more research and implementation of new laws and policies to safeguard the

Use of an EHR presents major opportunities for the compromise of patient’s personal health information (PHI). The facility must ensure proper safe guards are implemented and functioning properly at all times. Employees need to be educated on the safety measures to prevent breach of patient confidential health records. Privacy breaches can result from misuse or improper storage of PHI by the healthcare professional, by third party payers, or by lack of proper encryption in the EHR system itself (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a law that holds healthcare facilities and professionals accountable for keeping PHI confidential, patients to control

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

As health professionals, it’s essential to take every precaution to protect sensitive patient information including personal contact information and medical history. Patient data is regulated by the government and provides privacy and security provisions for safeguarding medical information. The law that regulates these processes, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), has become a prominent point of public discussion over recent years due to an onslaught of security concerns and cyberattacks on health providers and insurers.

In today’s health care industry providing quality patient care and avoiding harm are the foundations of ethical practices. However, many health care professionals are not meeting the guidelines or expectations of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) or obeying the organizations code of ethics policies, especially with the use of electronic medical records (EMR). Many patients fear that their personal health information (PHI) will be disclosed by hackers or unauthorized users. According to Carel (2010) “ethical concerns shroud the

2002) Critical aspects of security, privacy and accurate identification of patients must be addressed, as well as compliance with government regulations (Ch5). Additionally, designers must take special care to insure that the language used in presenting personal health data enhances the patient’s understanding of his or her health concerns. Many of these portals also provide secure messaging systems, allowing patients to communicate concerns about their clinical record to their health care providers. One article comparing four patient portals (Halamka et al. 2008) demonstrated the challenges and opportunities associated with deploying this technology, noting important issues such as authentication, policies around minors desiring patient portal access to a PHR, decision about how much of the EAHR should be available, and a host of other issues. This article, as well as two by Osborn et al. (2010, 2011) articulates the pervasive way that even simple shifts from a provider-centric to patient-centric view precipitates ripples in the process and culture of health care

Telehealth is the new wave of the future for healthcare however, legal issues will arise as the use of information and communication technologies in medicine proliferates.

Telehealth systems present important security and hidden risks that can affect the level of trusts of clinicians and patients in using the systems. Notably, the telehealth encounter might lead to the disclosure of information to the wrong person unknowingly. Therefore, one of the primary recommendations would be to ensure that at the beginning of each encounter, the telehealth providers verify and authenticate the identity of the patient. The practitioner's identity should also be checked to prevent the wrong personnel from attending to the patient for personal interests. Verifying the identity of the patient prevents another individual from accessing the patient’s information

The fifth ethical principle relates to privacy and confidentiality. Privacy belongs to each person and it cannot be taken away from that person unless he/she wishes to share it. Confidentiality means that the information shared with other persons will not be spread abroad and will be used only for the purposes intended. A patient's sharing of private information imposes a duty of confidentiality on health care providers. That duty means providers will share information only on a need-to-know basis. More patients equal more health care providers, administrators, regulatory agencies and financial decision makers with a need to know. When telenursing is added to this, and more nurses are practicing across state lines, a potential

Privacy and security breaches occur in every sector, including healthcare, leading to a need for better privacy and security measures. With the advancement of technology, there has been an increase in trends regarding how people’s health data is being protected. eHealth is a major technology advancement so the need for better privacy and security measures is vital to ensure that breaches do not occur. There are various steps that can be taken by eHealth Ontario to develop an appropriate strategy to deal and prevent privacy breaches from occurring.

Another barrier that behavioral health providers have faced is including the high security in EHRs and it led to miscommunications with other behavioral health providers. According to Lardiere EHRs are programmed under HIPAA privacy rule and they do not allow a patient to choose sharing information for treatment, operation, or payment (38). Also, "there is a requirement that the patient recognize who particularly can have access to his or her data" and these barriers could make difficult for health providers to improve the quality of care (Lardiere 38). On the other hand, Rezaeibagha and her colleagues state that the implementation of EHRs needs to have security operations including "control of networking, operational responsibility of networks, safeguarding integrity, monitoring and restrictions for safe communications" (30).

The use of telemedicine is becoming an integral part of health care. With continuing success of telemedicine programs within specialty areas such a cardiology and dermatology, telemedicine and the use of the internet will continue to grow. This growth, however, has the potential to cause privacy risks. It is up to each institution providing this service to make sure there are security safeguards in place and have strategic plans to ensure its effectiveness.

In a world full of electronics it would only seem logical to have health records electronic. Not only are medical records efficient, reliable, and quick to access, new technology allow patients to access their own personal medical records with a simple to use login and password. “People are asking whether any kind of electronic records can be made safe. If one is looking for a 100% privacy guarantee, the answer is no”(Thede, 2010). At my hospital, upon every admission we ask the patient for a password for friends and family to have to have if they would like an update on the patient 's condition. We do not let visitors come up and see the patient without the patient 's consent. In doing these things, we help to ensure the safety and protection of the patient 's health information and privacy.

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).

In light of available security measures and their widespread acceptance within the information security community, there is no excuse for healthcare organizations to fail in fulfilling their duty to protect personal patient information. Guaranteeing the confidentiality and privacy of data in healthcare information is crucial in safeguarding the data of patients as there should be a legal responsibility to protect medical records from unauthorized access.