Confidentiality in the healthcare field is a patient’s vital and mandatory entitlement to the distribution of their medical records. This right is otherwise regarded as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which pronounces the protection of patients in several aspects such as healthcare accessibility, the prevention of healthcare fraud, etc. Due to the law’s commitment to protecting the consumer, it is absolutely essential for the medical profession to become fully aware of the HIPAA law and its policies. The ideology of confidentiality and the HIPAA law possess several issues, including the progression of the concept, confidentiality in minors, and the consequences of disregarding the legislation.
The Progression
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While the general rule of HIPAA in adolescence is the concept of parents or legal guardians possessing the right to access his or her child’s medical records, there are specific exceptions where minors can act as individuals. These anomalies include those who have received personal consent to treatment for an STD under the minor consent law, those who have been approved by the court to personal consent such as the process of abortion, and those who have family members who have given permission to the physician to disregard their right to access to their children’s medical records (English & Ford, 2004). The importance of minors and their consent to the distribution of their privacy to parents or legal guardians can be incredibly important to them and their overall wellbeing. According to several national surveys conducted, mainly sexually active adolescence is likely to receive the care necessary for their conditions under the circumstance that their parents and or legal guardian are not informed. For instance, under one survey discovered that “half of single, sexually active females younger than 18 years surveyed in family planning clinics in Wisconsin reported that they would stop using the clinics if parental notification for prescription contraceptives were mandatory” (English and Ford, 2004). Again, however, the minor consent law …show more content…
Failure to understand the law and the risks which the patients undergo may result in major consequences to not only the employee but the consumer as well. Depending on the individual or facility’s violation, the consequences may include a fine of up to $1.5 million and possible corrective action or imprisonment for the actions caused, as well as the leak of personal information for anyone to seek (Carol, n.d.). Due to the technological advancements, the HIPAA law policies have become stricter, thus creating a sort of fear within the healthcare field. For instance, the General Hospital Corp. and Massachusetts General Physicians Organization, Inc. paid approximately $1.0 million to the government due to violations of the HIPAA law. In this case, an employee working from home accidentally left medical information belonging to 192 patients on a public subway (Carol, n.d.). While major cases are accidental, some healthcare professions violate the law purposely. Cardiovascular surgeon Huping Zhou was sentenced to four months in prison “pleading guilty in January to four misdemeanor counts of accessing and reading the confidential medical records of his supervisors and high-profile celebrities…Zhou was also fined $2,000” (Dimick, 2010). Whether the situation is accidental or on purpose, the consequences of the violation are present. It is therefore up
With privacy being of the utmost importance within a medical practice, HIPAA compliance can be a significant legal issue when implementing the AHSI Project into production. HIPAA compliance is a very important legal issue that should be reviewed by the legal team on any project. Encryption is also important as a legal issue, if the software is not encrypted and patient information is not protected, it can be a HIPAA violation as privacy is. Trust as a legal issue involves HIPAA compliance as well as trust in the legal system that CareMount Medical
When examining the case of the State of California against Dr Zhou, we can clearly conclude that the HIPAA law of which was convicted of violated is not just words written on paper to buy patients' confidence, it is meaningful law set in place to protect patient privacy and any ones violating this law, regardless of your position in the health care field can be persecuted punished for violating the law, even in the absence damages evidence resulting from the violation of the law. The purpose of this post is to discuss the case of the State of California against the physician, Dr Huping Zhou, in this post I will review the HIPAA law, penalties for violation of the law and why I felt that Doctor Zhou was very fortunate for his punishments four
This describes the issue of violation of privacy to access personal information from medical records. The professional health workers took Henrietta’s cells from her cervical area, utilizing her body for the sake of science. It was violation and a crime. Because of these issues, it has raised the concern about hospital administrators following privacy protocol to this day. This should not have been done by medical staff, especially professionals to keep her information confidential, with no public access to her records.
The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act also known as HIPAA has set a national standard for the handling of electronically stored medical records. Medical confidentiality protects conversations between a patient and his or her doctor from being used against the patient in court. It is a part of the rules of evidence in many common law jurisdictions. The penalties for violating HIPPA are based on the level of negligence and can range from $100 to $50,000 per violation or per record, with a maximum of $1.5 million per year. Violations can also carry criminal charges that can result in jail time.
I agree with you, Dr. Zhou should have clear understanding of the HIPAA law, that is part of orientation practice for everyone who has access to patient information in the health care field. For Dr. Zhou to access the patient electronic records after his termination is very alarming. Everyone agrees that his plea deal of $2000 of fine and four months in prison was a lesser punishment than what he deserves. According the HIPAA law he could spent more than 10 years in prison for his action .What is your thoughts. Don’t you think UCLA should have been liable for failing to protect the patient information.
HIPAA Data Breaches When a patient discloses his or her personal information to the medical staff, it is with confidence that the information is secure. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.
New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center finally agreed in 2014 to pay a settlement of $4.8 million dollars for HIPPA violations that happened in 2010 (McCann, 2014, para. 2). The violation involved patients’ electronic health records data being found on Google. According to McCann (2014), “the HIPPA breach transpired when a CU physician, who developed applications for NYP and CU, attempted to deactivate a personally-owned computer server on the network containing ePHI’ (para. 3). Because the hospital lacked technical safeguards, the patients’ electronic health records were be able to be accessed once server was deactivated. Because the institutions were fined a record setting of $4.8 million dollars,
Nurses and doctors take the oath to protect the privacy and the confidentiality of patients. Patients and their medical conditions should not be discussed with anyone who is not treating the patient. Electronic health records are held to the same standards as nurses in that information is to be kept between, and shared only with the immediate care team. HIPAA violations are not taken lightly nor are the violation fines cheap. Depending on the violation, a hospital can be fined from $100 to $50,000 per violation (National Nurse 2011 p 23).
There will be patients that dislike the EHR and prefer the old fashion paper system as they believe that to be a safest way to store information. Ethical and social implications of Electronic Health records are not limited to, hacking, provider ’s neglect of loosing laptops with patient confidential information, leaving other patient records up while a different patient is in the room. Insufficient training for staff as many staff may not be properly trained in implementing HIPPA which compromises patient’s privacy. Over worked staff may input wrong information in the EHR such as inaccurate spelling and recording of patients’ name and current medication history.
HIPAA Violation rocks hospital! An employee at St. Charles Health system accessed over 2400 patients’ medical records over a two-year period because they were curious. We all know that curiosity killed the cat and now it may have direr consequences for this curiosity seeker and the hospital system. HIPAA Violation without intent to commit fraud The employee who viewed the protected health information (PHI) without a legitimate reason to do so is in jeopardy of large civil fines, loss of their respective clinical license and criminal prosecution.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 The writer will be discussing the health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, its principal element of the law, how the law is communicated to health care providers and the institution, and what providers are likely to be the most impacted by the laws. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) adopted by Congress in 1996 (PL. 104-191), aims to protect the privacy, confidentiality, and security of patient information (Pozgar, 2013, p. 245). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is dramatically broader in scope than privacy protections for health care information, a provision for
Everyone should be careful when working in the health field because HIPAA is a big rule for the privacy of information of the patients and the work place. Text messaging, pictures, and the use of social media contributes a lot to the HIPAA violation, and you should use with caution before posting anything online or sending anything to someone else. There are lots of penalties
I agree in the medical field or within law enforcement a persons confidentiality should not be protected, especially when the person is a harm to themselves and the community that they live in. For example, sexual predators or someone intending on doing harm to another isn’t afforded the same protect confidentiality as a person expressing a personal concern. Confidentiality can be violated when serious threat of harm is suspected, the clinician has the moral responsibility to protect the community from any person suggesting that they may do harm to himself or herself or another person. Dr. Ruth Bagshaw decision to notify law enforcement of her patients intent to possibly commit physical harm to young girl is a clear indication of why confidentiality
Imagine receiving a medical bill addressed to you that had the prescription for your 16 year old daughter’s birth control pills. The problem is you did not consent to her getting on birth control. As a parent what would your reaction be, pain, anger, sadness? Would you be angry at your daughter for getting the pills without permission or would you be angry at the doctor for providing the birth control? According to Guttmacher Institute, 21 states in the United States allow minors to consent to contraceptive services (Minors Access…).
(North Western Legal Services, 2008). The court then reviews the information and evidence presented and grants emancipation when there is sufficient proof of circumstances and behavior that determine emancipation being in the best interest of a minor. North Western Legal Services (2008) further states that the information reviewed includes: where the minor is living; whether the minor is financially dependent on their parents; whether the parents and minor intend for the minor to be independent; whether the parents are exercising control over the minor; and whether the minor is capable of financially supporting themselves. Courts require substantial evidence of the necessity of emancipation before terminating parental rights because the emancipation of a minor through court permission represents a significant decision that transforms the common law of providing and caring for minors, forcing minors to provide and care for