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CONFIDENTIALITY IN HEALTH CARE
Student name
Institution name
Course number and name
Instructors name
Date due
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CONFIDENTIALITY IN HEALTH CARE
Law Requirements
Define the law.
Identify stakeholders
Differentiate the
Identify the
Describe the impact the
involved in law.
confidentiality
name of a law
law has on the health
requirements of the law. that was enacted care industry
to protect
confidentiality in
the health care
industry.
Statutory law
This are written laws
The main stake holders Statutory laws requires The federal
Firstly, this particular
that have been passed
in in the enactment of
that if the staff going to health insurance law was enacted to
by the legislature as
this law is the
disclose confidential
portability and
statute, which is the
government (as
information, then
accountability act moving between jobs.
law formally written
legislators), the
should be aware of the of 1996.
and enacted. Where
healthcare providers, the legal frame work that
information disclosure citizens (also regarded
governs it. This laws
protect health workers
However, currently the
laws is more associated
to patient information
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is hampered by lack of as patients) and other
also outlays on the
protection and
function, governments relevant bodies in the
procedure of obtaining
confidentiality.
often construct new
explicit information on
health department.
statutory mechanisms The government acts the the patients and also
that provide public
main stake holder in this whether or not to
sector organizations
law since they are the
with the requisite
regulators and the
information
providers of it.
disclose them.
dissemination function.
Regulatory law This are laws put in
The stakeholder
The law has widely
The patient
This law ensures that
improved not only
safety and quality healthcare employees
place to ensure high
involve in this body is:
standards of service
the regulatory bodies in voluntary but also
adherence by health
charge (U.S. department confidential reporting of of 2005 (PSQIA) working conditions at
professionals, public
of health and human
protection and
services), the health and patients.
protected. Individuals
promotion of health
social care providers and
are encouraged to report
events affecting
improvement act who report harmful
their workplace are
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care access. This laws the patients. Patients in It is a concern to many
medical errors while
are provided by a
protecting patient
this cases are the citizens healthcare providers
regulatory body put in of USA all whom are
that patient’s safety
anonymity under the
place by the
covered with the same
reports will be used
law.
government. To
laws
against them in medical
. However, this act
disciplinary situations
allays these concerns by
protect as well as
regulate public health
granting federal legal
at each and every level,
privilege and secrecy to
these regulatory
information gathered
authorities work
and disclosed by
together with the help
provider.
of this laws.
Common law
This is a law concept
In order to ensure
This law provide
DoH Code
The main impacts of
that forbids health care patient confidentiality,
protection to
Practice On
this law is improvement
providers from
the following
information provided by Protecting The
of information or details
revealing what she or
stakeholders are
the patient to the
the patients provide to
Confidentiality
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he is aware of about a involved: the patient
person’s health
(who is the victim if the conclusion drawn by the information of
condition. This law not details of their
only covers what the
healthcare provider, the Of Service User health care providers.
health care provider on January 2009
healthcare are revealed the patient’s condition,
This in return ensure
quality service to the
patients’ themselves.
patient informs the but to the public or any
al the health care
This improvement is as
also what the doctor
other unworthy party),
records (including x
result of the fundamental
draws as the
the client, the citizens,
rays and laboratory
right to patients that
conclusion. Moreover, professional bodies (for reports). This
gives them the control
the common law is also example, insurance
over their own health
entitled to cover all
information is noted as
companies), regulators, property of the patient
and social information.
medical records as well and other health and
and can only be
The provision of this law
as the conversations
revealed either by
has also, apart from
between the patient and
permission of the
boosting patient’s
medical staff.
patient or by court
confidents, generated
order.
trust between patients
social care providers.
and doctors.
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The Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
Health care is a private service which requires patients to reveal intimate as well as
personal information in order to receive appropriate medication or treatment. It is therefore the
responsibility of the healthcare provider to treat his or her patient information with utmost
confidentiality and protection. The Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
of 1996, also known as HIPAA, is a privacy rule which was issued by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services as law to regulate disclosure of patient health information.
This policy prevented revealing of personal identifiable health information and records.
It is a requirement by this law under HIPAA Transaction Rule that all heath care details and
information must be transferred according to its standard regulations. The primary goal of this
policy is to identify and limit the situations under which covered entities may decide to use or
disclose a patients protected health and personal details.
The fast increase in technology is a major challenge to establishment of trust between
patients, their family and health care providers as a result it compromises the quality of care as
well as safety of patients. As technology advances and so id data storage and systems. It
therefore a valid argument that increase in technology is not a setback to privacy. The
development of data analysis tools and algorithm in the future is a grand opportunity to improve
the health care sector. Technology will also enable storage of large data bases. When enormous
data sets are harnessed, new technologies are available that can help determine what treatment
will be most beneficial to each patient’s health and wellbeing.
When not properly used, the same technology that makes it easy to collect and analyses
patient’s details can become a HIPAA security and compliance hazard. Noncompliance with
HIPAA by healthcare professionals could results in them losing their license to operate. HIPAA
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as way of protecting data breach enforces that patient information stores should logout at certain
intervals to prevent access by unauthorized personnel. Using a new software before is thoroughly
vetted for security threats can result in HIPAA violation, since it may provide access for hackers
into patient information databases.
All factors considered it very arguable that increase in technology is advantageous to
implementation of the HIPAA policy. Technology ensure secure communication between patient
and hospital, large storage of data, password manage for IT security and also employee training
which increases knowledge of the laws objectives.
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References
Passwords, S. (2011). HIPAA: privacy, security, and pharmacy information technology. US
Pharm, 36(11), 79-81.
Rosenbloom, S. T., Smith, J. R., Bowen, R., Burns, J., Riplinger, L., & Payne, T. H. (2019). Updating
HIPAA for the electronic medical record era. Journal of the American Medical Informatics
Association, 26(10), 1115-1119.
Wilkinson, T., & Reinhardt, R. (2015). Technology in Counselor Education: HIPAA and HITECH as
Best Practice. Professional Counselor, 5(3), 407-418.