Accidental Disclosure Case Study

An employee should uphold the confidentiality of information assigned to them by the company and its customers, except when revelation of such information is authorized or required by applicable laws, rules or regulations. “Confidential information” includes all records, non-public information related to the company and its business, customers, or vendors that come to an employee in the course of carrying out the employee’s duties and that can be value to competitors or damaging to the company or its business if revealed.

The personal Health Information Protection Act sets out rules for the collection, use and disclosure of personal Health information. I discussed with my preceptor situations that demonstrate confidentiality regulations. she explained to me while counseling patient she always respects patient's confidentiality by providing private counseling area. Health information of the patient is shared only with health care professionals. With some exceptions, the legislation requires health information custodians to obtain consent before they collect, use or disclose personal health information. Individual have the right to access and request correction of their own personal health information. I also discussed about OCP code of ethics relevant to the

. 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

This paper is being submitted to Steven Mendoza, Ph.D., MSCP in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Law and Ethics, PSY627, on January 24, 2015.

* When a health professional, insurance provider or any staff members who have access to patient information decides to take a look at a patient's health portfolio and files, that employee must have a valid reason for doing so. According to HIPAA regulations, simply looking at a patient's information for no reason is illegal and grounds for a serious violation. This is hard to implement and even harder to prove; however, it is beneficial for the workplace to be aware of such policies and to improve the standard of professional healthcare that is offered.

Personal health information includes a patient’s name, address, birthdate and social security number. It also includes a person’s health or mental status whether it is in the past, present or future. HIPAA gives people the right to have access to their medical records. It also states that people have the right to either give consent or deny consent of their information being shared or released. All health care facilities, insurance companies, pharmacies, vision, and dental offices must adhere to the HIPAA guidelines. Though patients have a right to their information being kept confidential, their information may be shared for necessity in regards to treatment, billing, to protect the public health, and if the law requires disclosure. Penalties are set in place for violations of the HIPAA laws ("HIPAA summary,"

There are laws in place that protect a patient in the health care setting. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 or HIPAA, as it is known in the healthcare field, was designed to protect the privacy,confidentiality and security of patient information (Pozgar, 2013).Employees the health care field are very aware of HIPAA and the rights of their patients. All staff knows that patient information can only be discussed with qualified individuals on a need to know basis. Speaking about cases outside of work is strictly prohibited. Photography or recording of any patient interaction is also a breach of a patient's rights as well. The problem with this is that there are many policies in place to protect the

Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) is the protection of patient’s private health information. It’s very pertinent to the patients that their personal information is being kept privately away from unauthorized viewers. Patients are allowed to have access to their own health records if they request them. Workers that has access to protected health information are required by law to secure all information in a file and not share with anyone any information that is not relevant to them. You should always know whom to disclosed the proper protected health information to when necessary. There are safeguards that can help with ensuring the security and protection of the protected health information, while the information is being transmitted or stored in its proper place.

Confidentiality Issues: all patient information must be kept confidential and shared only with the appropriate staff involved in the care of the patient. Patient records must be kept out of sight so that for example the cleaning crew cannot look at it and other patients cannot view it. Discussing the case with anyone outside the medical office. HIPAA is for the protection, use, and disclosure of protected health information (Ramutkowski, Booth, Pugh, Thompson, &, 2008).

HIPPA rules also give patient rights over their health information. Including the right to be given and examine a copy of the HIPPA regulations. The HIPPA security rule obtains national standards to protect an individual’s electronic personal health care information that is created, received or used. HIPPA also protect employers and employees in the

While HIPAA violation are sometimes unintentional, it should be taken seriously because it is a violation of patient privacy, it can cause a lifetime of embarrassment & harm to one’s reputation, and individuals/entities can be fined and jailed for their offense. Regardless, if it is at work or home healthcare professionals should practice legal and ethical behaviors so that they can avoid HIPAA violation. As stated by Flite & Harman (2013), “Too long a coffee break and too much irrelevant conversation take away the dignity of our work, as well as being dishonest”.

Release of Information in healthcare is critical to the quality of continuing the care provided to patients. It plays an important role in billing, reporting, research and other functions. The HIPAA privacy rule has specific rules for the management of health information to ensure confidentiality of each individual. The rule will balance the need for prompt and informed delivery of health care services with that of protecting the individual. There are no standard uniform state privacy law in use of all 50 states, yet the territories. State laws focus on for example HIV generic information as well as a degree of strictness or protectiveness of patient privacy. Some states need that additional patient authorization be obtained prior to release, but some states do not. The law required that healthcare organizations develop, implement and maintain policies, processes and procedures around release of information. Overall management of those HIM processes that shows the fundamental to confidentiality, security and compliance in releasing protected health information. It is important that the organization 's policies and procedures include the management practices that support the process of disclosure and it 's oversight.

Every medical office employees are required to be trained in all the procedures and policies with HIPAA to understand the confidentiality for all patients. It is the responsibility of the covered entity to train its personnel on the policies, procedures and how these are to be carried out by its personnel. Then, the HIPAA's Privacy Rule states that, "a covered entity must train all workforce members

How do you interpret the situation when a person self-discloses too much information to soon in a relationship? How do you feel being on the receiving end of this sensitive information?

Other concerns are conversations within the hospital cafeterias/lobbies about patients and their families, and employees sharing information throughout the hallways without a “need to know.” Once employees discover their colleagues looking at patient information without a “need to know basis,” and, other wrong doings according to the agency’s standards, their own sense of what is right and wrong instantly comes into question. Reporting the unethical behavior, the employee who had discovered the violations of patient rights is presented with a number of difficult choices. The legal basis for imposing liability for a breach of confidentiality is more extensive than ethical guidelines, which dictate the morally right thing to do.