1) Describe some of the circumstances in which confidential health information can be disclosed without the patient's explicit consent Confidential health information can be disclosed under the following circumstances without the patient’s consent. Court orders and Subpoenas - when there is a court order made to have the health records available. The legal process to obtain health record information is through a subpoena. Statutory reports - Hospitals and medical personnel are required to report certain health information to public authorities.…
To prevent a HIPAA violation when disposing of PHI, the healthcare facility must have a written policy documenting the proper procedure to follow when disposing PHI, and schedulers must be trained on HIPAA rules and regulations on an annual basis. Additionally, many offices keep separate containers for collecting and shredding PHI. In a recent settlement, Cornell Pharmacy in Denver, Colorado agreed to pay $125,000 to settle potential HIPAA violations after a local news reporter found patient information in an unsecured container (DHHS, 2015). According to the DHHS (2015), Cornell was cited for failing to safeguard PHI, failing to implement written policies and procedures, and failing to train the workforce on the Privacy Rule.…
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) passed in 1996 to help set a national standard to protect certain patient health information (Gartee, 2011). The major goal of HIPAA is to ensure a patient’s Health Information (PHI) is utilized by the correct individuals at the correct time to perform a certain job. In addition, HIPPA sets the standards by which PHI can be shared with covered entities and family; plus allowing the patient to receive notice on how their PHI will be utilized. In addition, HIPPA is a complete and comprehensive guide to protect the public’s health and well being while striking a balance that permits important uses of PHI to share information (“Summary” n.d.). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability act includes three categories of security safeguards and how covered entities will communicate PHI.…
Under HIPAA, you are not legally allowed to view patient`s medical information without their consent, and unless you are their doctor or healthcare staffs. It is in violation of the patient’s personal information and also is against the law because you are not a doctor or healthcare staffs to retrieve a patient record. HIPAA only allows physicians and healthcare staffs who are involved in the patient care to freely view the medical information that would be needed in relation to the treatment, payment, and care-related management of the patient. The physicians and the healthcare staffs would need the medical information in making care and management plans and decisions throughout the management of the patient. If the patient medical information…
After doing some research on articles of HIPAA violations I found a few stories that caught my attention. The first story is about An Alabama woman that has been charged with violation of the HIPAA privacy rule for stealing paper surgery schedules about 4,500 patients from Trinity Medical Center in Birmingham. She was then using the names of these patients as well as their date of birth and social security numbers to commit identity theft. By Law this is HIPAA violation of privacy the lady should have not been going through any of the patient’s records without a valid reason. The second story I found very interesting was about a man named Huping Zhou 47 years old from Los Angeles.…
The policy (or main issue beyond addressing secondary issues such as right to amend a complaint etc.) at issue in the cases of Tenuto v. Lederle (1997) , Safer v. Estate of Pack (1996) , and Molloy v. Meier (2006) is at which length do physicians have to notifying family (hereditary offspring), close associates, or those in contact with a patient of disease transmission; either through genetic heredity or by contact with a communicable pathogen. In all three cases, the policy is consistent as the three cases all dealt with a physician’s duty to warn others beyond the patient themselves- even if it seemed to violate the privacy rules normally expected in a physician-patient relationship.…
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability laws protect personally identifiable health information such as a person’s social secutrty number, birthday, address, etc. It also protects a person’s current, past, or even future physical and or metal conditions or treatment. In 1996 congress passed the HIPAA law, but did not pass a federal medical privacy statute, so the Department of Health and Human Services was required to develop regulation that specified patients’ rights to health privacy. In 2001 President George W. Bush implemented the Human Services Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act “Privacy Rule” which recognized the “right of consent”.…
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, also known as the HITECH Act was signed into law on February 17, 2009. It was enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as ARRA. This Act was passed to encourage the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology (HHS, par 1) and to add changes to HIPAAs original provisions. The HITECH Act significantly modifies the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, also known as HIPAA.…
In your grievance filed at Central Unit, you claim your HIPPA rights to keep your personal medical information private were violated due to security staff having a video recorder in the hallway. Your resolution is to stop recording your interaction with medical staff. Your grievance appeal has been reviewed at the Central Office level and the Deputy Warden's response is affirmed. None of your medical history was shared with any staff or inmates. The video camera was used strictly as a security measure and no sound was recorded.…
At the turn of the century, many new ideas and innovations started to sprout. Whether it was a new video game console or artificial hearts, the technological industry was taking off. The turn of the century was especially important for the medical field of technology. In 2003, The Human Genome Project was completed sparking the beginning of Personalized Medicine, but what is Personalized Medicine? Personalized Medicine is a new way of treating patients and tailoring treatment for diseases in specific people.…
HIPAA Security and Privacy: Cases and Scenarios Brittany Stewart Herzing University Dr. Gary J. Hanney Abstract HIPAA security and privacy is an important aspect of healthcare delivery. Government influences greatly how legal issues are addressed in healthcare, including non-governmental entities. This essay will explain how the HIPAA privacy rule should be applied appropriately with protected health information.…
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is defined as “a labor law that prohibits gender-based wage discrimination in the United States.” (HISTORY, DATE) The purpose of this law is to provide equal pay to both men and women that perform the same jobs instead of having women feel like they are of lesser equal to men especially when they are performing the same job. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is defined as a “federal law that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, and religion.”…
Prenatal genetic sequencing is a scientific procedure that predicts the risk of developing an illness later in life, and/or shows potential traits such as athleticism and intelligence in an unborn child. These predictions of illness and potential traits come from analyzing fetal DNA found in a sample of the mother’s blood. A very important and main concern for prenatal genetic testing is for preparation of treatment for a predicted illness in a child. Also parents are often interested in these predictions simply for having an indication of what they are getting themselves into. Prenatal genetic testing is a rising topic in present ethical conflicts.…
Any health care provider, health organizations, or government health plans that use, store, maintain, or transmit patient information must comply with the federal law. HIPAA also protects employees from having their information released by their employer. Along with protecting the privacy of participants the law was also established to cut down on fraudulent activity and improve data systems. Information obtained from your records can not be…
Second, in these cases the courts have emphasised that disclosure should be to a responsible authority. Genetic conditions will rarely, if ever, present an immediately life-threatening risk, and such disclosure would ultimately be made to a family member rather than a responsible authority. That said, there is nothing in the cases which explicitly precludes such a factual scenario being considered by the courts and cases considering the issue in the context of a possible doctor’s duty to warn have come before the courts in overseas jurisdictions. C. DUTY TO WARN OF GENETIC RISK…