Confidentiality In Health Care Essay

Among the many administrative responsibilities that a medical assistant has, patient confidentiality is one of the most crucial aspects of working in a hospital or clinic. In the scenario presented for this assignment, an employee sees a fellow assistant looking at the medical record of a patient who has recently been on the news for accused child abuse. Upon inquiry, the assistant claims that they must have opened the wrong file – their hesitant reaction to being questioned is an indication of disingenuous behaviour and needs to be addressed immediately. In a situation, such as the one presented, the employee in question should be given an opportunity to explain themselves before going to a higher authority, as it could be a genuine mistake,
The physician is the primary owner of medical records; however, the patient does have the right to request access to their information – that being said, there is often a fee involved upon this request and clients are not permitted to take copies of their files home with them; third parties must have formal consent to have access to a patient’s medical record. Electronic medical records are beneficial for quick retrieval of information, but should not be taken advantage of under any circumstances, as it is a breach of the privacy of the clinic’s clientele – not only this, but it is also in direct violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which clearly states that records are to be used for health purposes only and only the minimum information is to be retrieved is to be disclosed to the appropriate staff. Employees are not authorized to view patient files without justifiable reason, and personal browsing is absolutely forbidden; violations of this can amount to legal penalties of minimum one hundred dollars, but can be as much as $1.5 million dollars depending on the circumstances of the offence. Fines are established on a case-by-case basis, as assessed by the Department of Health and Human Services