Confidentiality Of Health Information: Case Study

Confidentiality of Health Information, HIT 109
Final Exam 40902600

Part A-Answers
Essay 1
The responsibility of Dr. Bob first and foremost is to save the life of the patient, which is Sally. Doctor Bob must also be aware of his legal responsibility. Among the Doctor Bob’s legal obligations in the case of operating on a minor is the issue of informed consent. Sally being a minor, Dr. Bob must seek her parents’ consent before he starts her surgery. In order for Sally’s parents’ to give informed consent, Dr. Bob is legally obligated to discuss the operation and also go over the risks and benefits. If after hearing what Dr. Bob discusses and agrees to the operation, they have given their “informed consent”. If Sally’s parents were unavailable to give informed consent, Dr. Bob should give whatever treatment is necessary to save her life according to the Hippocratic Oath.

Essay 2
Dr. Bob should do as Paula Patient asks and send all communications to her Post Office Box. The patient’s right to privacy has been established. If Dr. Bob sent anything to her home he would be legally responsible. Unless there are any other laws that override this privilege, the doctor patient
privilege must not be broken. No, my answer would not be any different if she says it would endanger her.

Essay 3
Dr.
Bob should not have given the file to the lawyer on the promise for an authorization. Dr. Bob improperly disclosed Paula Patient’s HIV status and medical records. Not only did he improperly disclose her information but also breach of confidentiality. Doctors are to never give out information, Dr. Bob must have written agreement from the Paula Patient first. Once the Doctor Bob receives the agreement from Paula, then and only then was he to proceed with given out her information. Dr. Bob can be held liable for breaching of confidentiality and contract where he failed to comply with the applicable legal requirements restricting access to his patient’s HIV information. Under the HIPAA final privacy rule there must be a valid authorization by the patient before the release of any
records.

Part B-Answers
1. Contributory and Comparative negligence theories, the negligence of the defendant in not in doubt; it has already been proven by the plaintiff. The basic difference between the two concepts is that the comparative negligence attempts to compensate the plaintiff for some portion of his/her injury, no matter how small, whereas contributory negligence serves to bar completely a damage reward for injury.
2. In the case that HIPAA rules are stricter than State law, the standard that should be followed is the HIPAA regulations. These regulations are put into place by the Federation. The State laws are triumphed by Federal laws.
3. Res Ipsa Loquitur is Latin for “it speaks for itself.” It’s a negligence theory and only used when plaintiff cannot prove negligence with direct evidence available.
4. Subject matter jurisdiction of federal courts is limited by both the U.S Constitution and statue. Cases may be brought to federal court if they meet the requirements of either federal question or diversity jurisdiction.
5. The HIPAA final privacy requires the health-care provider to obtain the patient’s consent before using or disclosing the health information to carry-out treatment, payment, or health-care operation.

Part C-Multiple Choice Answers
1. C
2. B
3. C
4. D
5. C
6. A
7. B
8. B
9. D
10. A