Hcs 335 Administrative Ethics Paper
| Administrative Ethics | HCS 335 |
Kim Watson
8/22/2011
|
When it comes to privacy it has become a major concern to both patients and the medical staff. HIPAA and privacy rules help to protect the patient’s privacy. “The HIPAA Privacy Rule establishes national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and other personal health information and applies to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and those health care providers that conduct certain health care transactions electronically (2003).” Over time many studies have been conducted that shows that patient want to be in control over who can access their information. The privacy of patients has increased over the years with many different ways to keep personal information private. Privacy has been recognized as a basic human right that should be observed in all realms of life, but particularly in medical and nursing settings (Nayeri 2010). For many individuals the privacy issue is a very serious concern. Therefore these issues affect the entire population that is identifiable. This issue does not target just one certain group, but I believe …show more content…
that there are many individuals that are affected by the concern of their privacy within the medical community. Privacy can be seen as an individual’s freedom and having private space to be by oneself, being protected against physical and psychological intrusion, having the opportunity to achieve emotional release, ensuring that certain personal information is protected from others, and controlling how personal information is handled (Nayeri 2010). This article addresses many concerns that patients have regarding their privacy while they are being treated at medical centers. The study took account of three dimensions of privacy: physical, informational and psychosocial. “For the purposes of this study, we defined physical privacy as an individual’s freedom to have a private space, and informational privacy as preventing patients’ spoken personal health information from being heard by anyone other members of their emergency department treatment team. Finally, psychosocial privacy was defined as respect for patients’ personality (Nayeri 2010).” There are many ethical and legal issues that patients and physicians face when it comes to the privacy of the patients records. In most states, a physician may be subjected to severe disciplinary action, including suspension or even revocation of licensure, for a failure to comply promptly and fully with these requirements. Except for a recognized statutory reason, (e.g., an improperly executed release), an ophthalmologist should not refuse to make a patient’s medical records available to the patient, the patient’s legal representative, or another person upon receipt of proper authorization. In some instances, such as for patients with HIV, a special authorization may be required. Medical records should never be withheld merely because of an unpaid bill for services or because the patient has elected to see a competing ophthalmologist. However, it is permissible in most states to bill for the reasonable costs of making the requested copies (Burke 2011). When being a manager it is important to follow all laws and regulations as well as the medical organizations rules and ethical values. The responsibilities are to care for the patient as well as have respect for the patient and his or her privacy. The manager is responsible for the information he or she receives and he or she should respect that and do what the laws say no matter if they believe that it is the wrong thing to do. I believe as a manager in the medical community it is important to know what all the laws and regulations are when it is in regards to the patients. Besides the patients as the manager it is key to know the laws that protect the doctors and nurses as well so that as the manager I would be able to ensure we are always protected. There are many situations that require the release of patient records, but there require special attention. HIPAA allows the patient to obtain a copy of their record, as well as allow them the opportunity to make corrections to their records. There are safeguards on the records that allow the patient the ability to set limits and conditions of disclosure of the patient’s record. There are rules that allow ophthalmologist to only release records when it has to do with drug and alcohol. “First, the ophthalmologist should not release these records unless the patient executes a release form specifically covering alcohol and drug-abuse records. Second, when releasing copies of such medical records to anyone other than the patient, the ophthalmologist should place a cover sheet on all record sets stating the following, in this or substantially similar form:
Notice of Confidentiality This information has been disclosed to you from records protected by federal confidentiality rules (42 C.F.R.
Part 2). The federal rules prohibit you from making any further disclosure of this information unless further disclosure is expressly permitted by the written consent of the person to whom it pertains or as otherwise permitted by 42 C.F.R. Part 2. A general authorization for the release of medical or other information is NOT sufficient for this purpose. The federal rules restrict any use of the information to criminally investigate or prosecute any alcohol or drug abuse patient (Burke 2011).” The ophthalmologists must follow all these steps in order to ensure the patient’s privacy is respected. Also following these procedures will allow the patient to get their record and get the treatment they need to improve their
health. When reading this article it showed many different issues that relate to patients privacy and how to ensure that all patients’ privacy is protected. There is always the question about what the right thing is to do but there are laws and regulations that have to be followed that were set from HIPPA. Many proposed solutions can help these issues but sometimes there really is no way that the issue can be solved. The privacy of a patient is an issue that will always be a concern but as a manager you have to be ready to keep the patients protected, as well as the doctors and nurses.
References
Burke, Mara Pearse. (2011). Release and Confidetiality of Patient Records. Retrieved August 20,2011 from http://www.aao.org/about/ethics/patient_records.cfm
Nayeri, N., & Aghajani, M. (2010). Patients ' privacy and satisfaction in the emergency department: A descriptive analytical study. Nursing Ethics, 17(2), 167-177. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
The Privacy Rule. (2003) Retrieved August 20,2011 from http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/administrative/privacyrule/index.html
Kim Watson
8/22/2011
|
When it comes to privacy it has become a major concern to both patients and the medical staff. HIPAA and privacy rules help to protect the patient’s privacy. “The HIPAA Privacy Rule establishes national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and other personal health information and applies to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and those health care providers that conduct certain health care transactions electronically (2003).” Over time many studies have been conducted that shows that patient want to be in control over who can access their information. The privacy of patients has increased over the years with many different ways to keep personal information private. Privacy has been recognized as a basic human right that should be observed in all realms of life, but particularly in medical and nursing settings (Nayeri 2010). For many individuals the privacy issue is a very serious concern. Therefore these issues affect the entire population that is identifiable. This issue does not target just one certain group, but I believe …show more content…
that there are many individuals that are affected by the concern of their privacy within the medical community. Privacy can be seen as an individual’s freedom and having private space to be by oneself, being protected against physical and psychological intrusion, having the opportunity to achieve emotional release, ensuring that certain personal information is protected from others, and controlling how personal information is handled (Nayeri 2010). This article addresses many concerns that patients have regarding their privacy while they are being treated at medical centers. The study took account of three dimensions of privacy: physical, informational and psychosocial. “For the purposes of this study, we defined physical privacy as an individual’s freedom to have a private space, and informational privacy as preventing patients’ spoken personal health information from being heard by anyone other members of their emergency department treatment team. Finally, psychosocial privacy was defined as respect for patients’ personality (Nayeri 2010).” There are many ethical and legal issues that patients and physicians face when it comes to the privacy of the patients records. In most states, a physician may be subjected to severe disciplinary action, including suspension or even revocation of licensure, for a failure to comply promptly and fully with these requirements. Except for a recognized statutory reason, (e.g., an improperly executed release), an ophthalmologist should not refuse to make a patient’s medical records available to the patient, the patient’s legal representative, or another person upon receipt of proper authorization. In some instances, such as for patients with HIV, a special authorization may be required. Medical records should never be withheld merely because of an unpaid bill for services or because the patient has elected to see a competing ophthalmologist. However, it is permissible in most states to bill for the reasonable costs of making the requested copies (Burke 2011). When being a manager it is important to follow all laws and regulations as well as the medical organizations rules and ethical values. The responsibilities are to care for the patient as well as have respect for the patient and his or her privacy. The manager is responsible for the information he or she receives and he or she should respect that and do what the laws say no matter if they believe that it is the wrong thing to do. I believe as a manager in the medical community it is important to know what all the laws and regulations are when it is in regards to the patients. Besides the patients as the manager it is key to know the laws that protect the doctors and nurses as well so that as the manager I would be able to ensure we are always protected. There are many situations that require the release of patient records, but there require special attention. HIPAA allows the patient to obtain a copy of their record, as well as allow them the opportunity to make corrections to their records. There are safeguards on the records that allow the patient the ability to set limits and conditions of disclosure of the patient’s record. There are rules that allow ophthalmologist to only release records when it has to do with drug and alcohol. “First, the ophthalmologist should not release these records unless the patient executes a release form specifically covering alcohol and drug-abuse records. Second, when releasing copies of such medical records to anyone other than the patient, the ophthalmologist should place a cover sheet on all record sets stating the following, in this or substantially similar form:
Notice of Confidentiality This information has been disclosed to you from records protected by federal confidentiality rules (42 C.F.R.
Part 2). The federal rules prohibit you from making any further disclosure of this information unless further disclosure is expressly permitted by the written consent of the person to whom it pertains or as otherwise permitted by 42 C.F.R. Part 2. A general authorization for the release of medical or other information is NOT sufficient for this purpose. The federal rules restrict any use of the information to criminally investigate or prosecute any alcohol or drug abuse patient (Burke 2011).” The ophthalmologists must follow all these steps in order to ensure the patient’s privacy is respected. Also following these procedures will allow the patient to get their record and get the treatment they need to improve their
health. When reading this article it showed many different issues that relate to patients privacy and how to ensure that all patients’ privacy is protected. There is always the question about what the right thing is to do but there are laws and regulations that have to be followed that were set from HIPPA. Many proposed solutions can help these issues but sometimes there really is no way that the issue can be solved. The privacy of a patient is an issue that will always be a concern but as a manager you have to be ready to keep the patients protected, as well as the doctors and nurses.
References
Burke, Mara Pearse. (2011). Release and Confidetiality of Patient Records. Retrieved August 20,2011 from http://www.aao.org/about/ethics/patient_records.cfm
Nayeri, N., & Aghajani, M. (2010). Patients ' privacy and satisfaction in the emergency department: A descriptive analytical study. Nursing Ethics, 17(2), 167-177. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
The Privacy Rule. (2003) Retrieved August 20,2011 from http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/administrative/privacyrule/index.html