Patient Privacy
Patient Privacy
Destiny Hill
HCS 335 October 2, 2011
Patient Privacy
The law protecting patients’ rights and privacy known as Health Insurance Probability and Accountability (HIPPA) was enacted and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. HIPPA is created to help protect patients’ medical records and personal health records nationwide in addition to keeping all medical information confidential. Documents are filed and stored, but with technology evolving documents are stored in data files creating a system for physicians to retrieve and control patients’ information. Recently e-filing has been a concerning issue for patients. Patients are weary of their information being universally available to anyone having access to the internet and intelligent enough to breach or hack medical records.
Mishandling patient privacy is high; therefore it is very important that hospitals have a system to protect files from being released to unauthorized personnel and the public. This is when the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act come into effect. HIPPA sets a standard for electronic transfers of health data and should be handled according to the law. The law deals with privacy, information standards, data integrity, confidentiality, and data security. With details shared between physicians and patients and should strictly be confidential verbally as well as electronically. With personal health data evolving it has become a concern with the public having access to those records online, cell phones, or memory cards. The thought of viewing private information by a click of a button required rules and regulations to be enforced.
A breach in data information at the Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California appeared to the public on a website in 2010 and stayed on the website for nearly a year before the discovery of the breach was identified. The hospital confirmed 20,000 emergency room patients from March 1, to August 31,
Destiny Hill
HCS 335 October 2, 2011
Patient Privacy
The law protecting patients’ rights and privacy known as Health Insurance Probability and Accountability (HIPPA) was enacted and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. HIPPA is created to help protect patients’ medical records and personal health records nationwide in addition to keeping all medical information confidential. Documents are filed and stored, but with technology evolving documents are stored in data files creating a system for physicians to retrieve and control patients’ information. Recently e-filing has been a concerning issue for patients. Patients are weary of their information being universally available to anyone having access to the internet and intelligent enough to breach or hack medical records.
Mishandling patient privacy is high; therefore it is very important that hospitals have a system to protect files from being released to unauthorized personnel and the public. This is when the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act come into effect. HIPPA sets a standard for electronic transfers of health data and should be handled according to the law. The law deals with privacy, information standards, data integrity, confidentiality, and data security. With details shared between physicians and patients and should strictly be confidential verbally as well as electronically. With personal health data evolving it has become a concern with the public having access to those records online, cell phones, or memory cards. The thought of viewing private information by a click of a button required rules and regulations to be enforced.
A breach in data information at the Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California appeared to the public on a website in 2010 and stayed on the website for nearly a year before the discovery of the breach was identified. The hospital confirmed 20,000 emergency room patients from March 1, to August 31,
References: Hader, A., & Brown, E. (2010). LEGAL BRIEFS. Patient Privacy and Social Media. AANA Journal, 78(4), 270-274. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Love, V. D. (2011). Privacy Ethics in Health Care. Journal of Health Care Compliance, 13(4), 15-57. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Sack, K. (2011, September 9). Medical Data Of Thousands Posted Online... New York Times, pp. 1-2.