Question

Discuss how you can protect patient privacy. What are the consequences of breaching patient confidentiality.

Answer 1

Protecting patient privacy:

HIPAA protects the privacy of the individual. It allows the individuals to choose who can access their medical records and who can speak on their behalf. If an already existing state law is contrary to HIPAA, then the HIPAA preempts the state law and is controlling. If the state laws are more stringent, then both the state law and HIPAA apply. The patient past treatment information or any records of history should be collected and protected under doctor-patient confidentiality. Thus, any doctor cannot reveal this information to any outsider without the consent of the patient. HIPAA is a federal rule enacted in the year 1996. Its main objective was to ensure that the individuals would be able to maintain their health insurance when switching their jobs.

Digitizing this information can cause some security concerns as the digital content can possibly get hacked and the information stolen. A breach of confidentiality occurs when a patient's private information is disclosed to a third party without his or her consent. There are limited exceptions to this, including disclosures to state health officials and court orders requiring medical records to be produced. Thus, it is ethically upon the hospitals and private practices to add layers of security to protect this crucial information. The customers will trust such institutions better for protecting their privacy and hence, it might result in more customers frequenting the establishment.