Question

An employee of Riverside Family Practice is having difficulty getting all the faxed lab reports placed into patients' files each week. She decides to take the charts and faxed lab reports home over the weekend to get caught up on the filing. What are the legal implications for the employee and the practice due to this action? What are the ethical implications?

Answer 1

The above mentioned case is a clear violation of HIPPA guidelines which are meant to safeguard confidentiality, security, and transmissibility of patient health information. The employee of Riverside Family Practice has mishandled patient's medical record without their consent and accessed patient health information at home which is strictly not authorised or considered safe. Such a violations of HIPPA guideline can cost the patient in substantial fines ranging from $100 to $1.5 million and she can even loss her her license of healthcare practise or can also be at risk for sanctions.

Whenever a patient's medical information is mishandled in such a way without the patients' knowledge, its a clear jeopardization of patient's autonomy. It can lead to leakage of patient's personal health information which is not considered ethical at all. To safeguard the personal health details of a patient is the moral responsibility of the healthcare personal so as to retain the bond of trust between the healthcare and the individual.