Please complete Case Study 4-7 - Investigating Privacy Violations in your Case S

Question

Please complete Case Study 4-7 - Investigating Privacy Violations in your Case Studies in HIM book. (McCuen, Charlotte, and Nanette B. Sayles. Case Studies in Health Information Management. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning, 2014. Print)

The expectation is that you will discuss ALL of the question and the points of the law and how they apply. Once you have done that please explain how you would have handled this situation.

This assignment must be no less than one page double-spaced document. A few sentences will not be accepted.

Please include citations. Case 4-7 Investigating Privacy Violations: There have been several potential privacy incidents reported to your facility in the past week. Your job is to investigate these incidents to determine if they are truly privacy violations. If there are violations, decide what should be done.

Research each of the privacy incidents described in the following list. Determine which ones are privacy violations. Determine to whom the privacy violation should be reported to and the timing required for the notifications.

The expectation is that you will discuss the question and the points of the law and how they apply. Once you have done that please explain how you would have handled this situation.

Identify the specific action(s) appropriate to address the following situations:

1. A monitor is turned toward the reception desk so that anyone who is walking by can see it.

2. A patient complained that his ex-wife looked at his record and told his girlfriend that he had human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

3. A patient’s lab test was left lying out on the counter of the staff workroom. Staff were in and out of the room all day.

Explanation / Answer

Answer:

Actions:
1)HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The federal law originated in 1996, and it protects the privacy of a patient's personal and health information. The purpose of HIPAA is to keep medical records and other individually identifiable health information completely private. HIPAA gives patients increased control over their health information.
One of the most frequent HIPAA violation is A monitor is turned toward the reception desk so that anyone who is walking by can see it. One of the best way to stop this would be employee training.
-Stand where your customers check in, walk the path they walk, and see if you can see any sensitive information, in any form.
-Stand at the reception desk and try to locate any administrative information that might assist a hacker to gain access to your system
Many HIPAA impermissible disclosures are related to human error, and occur by accident. However, that also means most instances are avoidable. With the right procedures and training in place, you should be able to make sure your reception desk area is violation-free and HIPAA compliant.

2) As per HIPAA rules, an authorization form must be signed by the patient prior to the release of information. There is special protection for HIV/AIDS status or lab report.
Utmost care should be taken if the patient is positive to AIDS. Healthcare workers are educated regularly on HIPAA guidelines. HIPAA prioritizes patient privacy. So the next time you're signing pages upon pages of forms at the doctor's office, remember that HIPAA is very important because it protects your irreplaceable personal information.

3) If A patient’s lab test was left lying out on the counter of the staff workroom. it is a kind of HIPAA violation. Staff were not trained enough with HIPAA security issues. They should be trained well and remind them frequently so that they do not violate these rules. The following actions could be taken :
Contact a Health Law Attorney Experienced in Defending HIPAA Complaints and Violations.
File a HIPAA Privacy Complaint with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR)
Identify weaknesses of each hospital and taken appriate actions. Inappropriate use of medical records by hospital staff as part of a “hot or not” game which causes severe embarrassment and distress to certain patients. A negligent attorney and an angry patient could potentially make a claim based upon any of the above and may seek a significant financial settlement or payout.

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