Scenario:
As an employee of the hospital, one day I noticed two nurses laughing as they were reading something off a computer screen. You inquired as to what they were laughing about and they proceeded to show you what hey were reading. The nurses had looked up information on a rather unique incident of a patient who entered the emergency room a couple of weeks ago. They were discussing it and one of the nurses was in the process of printing out this information to share with another one of her friends that worked in the hospital. As a group, arrive at answers which you can justify for the four following questions.
Question 1:
What would you do if you were faced with this situation?
Answer:
We all agree that they are breaking the law of confidentiality. We all agree also that it is our obligation to keep this information confidential and to report this to the appropriate authority right away. If we do not report this behavior we are just as guilty and could be charged in a law suit if this were to get back to the patient. Under the Patient's Bill of Rights the patient has the right to expect that all their communications and records pertaining to their care will be kept confidential. Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) the privacy of patient health information is regulated. Under the Privacy Rule all entities must be incompliance with privacy, security, and electronic-data provisions. All laws and rules must be followed and if not then there are consequences that will follow.
Question 2:
What are some of the potential issues that can arise now that patient information is stored elec ...