...2013 Rosalina Nava-Bermudez There are a plethora of issues concerning patient privacy, confidentiality, and HIPAA. Unfortunately, these are issues that have arisen more recently; patient privacy and confidentiality wasn’t a largely disputed issue before the introduction and increase of health information technology implementation and usage. According to the Center for Democracy and Technology, “Health information technology has tremendous potential to improve health care quality and reduce costs while empowering patients to play a greater role in the management of their own care. At the same time, however, electronic storage and exchange of personal health information poses risks to privacy. Unaddressed, privacy concerns can stand in the way of realizing the benefits of health IT, for neither patients nor providers will make full use of a system they do not trust.” One has no choice but to take the two into consideration: do the speed, accuracy, and reduced cost of health information technology outweigh the potential privacy concerns? As stated in a brief article published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, “The combination of these technologies will improve the quality of health care by making it more personalized and reducing costs and medical errors. While there are benefits to technologies, associated privacy and security issues need to be analyzed to make these systems socially acceptable.” While these may not be considered...
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...many things such as confidentiality, privacy and security pertaining to patient information. Not only is it against the law to link information of a patient outside the workplace, but there is a slang term called “HIPPA” (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). HIPPA was put into play in 1996 for healthcare fields and facilities. This act allows patients personal healthcare information to be protected from being used or shared with anyone unless the patient writes a hand consent saying otherwise. Each patient’s healthcare information is kept in medical records, billing records, and health insurance computer systems. Patient’s information must always be protected....
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...article for azcentral.com relating to the vulnerability of electronic medical records and its effects on patient privacy. In this document I will be discussing the issue on patient privacy and confidentiality. I will be touching base on the population it affects, arguments used within this article that support electronic medical records, ethical and legal issues involved. Along with the issues I will be discussing the managerial responsibilities and proposed solutions that may help in maintaining patient privacy under regulation that are being proposed within this article. The issue on patient privacy is nothing new and out of the ordinary within the health care field. According to the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs the main purpose of a healthcare professional’s ethical duty is to maintain patient confidentiality and to allow the patient to be able to make a truthful disclosure of their personal information to the physician placing their trust that the physician will protect the confidential nature of the information disclosed. Unfortunately, physicians cannot entirely control the access to electronic medical records. If patients distrust and have the anxiety that their medical records will not be private, they might tend to tell their doctors less, or even to the point they refuse to seek care. The issue on privacy does not affect a certain generation of individuals, it affects everyone. There are some arguments used within this...
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...Data Classification and Privacy: A foundation for compliance Brian Markham, CISA University of Maryland at College Park Office of Information Technology Goals for today: Give you a solid understanding of both Data Classification and Data Privacy with respect to compliance; Link data classification and privacy to ongoing compliance issues; Discuss various best practices, methodologies, and approaches that you can take with you; Do my best to answer any questions you may have on audit related issues regarding these topics. So...who am I? IT Compliance Specialist @ the Office of Information Technology at UMCP Responsible for audit and compliance initiatives within OIT Formerly employed by KPMG LLP and Grant Thornton LLP as an IS Auditor Have worked with many federal, state, and local governments as well as public companies, hospitals, and not-for-profits. Why do we want to be in compliance? No one likes audit findings; Reduces organizational risk; Processes based on best practice and widely adopted standards are more effective than ad-hoc processes; Systems and data are more secure as a result of good internal control practices. What is Data Privacy? Data Privacy - the relationship between technology and the legal right to, or public expectation of privacy in the collection and sharing of data. The U.S. has trailed the E.U. and other countries in data privacy regulations and legislation; Passed Legislation: HIPAA, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, COPPA; Proposed Legislation: Data...
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...Dennis, J. (2000) Privacy and Confidentiality of Health Information. This book explores the emerging risks to patients’ confidentiality and privacy. The author of the book finds some solutions to this problem. He is sure that every health care organization should be responsible for protecting patients’ confidentiality. The author also describes some laws and ethical codes which should be taken into consideration by health care providers. He states that it is necessary to train the medical staff “to protect the information they generate and handle”. (Dennis, 2000, p.2) This source of information is very useful for my research paper, as it gives a lot of useful facts concerning the issue discussed in the paper. Dorodny, V. (1998) Security and confidentiality of health information systems: implications for physicians. (Surfing the Information Technology Wave). This article is found in the Journal Physician Executive. It represents a lot of useful information concerning the issue of the research paper. The author discusses the process of patient privacy protection, the use of different security methods. The author of the article is sure that “the advent of new technologies in the field of authentication”, digital signatures and other methods will help to ensure patient privacy in a proper way. (Dorodny, 1998, para.7) Rinehart-Thompson, L., Hjort, B., Cassidy, B. (2011) Redefining the Health Information Management Privacy and Security Role. This source...
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...Introduction On a broader perspective, privacy can be defined as the state of being away of public attention. However, this meaning can be altered according to specific situation. The difference in the definition arises due to wide range of topics existing in connection with privacy. Some of these topics encompass physical, informational, organizational, spiritual, intellectual matters, etc. Due to the increasing awareness of the people with regards to this concept of privacy, importance was given in preserving as well as protecting the rights of the public. Some laws are enacted to address this concern, but the privacy laws differ in many countries in terms of the scopes and limitation caused by the variations in interpretations. The culture differences and norms among countries, which greatly influence the public’s perception, significantly affect the interpretation of privacy. It is evident, nowadays, that advancement in technology is faster than what was expected. It can also be observed that the technologies invented have contributed substantial improvements in the society as this made the lives of the people easier and better. However, it cannot be denied that it has a negative side that outweighs some of its benefits. In relation to the privacy issue mentioned above, these technological advancements create threats, specifically to the preservation of its users’ privacy. The rapid increase in the number of users can be associated with the increase of information flow...
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...Jennifer Sanchez MOD 160 Night Class M.B&C Chapter 2: Compliance, Privacy, Fraud, and Abuse in Insurance Billing 1. Define compliance. 2. Name the two provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that relate most to health care. 3. Explain the difference between Titles I insurance Reform and Title II Administrative Simplification. 4. Describe the Privacy Rule under HIPAA. 5. Define protected health information (PHI). 6. Identify the difference between disclosure and use of PHI. 7. Illustrate the difference between privileged and nonprivileged information. 8. Explain patient rights under HIPAA. 9. Explain responsibilities of the health care organization to protect patient rights under HIPAA. 10. State the guidelines for HIPAA privacy compliance. 11. List the three major categories of security safeguards under HIPAA. 12. Define the provisions of the HITECH Act. 13. List the civil and criminal penalties of noncompliance with HIPAA regulations. 14. Identify the difference between fraud and abuse. 15. Identify the Federal and State laws that regulate health care fraud and abuse. 16. List the various fraud and abuse audit programs 17. Describer the basic components of an effective compliance program. Compliance Defined * All regulations, recommendations, and expectations of regulating agencies must be met to be in compliance. * The professional elements...
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...patients’ expectations are becoming higher and now they always want everything best (Rafique & Bhatti, 2014). Nurses are subject to numerous ethical and legal duties in their professional role, including the imperative to maintain patients’ privacy and confidentiality. Beginning in 1893, nurses take the Nightingale Pledge “I promise to do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling” (Gretter, 2012). The duty continues today, with hospital policies, state regulations, and federal law aimed at protecting patients’ confidentiality. Critical care providers are often privy to confidential information in the course of clinical practice. The dilemma may arise when confidential information is requested by family members or friends of the patient. Although at times it seems that regulations and laws are so stringent that any disclosure of health care information is forbidden, it may be necessary and appropriate to make disclosures, and the current regulations and laws support the professional judgment in communicating patients’ health information (Wielawski, 2009). Privacy is limited access to a person, the person’s body, conversations, bodily functions or objects immediately associated with the person. Because people have different beliefs and values about...
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...ASSIGNMENT ON TERM PAPPER INTERNET CHALLENGES TO SECURITY AND PRIVACY SUBMITTED BY : GIFTY KARUVELIL SAM ID NUMBER: 0160011 SUBMITTED TO : PROFESSOR . JOYCE JAMES MG. 650: MANAGING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACROSS THE ENTERPRISE TABLE OF CONTENT : * INTRODUCTION * ANALYSIS OF SECURITY AND PRIVACY * CATEGORIZATION AND SESITIVITY * STATE OF RESEARCH * MAJOR PLAYERS I THE INTERNET * GLOBAL SENSOR NETWORK MIDDLEWEAR * RFID * PHYSICAL MECHANISM * CRYPTOGRAPHIC PROTOCOLS * RESEARCH FROM OTHER DOMAINS * INFORMATION ACCOUNTABIILITY * CRYPTOGRAPHIC IDENTIFIERS * KEY EXTRACTION FROM WIRELES CHANNL CHARACTERISTECS * CONCLUSION 1 1 Introduction The Internet has undergone severe changes since its first launch in the late 1960s as an outcome of the ARPANET. The initial four-node network has quickly grown into a highly interconnected and self-organized network that builds the daily basis for business, research, and economy. The number of people using this worldwide network has exponentially grown up to about 1.5 bn and hereby makes up about 20% of the world population. This sheer number of end...
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...disease unique to gay males and that stigma has stuck throughout the years. We now know that women and children of all ages, sexual orientations and races can also be the victims of HIV and AIDS. HIPAA demands privacy regarding a patient's personal information. That includes diagnose as well as information regarding sexuality and history of drug use. This applies to all diagnoses, but because of the social stigmas mentioned earlier, people are even more sensitive when it comes to HIV/AIDS disclosures. Inappropriately disclosing information can create family and social stress, employment issues and even housing issues. Discussing, diagnosing, and treating HIV/AIDS is a sensitive, private issue between a patient and his or her provider. This privacy is especially important, because any breach of privacy may result in stigmatization or discrimination against HIV/AIDS patients. Patients who are concerned that their health information will not be held private or secure may be discouraged from being tested for HIV and may be dissuaded from pursuing or adhering to recommended treatment regimens. The need for privacy and security must be carefully balanced with the appropriate sharing of patient information. Health IT poses risks for maintaining patient privacy and security, but also offers you and your HIV/AIDS patient’s potential benefits. There are instances in which you must reveal patient information to someone other than the patient. You are required to report the names of...
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..."Does the EMR actually protect patient privacy and what are the regulatory ramifications in the US on EMR implementation?” Table of Contents: INTRODUCTION LITERATURE REVIEW ANALYSIS I. MEDICAL RECORDS THEN AND NOW A. Paper-Based Medical Records VS. Electronic Medical Records B. Benefits, Potential Problems and Cost of the EMR II. HEALTH CARE PRIVACY LAW A. HIPAA 1.What is HIPAA? 2. HIPPA Privacy & Security B. HIPAA and EMR III. CAN ANYTHING BE DONE TO PROTECT PATIENT CONFIDENTIALITY/ PRIVACY? A. Why Should Patient Privacy Be Afforded Privacy Protection Regulation? B. Patient Privacy Within EMR IV. SPANNING THE MILES Intranet & Extranet Software & IM/IT CONCLUSION GLOSSARY REFERENCES Introduction: Healthcare companies all over the world are slowly recognizing the benefits on an EMR. Although EMR’s were implemented over 30 years ago but as of 2006 fewer than 10% of hospitals were utilizing the system. In 2009 the he U.S. Department of Health and Human Services enacted a privacy rule under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in an attempt to protect the privacy of patients medical records. But one question still arises; “Does the EMR actually protect patient privacy and what are the regulatory ramifications in the US on EMR implementation?” In this paper I will address EMR, patient privacy and the regulatory ramifications of EMR implementation. Literature Review The literature shows that there is...
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...Phoenix Material Privacy and Security Worksheet Consider this week’s readings and class discussion about privacy and security rules and the storage of records. Write 50- to 100-word answers for each of the following questions based on your readings and class discussion. 1. What is the difference between privacy and security? There is often confusion about the difference between privacy, confidentiality and security. In the context of HIPAA, privacy determines who should have access, what constitutes the patient’s rights to confidentiality, and what constitutes inappropriate access to health records. Confidentiality establishes how the records (or the systems that hold those records) should be protected from inappropriate access. Security is the means by which you ensure privacy and confidentiality. 2. Identify standards established through the Privacy Rule to protect individuals’ health information. The Privacy Rule for the first time creates national standards to protect individuals' medical records and other personal health information. • It gives patients more control over their health information. • It sets boundaries on the use and release of health records. • It establishes appropriate safeguards that health care providers and others must achieve to protect the privacy of health information. • It holds violators accountable, with civil and criminal penalties that can be imposed if they violate patients' privacy rights. •...
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...Industry-Specific Case Study Consider your case-study industry and the security discussions that are taking place there. Consider the security discussions that are taking place in this seminar. Delve into the models that have been explored and articulate what you and your colleagues think of these conceptual frameworks. Assess the overall value of models and frameworks to your industry's security environment. Reference sources and the interview will be essential to the success of this particular assignment. Your paper should answer this question: How useful are the models you have studied in analyzing, understanding and clarifying security requirements and roles in your industry? Your response should be specific and closely tied to your industry's security issues. Here are some suggestions to guide your thinking: * Does the C-I-A Classic Triad contribute to thinking or policy regarding information security in your industry? If it does, to what extent? If not, why not? * What is the current or potential value of the formal models discussed by Prof Bishop? * To what extent does the Parkerian Hexad help in analyzing security needs? * Are there or could there be situations or incidents where confidentiality has not been breached but control or possession has been threatened? * Have you and your colleagues encountered situations in which authenticity of data – as distinct from integrity – has been in doubt or frankly compromised? * Can you think...
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...Law and Policy Case Study September 15, 2013 Introduction In the field of information security, there are many types of law. As senior managers, it is important to be knowledgeable of the legal environment. Once this information is learned and retained, then it will increase access and understanding of information security. Laws and practices that are related to information security will be discussed and how these laws impact organizations today and ensures confidentiality, integrity, and availability, of information and information systems. Governance policy will be discussed and recommendations for development of governance policy in an organization. Analysis The law in information security is very broad. There are different types of laws in information security. Civil law, criminal law, administrative law, and constitutional law are all part of law in information security. Civil law deals with law associated with individuals and organizations. Criminal laws are laws that effect society and are prosecuted by the state. Cornell University defines administrative law as “Branch of law governing the creation and operation of administrative agencies. Of special importance are the powers granted to administrative agencies, the substantive rules that such agencies make, and the legal relationships between such agencies, other government bodies, and the public at large (Cornell, 2010).” Constitutional law deals with how law...
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...Impact of Electronic Medical Records April 7, 2013 Technology has brought the world of medical services a long way throughout the years, including the introduction of electronic medical records (EMR). But does the use of the EMRs benefit patients or does it put patient confidentiality at risk? First, to understand the impact EMRs have on each and every one of us, understanding of EMRs is necessary. “An electronic medical record is a digital version of a paper chart that contains all of a patient’s medical history from one practice”. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , 2012) EMRs allow medical providers to access information quickly and accurately. There are many benefits to using EMRs over paper copies, such as allowing providers to track data over time, identify patients who are due for preventive visits and screenings, monitor how patients measure up to certain parameters, and most importantly improve overall quality of care in a practice. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , 2012) Paper copies of medical records require enormous amounts of storage space to maintain compared to EMRs. Providers are required that records be retained for a certain amount of time. “Providers should keep health information for at least the period specified by the state's statute of limitations or for a sufficient length of time for compliance with laws and regulations”. (Donna M. Fletcher, Gwen Hughes, & Harry Rhodes, 2011) Physicians tend to have poor handwriting...
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