Adult and Children in Health Care
Both federal and state-level healthcare regulations have a significant influence on how human services professionals conduct their work. Human services personnel are exposed to patients’ sensitive information that needs to be protected. In this backdrop, human services providers ought to be conversant with healthcare regulations.
Ethical and Legal Issue
Notably, the disclosure of health information of a patient is an ethical issue that may arise when working with a patient in a healthcare facility. Human services professionals address multiple needs of vulnerable people in the community. In the course of their daily work in healthcare settings, human services professionals acquire patients’ health information. In this line, an ethical issue concerning the privacy of a patient’s health information emerges when a human services professional discloses an individual’s health details to third parties without his/her consent. This act may involve the discussion of a patient’s health information with a colleague or sharing a patient’s health data with outsiders. Both human services ethical standards and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guidelines forbid the unlawful disclosure of client’s information. For instance, the third standard of the profession stipulates that human service personnel ought to safeguard clients’ right to privacy and confidentiality (Burger, 2017). This requirement is only exempted when confidentiality would result in significant adverse effects on the client. In the same vein, HIPAA guidelines protect the confidentiality, accuracy, and accessibility of patient’s health information (Arnold & Boggs, 2019). The regulations opine that health professionals and others should safeguard confidential information unless obliged by law to share the information. Therefore, unlawful disclosure of a patient’s health information among human services professionals raises significant ethical issues.
Similarly, a data breach of a patient’s health details is a legal issue that is likely to occur when working with a patient in a healthcare environment. This form of a private information breach may arise from data loss through laptop theft, which is increasingly common. The occurrence of these incidences leads to legal issues because healthcare providers and human service professionals are not only ethically obligated, but also legally required to secure the privacy and confidentiality of patient’s health information (Tan, 2018). While there are federal laws on data breaches, states are also allowed to enact and enforce laws concerning the protection of patient’s health information. Established in 2003, California is said to have one of the most comprehensive data breach notification legislation (Davis, 2019). The law requires entities to notify affected persons if there is sufficient evidence to believe there has been unauthorized access to confidential information. The data covered in the enactment entail health information, insurance details, credit cards, and other personal data. For this reason, human service professionals ought to take adequate measures to safeguard patients’ details against data breaches.
Implications
If the patient is a child, the human services professional would have violated the minor’s right to privacy. In cases involving a minor, HIPAA regulations permit a “personal representative” to exercise the privacy rights of the minor (Compliancy Group LLC, n.d.). The representative may be the minor’s parent or guardian. In this line, the human services professional is required to seek consent from the personal representative concerning the disclosure of health information to third parties. For this reason, the human services professional would still be ethically and legally liable for contravening the patient’s right to privacy. The issue will not be handled differently based on the patient’s age because HIPAA regulations apply equally to all patients.
Strategies for Preventing Privacy and Data Breaches
The first and most critical strategy of averting privacy and data breaches is the provision of continuous education to health practitioners who have access to health information. Healthcare workers ought to be trained and re-trained on the latest HIPAA regulations and guidelines to enhance their understanding of the implications and consequences of a data breach (Applied Medical Systems, n.d.). This approach is particularly effective because it equips both health practitioners and human service providers with the knowledge to protect health information.
Similarly, the use of cryptography is critical towards the prevention of privacy and data breaches. According to Kruse, Smith, Vanderlinden, and Nealand (2017), encryption enhances the security of health information during the exchange of health records between two or more health practitioners or human services providers. Meaningful use guidelines require the exchange of information to be recorded by health facilities when encryptions are being enabled or inhibited (Kruse et al., 2017). This approach is particularly important in the protection of health information when electronic devices, such as laptops and other forms of computers are lost through theft.
Moreover, restricting the use of personal devices is also instrumental in preventing privacy and data breaches. Health organizations need to develop policies that outline the type of devices that are permitted to be used within the healthcare environment. In addition, the outline should specify company-issued devices, which health practitioners can carry at home (Applied Medical Systems, n.d.). The establishment of these policies is critical because it reduces the risk of theft of devices containing health information, thus, preventing exposure of private health records to third parties.
In conclusion, human services professionals ought to adhere to healthcare guidelines during the performance of their work. This approach enables them to safeguard patients’ privacy and dignity. Moreover, the observation of healthcare regulations helps human services providers to be ethically and legally compliant. In addition, the provision of continuous training on the latest HIPAA regulations equips human services providers with the knowledge of protecting patient’s health information.
References
Applied Medical Systems. (n.d.). 10 ways to prevent a healthcare data breach. Retrieved from https://www.appliedmedicalsystems.com/10-ways-prevent-healthcare-data-breach/
Arnold, E. C., & Boggs, K. U. (2019). Interpersonal relationships e-book: Professional communication skills for nurses. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Burger, W. R. (2017). Human services in contemporary America. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Compliancy Group LLC. (n.d.). The HIPAA privacy rule and minors. Retrieved from https://compliancy-group.com/hipaa-privacy-rule-with-minors/
Davis, J. (2019, February 22). California moves to close gaps in data breach notification law. Retrieved from https://healthitsecurity.com/news/california-moves-to-close-gaps-in-data-breach-notification-law
Tan, J. (2018). Handbook of research on emerging perspectives on healthcare information systems and informatics. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Kruse, C. S., Smith, B., Vanderlinden, H., & Nealand, A. (2017). Security techniques for the electronic health records. Journal of Medical Systems, 41(127).