Reference no: EM133444062

Section 1: HIPAA, Physicians' public duties and responsibilities, and workplace legalitiesHIPAA The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was passed in 1996 and implemented in stages through 2005. HIPAA addresses privacy of health information and mandates certain procedures and standards for the electronic transmission and storage of health care information. After reading chapter 7, 8 and 9 you should now have a better understanding of the HIPAA guidelines and standards. So consider and respond to the following issues of confidentiality scenarios...

In a setting where the nurse is both a patient and an employee, whether a HIPAA issue may be involved depends on the circumstances. Let's look at 3 hypothetical scenarios.

Scenario 1. Your supervisor knows that you have had some issues with substance abuse because you told your colleague/friend about it and the colleague/friend told someone else, who then told your supervisor. Now, the supervisor has told someone else at work that you had a history of substance abuse and therefore shouldn't be alone in the medication room. Or, perhaps the supervisor told an administrator about your history and recommended that you not be promoted. In this scenario, there is no HIPAA issue. The supervisor hasn't obtained the information from your medical record.

Scenario 2. You were a patient of one of the clinicians at the multi-specialty practice where you work. Your supervisor was not involved in your treatment, but he or she nevertheless accessed your medical record and read your problem list. The supervisor then told someone else at the practice about your problems. Here, we have a HIPAA issue. The supervisor did not have a valid reason to access your record for treatment, payment or healthcare operations.

Scenario 3. Your supervisor was involved in your treatment. She conveyed the information she learned about you to someone who was not involved in your treatment and didn't need to know the information for treatment, payment, or operational purposes. This is a HIPAA violation because the supervisor, in discussing your problems with others, is not limiting his or her use of your private information to what is necessary to treat you, to get payment, or to conduct operations.

So what do you think about these scenarios? What went right? what went wrong? Defend your answers. How could you better protect HIPAA in each scenario? Please respond with an original thread and respond to two other students Blog posts.

Section 2: The patient physician relationship is contractual in nature. That means that either the physician or the patient may terminate the relationship. The physician must abide by certain rules when terminating an established relationship, but the patient is free to terminate the relationship at any time. Physicians may decline to undertake the care of a patient whose medical condition is not within the physician's current competence. Physicians may not decline to accept patients because of race, color, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation, or on any other basis that would constitute individual discrimination.

Scenario: A Medical Assistant refuses to work on a patient because he has revealed that he is HIV positive. Is her decision ethical? Has she been sensitive to her patients' rights? Can/will this affect the relationship between the patient and his physician? What are the legal ramifications of the Medial Assistants actions? Defend you answer and comment on two other student's Bogs.

Section 3: All medical providers have a duty to the public to report diseases and injuries that jeopardize the public welfare. Transmittable or contagious diseases and/or injuries resulting from knife or gunshot are examples; these must be reports to the appropriate authorities. This can be done without the patient's consent because it is required by law. When reporting, it is important to do so properly and according to the laws of the state in which illness, injuries, and conditions to report, to whom to report, and the appropriate forms to submit is essential. Copies of all information must be kept for the clinic. Other generally required facts to report include births; deaths; childhood immunizations; rape; and abuse to a child, elder, or intimate partner. Some states have laws specific to the release of information relative to mental or psychological treatment, HIV testing, AIDS diagnosis and treatment, sexually transmitted diseases, and chemical substance abuse. Local or state health departments can provide lists of diseases and injuries to report and will also provide the appropriate forms. Medline Plus A web site sponsored by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, has an excellent site connected to the Medline Encyclopedia titled "Reportable Diseases" that identifies guidelines for reportable diseases.

Local, state, and national agencies such as the Center for Disease Control (CDC) require diseases to be reported when diagnosed by providers or laboratories. States may vary in the diseases that require reporting, but their lists are likely to include the list of "Nationally Notifiable Infectious Diseases" listed on the CDC's Web site (https://www.cdc.gov). Some diseases require written reports. Others require reporting electronically or by telephone; they include rubeola (measles) and pertussis (whooping cough). Still others ask only for the number of cases to be reported. Such reporting is beneficial to society and all health care managers in tracking and preventing illness. The list changes as new diseases occur and are diagnosed.

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Section 4: The goal of the current event assignments is for you to become familiar with how applicable Law & Ethics is to your daily life. , related to a topic (chapters) we are currently covering.Include a link of your news article along with the name of the news website, title of article, author, and date article was published. If you do not include a copy of your article with the required information on it, your assignment will not be accepted. Summary of article: Using your own words summarize the key points (address the five W's: what, where, when, who and why) of the article so that the reader has a clear understanding as to the scope of the article. Do not just copy word for word from your article, this is plagiarism! What Law & Ethic topic does this article reference? The article that you have chosen should correspond with a topic that we are currently covering. Clearly state how your article is related to the topic. How does this article affect you personally? All events affect us in some way. Be creative and open your thoughts to how current events are related to you (e.g. socially, ethically, emotionally, economically, etc.) How will this current news affect future generations? Make a prediction about how lives will be affected 20 - 30 years from now by this current event.