REVIEW HIPAA, PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION (PHI), AND REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY IN EHRs NUR 514

REVIEW HIPAA, PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION (PHI), AND REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY IN EHRs NUR 514

Review HIPAA, protected health information (PHI), and requirements for privacy and confidentiality in EHRs. Discuss one ethical and one legal issue related to the use of EHRs that directly impact advanced registered nursing practice. Discuss possible consequences for compromising patient data and measures you can implement in your own practice to protect patient privacy and confidentiality.

Re: Topic 7 DQ 2

       Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and protected health information are applicable to electronic health records (EHR). The patient has a right to privacy in regard to all their health care information (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights, n.d.). This information must only be shared with authorized personnel who provide direct care to the patient. EHRs use data encryption and security measures to protect this data. The user has a password to access the system. If patient portals are in use, the patient can access using PINs or passwords. All information contained in an EHR is to be used for the purposes of patient care or data aggregation to improve patient outcomes (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights, n.d.). It is the legal obligation of a facility or provider to notify patients of any data breaches and the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

       EHR documentation as an advanced practice nurse can be time-consuming. This can impact the partnership between nursing and patient. The patient must be able to develop a rapport with the nurse in order for cooperation and collaboration towards the patient achieving healthful outcomes(McBride et al., 2018). The advanced practice nurse who follows a clinical decision support system because it is required when contraindicated in a specific patient population creates a legal situation where they cause harm to the patient. An example is a patient with a history of heart failure who presents to the emergency room with a diagnosis of possible sepsis through a CDSS symptom recognition pattern. The patient in fact had an exacerbation of CHF based on history and further assessment (McBride et al., 2018). The EHR will continue to identify sepsis and gear orders towards sepsis management. Following these order sets would be detrimental to the patient’s health. It is important for nurse educators to understand and teach these concepts to students.

Click here to ORDER an A++ paper from our Verified MASTERS and DOCTORATE WRITERS: REVIEW HIPAA, PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION (PHI), AND REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY IN EHRs NUR 514 

      HIPAA violations result in fines or time in prison or both. I would maintain patient privacy by not speaking in public areas about PHI. This means creating a private area to speak to patients and families without others having the ability to overhear. The EHR must be locked when I am not in attendance. Family members must provide the PIN or code necessary to get any information in person or via phone. The patient must clearly state who he/she wants to have his/her information shared with unless there is a legal document giving an individual power of attorney for health care.

REVIEW HIPAA, PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION (PHI), AND REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY IN EHRs NUR 514 References

McBride, S., Tietze, M., Robichaux, C., Stokes, L., & Weber, E. (2018). Identifying and addressing ethical issues with use of electronic health records. Online Journal of Issue in Nursing, 23(1). https://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-23-2018/No1-Jan-2018/Identifying-and-Addressing-Ethical-Issues-EHR.html#McBride7

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights. (n.d.). Privacy, security, and electronic health records. https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/privacy-security-electronic-records.pdf.

RESPOND HERE (150 WORDS, 2 REFERENCES)

This is insightful, Camille; the application or electronic health record system is associated with different legal and ethical practices that ought to be observed. As a result, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and protected health information are applicable to the EHR. The main objective of the EHR system is to enhance the management of patient’s data. As a result, there is always the need for healthcare professionals or users to adhere to the privacy policies or confidentiality of information (McBride et al., 2018). Enhancing the confidentiality of information is one of the ethical concerns often observed by healthcare professionals when using an EHR system. The confidentiality of information can be achieved through integrating effective mechanisms to enhance the security of data (Iyengar et al., 2018). Putting security measures such as passwords is one of the main methods that can be used to enhance the confidentiality of information. Also, encryption processes can be undertaken to prevent unauthorized access of patient’s data by third parties or strangers. Additionally, adherence to the HIPAA policies is critical in ensuring the maintenance of data security.  

REVIEW HIPAA, PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION (PHI), AND REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY IN EHRs NUR 514 References

McBride, S., Tietze, M., Robichaux, C., Stokes, L., & Weber, E. (2018). Identifying and addressing ethical issues with use of electronic health records. Online Journal of Issue in Nursing, 23(1). https://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-23-2018/No1-Jan-2018/Identifying-and-Addressing-Ethical-Issues-EHR.html#McBride7

Iyengar, A., Kundu, A., & Pallis, G. (2018). Healthcare informatics and privacy. IEEE Internet Computing, 22(2), 29-31. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8345561

Re: Topic 7 DQ 2

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires that patient health information is protected and secure at all times. The regulations that are in place by HIPAA have an effect on healthcare institutions willingness to share data with other institutions (DeNisco & Baker, 2016). The Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is different from an Electronic Health Record (HER) because the information it contains is intended to be shared. While both the EMR and her contain protected health information (PHI), an EHRs purpose is to be shared among physicians and hospitals when needed. Unfortunately, sharing this PHI becomes a challenge. Hospitals in particular, “face a “catch-22” situation in responding to the conflicting mandates of developing electronic health records that information sharing across institutions versus ensuring absolute protection and security of patients’ individual health information” (Sarrico & Hauenstein, 2011).

An ethical issue related to HIPAA and the sharing of information through EHRs is sharing information in emergency situations. There are times in the ER when information is crucial for the care of critically ill patients. Is it ethically right to access and share information about patients during emergency situations if it means saving a life?

A legal issue related to the use of EHRs is when the breach of PHI occurs. Keeping PHI secure is imperative for patients, but unfortunately breaches do occur. Healthcare professionals must be held accountable for their access into EHRs at all times. One restriction which some healthcare systems use is “placing restritctions on which application and module within that application a user can access, despite the user’s having established his or her ID at login” (Sarrico & Hauenstein, 2011). It is also important for internal audits to take place as well to monitor the security of PHI. Of course there are always steps that the healthcare industry can enforce to maintain security of PHI. Regulators in the industry should specify standards and definitions regarding what constitutes a violation, create evels of severity, and devise a hierarchy of warnings and fines that are based on standards (Sarrico & Hauenstein, 2011). As far as healthcare providers, they should tighten internal compliance procedures, conduct extensive and regular training of all employees, train the employees of provider-partners, obtain signed privacy agreements with all employees and conduct regular audits to ensure compliance (Sarrico & Hauenstein, 2011). All of these are suggested and can be implemented in daily practice to maintain proper security of information.

REVIEW HIPAA, PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION (PHI), AND REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY IN EHRs NUR 514 References

DeNisco, S.M., & Barker, A.M. (2016). Advanced practice nursing: essential knowledge for the profession. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Sarrico, C., & Hauenstein, J. (2011). Can EHRs get along with HIPAA security requirements? Hfm (Healthcare Financial Management), 65(2), 86-90.