Patient Confidentiality and Privacy, Article Critique Example

According to the article, one of the most important requirements for the employees in health care industry is maintaining the highest echelons of patient information privacy and confidentiality. The consequences of violation of these ethical issues are clearly outlined in HIPAA. Nurses constantly interact with the patients where they learn a lot of health issues of the patients which must not disclosed to anyone without the consent of the patient. The implication of privacy is the liberty of a person to release information while confidentiality involves maintenance of information disclosure as Burkhart & Nathaniel (2008) presents.

Employees in health care have the obligation to uphold highest standards of confidentiality and privacy in as far as the patients’ information is concerned and any breach of this ethical requirement can result to their incarceration. According to, American Medical Association, 2015, it is clearly stipulated in HIPAA that the health information of individuals must be accorded federal protection. According to the article, the regulations in HIPAA engross all the standards in electronic health record, EHR that aims at enhancing the systems of health care.

Employees in the medical profession are required by law to undertake an oath for upholfing patient information confidentiality and privacy. The real implication of privacy and confidentiality means that no single information must be released without the consent of the patient. The use of EHR is associated with advanced technology that requires that under whatever circumstances, the information concerning the patient must be safe and secure. EHR constitutes vital advancements in technology that guides the storage, processing and communication of patient data to a number of parties that engage in health care services (Angst & Agarwal, 2009). The potential value of this technology must be embraced without impeding its diffusion due to ethical issues associated with privacy and confidentiality of the patient.

References

American Medical Association. (2015). HIPPA: Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act. Retrieved from http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician- resources/solutions-managing-your-practice/coding-billing-insurance/hipaahealth-insurance-portability-accountability-act/hipaa-violations-enforcement.page?

Angst, C.M. & Agarwal, R.  (2009). Adoption of electronic health records In the   presence of privacy concerns:  The elaboration likelihood model and individual persuasion. MIS Quarterly, 33(2), 399-370.

Burkhardt, M., & Nathaniel, A. (2008). Ethics and issues in contemporary nursing (3rd ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cenage Learning.