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Protected Health Information (PHI): Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality Best Practices
In NURS FPX 4040 Assessment 2 Protected Health Information matters of health, collection, storage, retrieval, and use of Protected Health Information (PHI) by healthcare organizations is more than just a legal mandate but also a pillar of service delivery of quality healthcare (HHS, 2020). For patients, our office is for their most sensitive information, so as an office, we should preserve it securely. We will discuss the significance of safeguarding the NURS FPX 4040 Assessment 2 Protected Health Information (PHI), the fact that the highest levels of confidentiality might be difficult to keep up, and yet the critical practices that need to be put in place to uphold The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements and ethical standards (HHS, 2020). When a patient comes in and provides us with all his medical history, treatment plan, and personal details, they do so with the assurance that no one, apart from their doctor and maybe assistants, would ever have access to this information (Carter et al., 2019). Such a breach of trust is not only unlawful but also results in distrust between the healthcare provider and the patient.
Security, Privacy, and Confidentially laws
The current expression of electronic health data (ePHI) protection in a healthcare environment is a complex system of parity acts and regulations that address such important issues as patient privacy, and data security and facilitate the interoperability between healthcare teams. Conclusively, The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a pivotal context in which health information can be used and shared without violating patients’ privacy and confidentiality. During the latest update of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule of February 2020, strict limits to the disclosure of individually identifiable health information were established for healthcare providers or their related contractors (HHS, 2020). Together with administrative, physical, and technical safeguards that ensure the security of ePHI as outlined in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule.
NURS FPX 4040 Assessment 2 Protected Health Information
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) act followed with the additional goal of supporting ePHI safeguards with components like breach notification and incentivizing the use of electronic health records (EHRs). Such regulatory frameworks expect multi-disciplinary teams to execute security measures stipulated therein and keep all their officials and workers from information leakage or personal information abuse (CMS, n.d.). In truth to protect sensitive electronic health, the interdisciplinary team should use a poll multidimensional legal framework comprised of The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, and international regulations (like GDPR). Understanding and enacting these legal rules lets the teams secure the privacy of the patient, ensure the security of the patient’s data, and facilitate teamwork during the whole delivery process of healthcare in the digital era.
Importance of Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Working with a sequence of patients and nurses, in a hospital background where all health information is in electronic form and which involves several units, interdisciplinary cooperation becomes an indispensable quality control thing. Within hospitals, there is a wide range of departments from busy emergency rooms to well-organized surgical units. With display screens broadcasting patient’s information and proximity of various offices privacy is therefore even more crucial in hospitals than in any other place if adequate safeguards are not in place (Bourgeois, 2020). Certainly, a simple conversation about specific instances, stories of experience, or a seemingly harmless post showing your work routine on social media platforms can lead to unintentional information about your patients getting out if they are indicated by name (Vorraber & Endler, 2021). Interdisciplinary work, meanwhile, is an essential element in confronting these social media problems with the onus placed on the privacy and security of ePHI in the hospital environment.
Evidence-Based Approaches to Mitigate Risks to Patients and Healthcare Staff
On either side of the hospital building lies a labyrinthine medley of departments, with scores of professionals bound by their commitment to giving the best care. In this detailed setting exists the threat of exposure to sensitive electronic health information (ePHI) to everyone and anyone who has access to the network (Kumar & Lu, 2021). To make things more complex, this ranges from the rush of the emergency unit to micron plans in the surgical departments, and it increases the risk of having confidential data leaking to the patients and security of the sensitive information. (Tayel et al., 2021). Among all, the advent of social media, which is a place where healthcare providers might also disclose some electronic health information (ePHI) unintentionally while discussing cases, sharing experiences, or if they post about their everyday activities should be deeply concerning (Baig et al., 2020). The very fact that conversations with patients or any fold of their reflection involve personal details sometimes can bring about accidental privacy breaches.
Professional and Effective Staff Update
In complex hospital settings where health information is going across different departments, it needs to be very confidential and secure as well. From hectic emergency rooms to detailed operative theater, our environment is highly dynamic which serves as additional opportunities and windows for unauthorized data leakage to occur. However, confidentiality in medicine is being put in a challenge because of the interaction of social media and patient care. Through social platforms, issues such as updates on difficult cases or even sharing of stories with colleagues can unintentionally reveal patients’ information (Greysen, Kind & Chretien, nd). This means that there is a great danger attached to patient privacy, especially if there is any mention of the specific details. Hence, this means that each member of our interdisciplinary workforce has to be meticulous and committed to observing strict protocols when using social media platforms to deal with these challenges effectively.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should make sure that sharing patients’ information exactly as well as knowing the patient’s privacy would be treated with full compliance with the Data Protection Act. The increased level of complexity of the environment, and the need for patient data to be communicated between different departments at every moment, can emphasize the importance of having a decent strategy for social media applications. This scenario is an evident example of how making information slip during social media platforms can lead to big consequences, which dictates data privacy and confidentiality to be taken very seriously. Through the exhibition of care, dutifulness, and consideration of patient data privacy, the potential threats of data vulnerability can be averted.
References
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NURS FPX 4040 Assessment 1 Nursing Informatics in Health Care
