Examples Of Ethical Issues In Health Care

Confidentiality and data breaches are a few of the main concerns, as many providers become neglectful when sharing patient electronic health information. Current use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) has proven to be helpful for hospitals and independent medical practice to provide efficient care for patients. Balestra reports that using computers to maintain patient health records and care reduces errors, and advances in health information technology are saving lives and reducing cost (Balestra, 2017). As technology advances EHR are going to continue to be the main method of record keeping among medical providers. Therefore, staff and medical providers need to be trained on how to properly share patients EHR safely and in a secure form in order to maintain patient confidentiality.

Introduction Since 1928, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) has been at the forefront in improving healthcare information management. Health Information Management (HIM) is the practice of the acquirement, storage, and protection of crucial information concerning patients’ health and other personal data. Widespread computerization has introduced Electronic Health Records (EHRs), which has continued to replace the traditional paper-based records. AHIMA’s History and Mission

With the use of EHR comes the opportunity for patients to receive improved coordinated care from medical professions and easier access to their health data. The author identifies views about the problems of EHR and the legislation. Health care professionals understand and accept the obligations under the Privacy and Security, patient’s information can still be at breached if those involved in patient health do not make sure that their information is secured. There is an increased risk of privacy violations with EHR if used improperly. Even though there are legislations in place to protect patient’s information, data still can be easily accessed either intentionally or accidental by using improper security measures.

This paper will illustrate how Hennepin County (HC) utilize monitor and maintain EHR records for the following business lines hospital, outpatient clinics, health, social and human service. Data sharing of EHR has allowed the organization to successfully provide care coordination for the population we serve. As healthcare evolves and service delivery continues to influence healthcare, it is essential that each business lines work together and collaborate to effectively access EHR within the Epic system. EHR systems, data bases, web portals are critical for a healthcare provider remain compliant with federal regulations. I am an HC employee, and my organization is unique, because we own and operate Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) and

Health Information Management (HIM) is the process of protecting, analyzing, inspecting and acquiring medical information such as health records, each time a patient is seen by a healthcare provider. The HIM professional is an important connection between doctors, nurses, patients, insurance companies and everyone in the medical field. Every time a healthcare professional sees and treats a patient, they record what they observed, how the patient was treated medically, and future steps in the treatment plan discussed between the patient and the healthcare worker. The medical record includes the patient’s symptoms, medical history that includes past, present, and family history, results of studies, such as x-ray reports, or lab results, diagnosis,

Informed consent involves the patient understanding “ all aspects of the trial, which are important for the participant to make a decision.... the participant voluntarily confirms his or her willingness to participate in a particular clinical trial and significance of the research for advancement of medical knowledge and social welfare”(Nijhawan 134). When provided informed consent, a patient might refuse to allow his or her doctor to take samples of what the medical professional believes is beneficial. Because of this refusal, the opportunity for potentially valuable research disappears. As a medical expert, you should take on the responsibility of deciding whether or not a patient’s condition becomes research. The research given by one person could become the breakthrough research that helps to save hundreds of lives.

Most people don’t think to worry or wonder where all of their information goes when they visit the doctor’s office, or how the doctor knew things about them from several years ago. They don’t ask the question especially when they go to a new doctor who knows the same thing about them that they’ve never talked about. Electronic Health Records, also known as EHR’s, are becoming some of the most important parts of medical offices around the country and are advancing more and more each day. Ever since the 80’s, EHR’s were being designed and formed, but not until 2009, when the HITECH Act came out, did they start becoming of key importance to the health care market. As they keep growing more and more each day, EHR’s are becoming vital to patient health.

Healthcare providers and organizations are obligated and bound to protect patient confidentiality by laws and regulations. Patient information may only be disclosed to those directly involved in the patient’s care or those the patient identifies as able to receive the information. The HIPAA Act of 1996 is the federal law mandating healthcare organizations and clinicians to safeguard patient’s medical information. This law corresponds with the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act to include security standards for protecting electronic health information. The healthcare organization is legally responsible for establishing procedures to prevent data

Theses steps are imperative to maintaining the patient’s privacy. When disclosing

I believe that our patients have many basic rights that must always be provided, and must always be upheld. Our ethical duty as healthcare professionals ensure that we must give our patients these basic rights so we can provide the highest level of care possible. These basic rights include, privacy, respect, and also patients should be given the opportunity to give informed consent, among many other things. First and foremost, our patients must always be provided with a high level of privacy. Privacy allows our patients to feel comfortable coming to our healthcare facility and not have to worry about their confidential medical information getting released to anyone from the outside.

Huping Zhou, employed at the UCLA School of Medicine as a researcher in 2003, faces fines and prison time for accessing medical charts of high profile clients and his supervisors without proper authorization. Although Zhou was terminated from his position before these violations for unrelated complications his access to UCLA’s electronic medical record remained. Over the course of this time, 323 accounts were accessed; plea agreement was reached, and Zhou omitted to view health information for four separate occurrences. The sentence

One legal hurdle is privacy. “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Penn, 2009, p. 35). The nationalized health systems will expose patients to the risk of lost privacy. Once a nationalized health system fully exists and there one centralized medical record, privacy becomes a major issue partially because of technology.

Ethics can be explained as principles a society develops to guide decisions about what is right and wrong. Ethical principles that society has are influenced by religion, history, and experience of the people in the group. Meaning that ethics is based on guidelines we have learned while growing up, that helps us differentiates what is right and what is wrong. For example, some people think health care should be a human right as others think it should only be available to those who can pay for it. Each group of people is guided by the principles they believe in. Ethics in health care play a vital role every day. The practice of health care includes many scenarios that have to do with making adequate decisions when it comes to patient’s life. For the purpose of this paper, I want to explain the occurrence and some of the ethical concerns found in a case of an elderly patient, who believed in Curanderos and didn’t realize the harm she was doing in regards to her health by not taking her medications.

Meaningful use is a set of rules that decide if healthcare providers will receive federal funds from the Medicare EHR Incentive Program, the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program or both. Cherry & Jacob (2017) stated, “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 directed the meaningful use of EHR systems for hospital and physician practice settings and provides for financial incentives from the CMS to providers who adopt and use EHRs that meet the meaningful use standards. Meaningful use refers to a complex set of capabilities and standards to be met by EHR use in a series of three stages over several years” (p. 272). Botruff & Stimson stated (2017), “The five guidelines for meaningful use with the EHR are as follows: improve quality, safety,

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a vital part of the health care industry’s day to day business. HIPAAs procedures define how healthcare companies receive and handle their clients’ health care information. HIPAA helps to protect the patient’s personal information through confidentiality and security procedures while being transferred, handled or shared with other healthcare providers (Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules, 2013). When a patient’s privacy is not regulated, third parties could buy and sell the information without the patients’ authorization. With HIPAA being in place, it prevents healthcare employees from divulging any patient information they