NSU Health & Medical Question
Instructions Respond with two peers with a 300-word post in APA (2020) format. Analyze the post by researching peer-reviewed journal articles to support your position that agree or disagree with your classmate and explain why or why not). Utilize metacognition and provide at least two peer-reviewed journal articles relative to informatics to support your rationale. Student Post 1(Teona) Importance of HIPAA & Privacy Rules Introduction Both privacy regulations and ethical health research have significant positive effects on society. In order to improve both human health and healthcare, health research is essential. Research that is ethical must safeguard research participants’ rights and prevent harm to them. It is crucial to emphasize that privacy is valuable to society as a whole because it enables complex endeavors like research and public health initiatives to be carried out in ways that uphold people’s dignity. However, there are times when health research can help people directly, for instance, by making new discoveries easier to obtain. The most private and sensitive personal data is health-related. According to Kulynych and Korn (2002), inappropriate disclosure or misuse of it might result in major consequences like stigmatization, discrimination, loss of insurance, or employment. (Liginlal et al., 2012). Documentation and Compliance The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s provisions for availability, confidentiality, and integrity serve as guidelines for EHR applications. Additionally, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s accreditation standards for electronic health record usability. An approach called compliance checking looks for evidence of whether an EHR application that has been implemented satisfies security and privacy requirements (Liginlal et al., 2012). Security standards provide different software protections for the privacy of health information. The most effective and widely used method for maintaining the confidentiality of information is encryption. It may render the PHI unintelligible while being sent and stored. Therefore, encryption is a good method to protect electronic PHI and stop disclosure without the proper authority (Wei-Bin Lee & Chien-Ding Lee, 2008). Safeguards and Mechanisms There are 16 addressable safeguards and 19 mandatory safeguards in the Security Rule. If a covered entity determines after doing its risk analysis that an addressable precaution is reasonable, acceptable, and applicable, then the safeguard shall be put into place. Some of those safeguards include; Putting procedures in place to decide if a staff member’s access to patient information is appropriate, putting procedures in place to stop a staff member’s access to patient information when their employment expires, putting policies in place to prevent and identify dangerous software, putting procedures in place for routine testing and updating backup plans, establishing protocols for password creation, modification, and security (Taylor & Francis, 2014). Continuous Improvement Both privacy protections and ethical health records are very beneficial to society. In order to improve both human health and healthcare, health research is essential. Conducting research in an ethical manner requires safeguarding the rights of participants and keeping them safe from harm. It is crucial for ongoing advancement in this area since the main rationale behind the collection of personally identifiable health information is to benefit society. For organization to continue to improve in protecting patient privacy they will need to ensure some standards are followed, including, but not limited to; require researchers to set up robust data security safeguards, allow for wider use of data with direct identifiers, mandate ethical monitoring of research, and clearly distinguish between the privacy considerations that apply to informationbased research and other types of study. These policies should be goal-oriented and unambiguous (Nass et al., 2009). Conclusion Potentially, the most private and sensitive personal data is health-related. According to Kulynych and Korn (2002), inappropriate disclosure or misuse of it might result in major consequences like stigmatization, discrimination, loss of insurance, or employment. (Liginlal et al., 2012). Electronic health records are being used more frequently to enhance the quality of healthcare by providing easy access to patient medication and clinic visit records, more straightforward patient treatment plan follow-up, and more accurate medical decision-making. References Liginlal, D., Sim, I., Khansa, L., & Paul Fearn. (2012). HIPAA Privacy Rule Compliance: An interpretive study using Norman’s action theory. Computers & Security, 31(2), 206–220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2011.12.002 Nass, S. J., Levit, L. A., & Gostin, L. O. (2009). Beyond the HIPAA privacy rule: Enhancing privacy, improving health through research. National Academies Press. Taylor, & Francis. (2014). Regulatory compliance/HIPAA safeguards. Journal of the California Dental Association, 42(12), 875–876. https://doi.org/10.1080/19424396.2014.12221455 Wei-Bin Lee, & Chien-Ding Lee. (2008). A cryptographic key management solution for HIPAA Privacy/Security Regulations. IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine, 12(1), 34–41. https://doi.org/10.1109/titb.2007.906101 Student Post 2 (Jaylen) Enhancing Healthcare: The Synergy of HIPAA and PHI Within HIPAA and PHI it is crucial to start with a solid understanding of the safeguards and mechanisms in place for privacy training. This training is designed to protect sensitive patient information and is supported by comprehensive documentation and compliance strategies to ensure that healthcare organizations meet legal standards. But it doesn’t stop there; continuous improvement in these training programs is vital. It ensures that as technology and regulations evolve, so too does the ability of healthcare staff to safeguard PHI effectively, ultimately enhancing patient trust and care quality. Safeguards and mechanisms: HIPAA requires that healthcare organizations implement various safeguards and mechanisms to protect patient privacy, especially when it comes to Protected Health Information (PHI). This involves a combination of physical, administrative, and technical safeguards. Physical safeguards might include secure locations for data storage and strict control over access to PHI (Theodos, Sittig, 2020). Administrative safeguards involve policies and procedures designed to clearly outline how PHI is handled and who has access to it, as well as regular privacy training for all employees to ensure they understand their responsibilities under HIPAA (Colean, Seah, 2005). Technical safeguards refer to the use of encryption, secure access controls, and other technologybased tools to protect electronic PHI from unauthorized access or breaches. All these measures work together to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of patient data and ensure compliance with HIPAA regulations. Documentation and compliance: Documentation and compliance are key components of HIPAA’s privacy training requirements. Healthcare organizations must meticulously document all their privacy policies and procedures, including those related to the handling of Protected Health Information (PHI). They must also maintain records of privacy training sessions, detailing when they were held, the content covered, and which employees attended (Theodos, Sittig, 2020). This documentation is critical not only for internal compliance checks but also for demonstrating adherence to HIPAA regulations in case of audits. Compliance efforts include regular reviews and updates of privacy practices to keep pace with changes in laws and technologies, as well as ongoing training to ensure that all staff members are aware of their obligations in protecting patient privacy (Vanderpool, 2019). Keeping thorough records and staying compliant with HIPAA training requirements help create a culture of privacy and security within healthcare organizations. Continuous Improvement: Continuous improvement in HIPAA privacy training is all about staying ahead of the game. It means regularly updating training materials to reflect the latest regulations and emerging threats to PHI. Healthcare organizations should assess their training programs periodically to make sure they’re effective and engaging. This could involve gathering feedback from staff, monitoring compliance rates, and analyzing any privacy incidents to identify gaps in knowledge (Theodos, Sittig, 2020). By doing so, they can adjust their training to focus on areas that need more attention. Plus, incorporating new learning methods, like interactive modules or real-life scenarios, can help keep the training fresh and relevant (Vanderpool, 2019). It’s all about building a robust culture of privacy that evolves with the times and keeps patient data safe. In conclusion, HIPAA regulations and PHI protection are integral to healthcare, with electronic billing being a key area where privacy and security must be rigorously maintained. Safeguards and mechanisms for privacy training are essential to ensure staff understand how to handle PHI correctly, with documentation and compliance being the backbone of any robust privacy program (Vanderpool, 2019). Continuous improvement is the thread that ties it all together, ensuring that privacy training stays current and effective against the backdrop of an everevolving healthcare landscape (Colean, Seah, 2005). By focusing on these areas, healthcare organizations can foster a culture of privacy that upholds the highest standards of patient data protection. It also important to continue to emphasize the critical role of technology in streamlining these different processes. Advanced software will enhance data accuracy and also fortifiy the privacy training framework ensuring that healthcare providers stay at the forefront of protecting patients data. References Coleman, T. S., & Seah, K. C. (2005). The HIPAA Security Regulations. Journal of Oncology Practice, 1(2), 47. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2793585/ Theodos, K., & Sittig, S. (2020). Health Information Privacy Laws in the Digital Age: HIPAA Doesn’t Apply. Perspectives in Health Information Management, 18(Winter). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7883355/ Vanderpool, D. (2019). HIPAA COMPLIANCE: A Common Sense Approach. Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 16(1-2), 38–41. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6450678/
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