Presentation Rough Draft

8/8/21

Confidentiality and Implications of HIPAA Annotated Bibliography

Pampati, S., Liddon, N., Dittus, P. J., Adkins, S. H., & Steiner, R. J. (2019). Confidentiality matters, but how do we improve implementation in adolescent sexual and reproductive health care?. Journal of Adolescent Health, 65(3), 315-322.

In this article, the authors focus on the privacy standards of adolescent medical records and health information. The authors argue that young adults are more concerned about their privacy and are more honest with medical practitioners when their data privacy is guaranteed. However, most adolescents are not assured of confidentiality when seeking treatment. The authors claim that the healthcare system should consider young adults' privacy and improve confidentiality when offering healthcare services.

Due to the absence of well-organized literature on the topic, the authors apply a more flexible research method to synthesize the relevant literature. The authors reviewed literature that focused on confidentiality and teenagers, specifically in SRH service delivery. The literature is taken into consideration is majorly on young people and particularly those of below 18 years. To sum it all, HIPAA rules agree with the state law on cases concerning juveniles with specific issues. However, adolescents seeking treatment for STDs have the right to this protected information but not their parents.

I will use this source to give a background of how HIPAA laws relate to adolescents. The article will also support my claim of how HIPAA laws are meant to protect the right of adolescent’s personal medical information from their guardians.

Ceylan, S. S., & Çetinkaya, B. (2020). Attitudes towards gossip and patient privacy among pediatric nurses. Nursing Ethics, 27(1), 289-300.

The authors claim that HIPAA laws are created to protect the disclosure of patient’s health information. Nurses are by the HIPAA act required to uphold the confidentiality and privacy of their patient’s health information. The study focuses on determining the prevailing attitudes among individuals towards gossip and patient privacy practices among nurses in healthcare facilities.

In the study, a descriptive and cross-sectional design was used. Data was collected using various forms such as patient privacy scales, gossip, and rumor attitude scales. Over one hundred nurses working in healthcare facilities in Turkey were engaged in the study. The study found that nurses who had a high level of education were more concerned about the confidentiality and privacy of patient’s information. The nurses who dismissed gossip cared more about the confidentiality of their patients.

This article will assist in showing the necessity of HIPAA laws in the nursing fraternity and how the laws have positively impacted the career.

Agris JL, Spandorfer JM. HIPAA Compliance and Training: A Perfect Storm for Professionalism Education? J Law Med Ethics. 2016 Dec;44(4):652-656. doi: 10.1177/1073110516684812. PMID: 28661243.

The author of this journal focuses on the rules and regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. He further outlines healthcare organizations' efforts in ensuring their employees Adopt and implement HIPAA in their respective organizations. The authors further discuss the difficulties encountered in training healthcare workers as there are no HIPAA enforcement bodies. The journal brings out the importance of HIPAA training and requirements for the training. In addition, the article gives us an insight into a student-oriented program on privacy and confidentiality that happens at the Medical school of Thomas Jefferson University. The authors use sampling methods to show us how meaningful training on privacy has been achieved in the past. The article concludes by stating that compliance with HIPAA rules is of high priority and that activity on the best practices of confidentiality and privacy in healthcare is critical.

This journal will be helpful in my topic as it focuses on training healthcare workers on privacy and confidentiality, which are essential aspects when dealing with patient’s health information. I will use it to show how medical professionals should be trained to implement HIPAA laws in their medical facilities.

Rezaeibagha, F., & Mu, Y. (2016). Distributed clinical data sharing via dynamic access-control policy transformation. International journal of medical informatics, 89, 25-31.

Cloud computing is one of the most commonly used management approaches in the most prosperous businesses in the modern world. The authors claim that cloud computing in handling healthcare issues is achieved by using devices such as computers, phones, and tablets when dealing with health information. In this case, medical professionals can easily access patients' health information by clicking on the button of an internet-enabled device without waiting for any approvals. Most healthcare organizations have adopted EHR systems. The shared data is usually encrypted to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of patients' information are upheld.

The information in this article will be of great significance to my topic on confidentiality of patient’s health information. The report would give me an understanding of how healthcare providers can use cloud computing with the legal frameworks of the healthcare industry.

Greenberg, Y. (2016). Increasing Recognition of “Risk of Harm” as an Injury Sufficient to Warrant Standing in Class Action Medical Data Breach Cases—Walker v. Boston Medical Center Corp. American Journal of Law & Medicine, 42(1), 210-214.

The author wrote the article about a court case where patients' privacy of medical data had been breached. Patients of Boston Medical Center noticed that their health information had been made public through a public website. The patients received news that there had been a breach in privacy of the data. However, the health facility claimed that there was no proof of any misuse of the patients’ health information. The notification to the patients through letters was according to laid down procedures followed when there is a violation in HIPAA laws. The article further claims that HIPAA cannot sue organizations that breach the privacy of patients' information but allow them to learn of the violation and sue the parties involved.

The article will assist me during my research in showing the outcome of a case where a covered party is sued regarding HIPAA violations. The source also gives me an understanding of the right of patients whose medical data has been shared with the public against their will. In addition, the article provides an insight into the rights of covered entities and those of patients.

Agris JL. Currents in contemporary bioethics. Extending the minimum necessary standard to uses and disclosures for treatment. J Law Med Ethics. 2016 Summer;42(2):263-7. doi: 10.1111/jlme.12140. PMID: 25040388.

According to the article's author, the HIPAA privacy rule states that the minimum necessary standard ensures that covered entities enhance medical data protection to limit inappropriate access. The law only applies when a covered entity discloses a patient’s information on request from another covered entity. The author further states that the rule does not apply to disclosures made to healthcare providers or patients. However, most of the covered entities rarely uphold the minimum necessary standard. These parties rely on the argument that disclosures are made for treatment purposes.

The author recommends that an amendment be made to the HIPAA privacy rule to apply the Minimum Necessary standard to disclosures for treatment, payment, and other care operations. By implementing this amendment, patients would be able to enjoy high-quality healthcare services

This article will help understand the minimum necessary standards in healthcare ad how they can be effectively implemented in healthcare delivery. It will also give insights into how the rule increases the risk of patients' medical data breaches.