I chose Scenario 2. I can relate to this scenario as I was carrying a
laptop to support on-call issues when I was vacationing on this past
July 4th weekend. Losing a laptop with company information
represents a potential breach of HIPPA and Code of Federal
Regulations 42 – Public Health (CFR 42). CFR42 imposes stricter
rules than HIPAA (Substance Abuse Confidentiality Regulations 2022).
I know that my agency would be facing potential Justice Center
reportable incident. Depending on the nature and how I handled the
situation compared to organization policy, the Justice Center can pick
the incident up as an active investigation which could result in me
being put on administrative leave until the investigation concludes.
Depending on the investigation findings, there could be serious
implications such as loss of license/credentials and inability to work in
the field of human services again.
It is very important to follow agency policy, so I would certainly
contact the IT department before the plane took off so that they
could make sure that anyone that broke into the laptop would be
denied access to our internal systems. Some of the steps that should
have been taken before this was to have a strong password to access
the laptop and my contact information attached to the laptop so that
it could be returned to me.
Ethically, we have to do everything we can to protect client
confidentiality while also being able to have access to agency
information while out of the office. The agency policies may seem
restrictive but are meant to ensure compliance and as an employee, I
feel that if I follow the policy, that I will fare much better than if I try
to cover up or delay reporting the issue.
References
Justice center. Justice Center for the Protection of People With
Special Needs. (n.d.). Retrieved July 13, 2022, from
https://www.justicecenter.ny.gov/
Substance Abuse Confidentiality Regulations. SAMHSA. (n.d.).
Retrieved July 13, 2022, from https://www.samhsa.gov/about-
us/who-we-are/laws-regulations/confidentiality-regulations-faqs
