We all know by now that healthcare shortages were expected to
spike by the year 2020, mostly due to baby boomer populations
retiring, and the elderly population needing care growing. According
to US news, physicians were at 2x the risk for burnout before the
pandemic hit, and 40% of physicians reported depression. Now the
pandemic has hit, and this has caused more shortages and burnout
than ever expected. It was noted that 60-70% of healthcare staff
have faced exhaustion, sleep deprivation, and depression because of
being overworked. (Levine, 2021)
So, how can this shortage affect the implementation of HIPAA and
HITECH federal rulings?
My personal opinion is that because there are such shortages, there
is decline in quality of care. HIPAA is available to protect patients by
ensuring them quality of care, confidentiality and privacy. With the
shortages, it may be impossible to provide continuity of care to
patients who have lost their jobs. People may have to wait longer to
see a doctor. People may no the able to see a specialist when
needed, and there may not be enough time for the nurses/doctors to
provide patient information to other healthcare providers. (Standards
of Care, n.d.)
The shortage of healthcare professionals can also mean shortages in
healthcare administrators. Without healthcare administrators, it ma
be almost impossible to implement such federal rulings, as this is one
of their main jobs working as administrators.
In my opinion, shortages = less implementation of new rules and
regulations. More rushing, less time to do things needed to be done,
more errors, less communication, less quality of care, more wait
times.
Levine, D. (November 15, 2021). US News. "US Faces Crisis of
Burned-Out Healthcare Workers." Retrieved
from https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-
11-15/us-faces-crisis-of-burned-out-health-care-workers
Standards of Care. (n.d.) "Confidentiality and HIPAA." Retrieved
from https://www.standardsofcare.org/understanding-care/confiden
tiality-and-hipaa/#:~:text=When%20you%20know%20what%20your
