Healthcare Privacy and Security
Module 4 - Case
HEALTH CARE PRIVACY AND SECURITY
Case Assignment
Do an Internet or library search for recent articles discussing the HIPAA Security Rule. From your research, write a paper discussing the impact of these security regulations on health care organizations.
Answer the following questions in detail:
How have these regulations changed the way organizations view security?
Do you think the regulations are too stringent? Not stringent enough? Just right? Explain your rationale.
Do they comply with the requirements of HIPAA?
What measures do you recommend that can improve security in the healthcare industry?
Assignment Expectations
Your references and citations should be consistent with a particular formatting style, such as APA. You may use the following source to assist in formatting your assignment: https://owl(dot)english(dot)purdue(dot)edu/owl/resource/560/01/.
Provide references from at least three scholarly articles and peer-reviewed journals. For additional information on how to recognize peer-reviewed journals, see http://www(dot)angelo(dot)edu/services/library/handouts/peerrev.php
Your response should be based on reliable and scholarly material, such as peer-reviewed articles, white papers, technical papers, etc. Please use the following resource for evaluating information found on the internet to ensure that you are using reliable sources: https://www(dot)library(dot)georgetown(dot)edu/tutorials/research-guides/evaluating-internet-content
Your response should incorporate the outcomes of the module with the requirements of this assignment.
Healthcare Privacy and Security
Student’s Name
Institution
Healthcare Privacy and Security
Introduction
The digital transformation brought a lot of disruption in almost every sector. Some industries managed to incorporate the digital aspects with little or no repercussion while others have suffered setbacks. The concern with the incorporation of digital technologies into an industry is the menace of cyber attacks. The health care industry is accused of being tardy in putting in place measures that safeguard the stakeholders' critical information that is at the disposal of cybercriminals in the vast computer systems in the industry (Jalali & Kaiser, 2018). Aware of this concern, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) deemed fit to come up with rules and regulations that will help safeguard patients’ privacy and address additional security concerns in the health care industry (HHS.gov, 2009). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule as stipulated by the HHS outlines the administrative, physical, and technical safeguards that a physician must observe when handling electronically stored, protected health information (ePHI) to ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Organizations’ View on Security Post HIPAA
The HIPAA Security Rule was initially received with a lot of skepticism, with some arguing that the cumbersome privacy and security compliance imposed by the act would derail the efficiency of the health care industry (Moore & Frye, 2019). Most health care practitioners regarded the security rules as punitive measures rather than compliance measures, further increasing the skepticism. This skepticism, however, aided a great deal in transforming the way health organizations viewed security issues. The skepticism accelerated the need for the organizations to have a compliance plan to the security acts while putting in place measures to increase the awareness of the security protocols (Moore & Frye, 2019). The regulations also helped physicians and all other staff in health care to be well aware of the security risks that come along with the evolving medical technologies. Consequently, measures have been put in place by most organizations to curtail the security breaches that often arise due to the use of unreliable data stores and sharing tools.
The security rules also encompass an aspect of privacy. The rigorous measures imposed by the HIPAA Security Rule has helped health care institutions acknowledge the additional values that privacy and data security promote among the key stakeholders. With this notion in mind, the organizations can leverage the autonomy of the patients in activities such as research that are beneficial to the society at large. A guarantee of data security and privacy attracts more participants in health care research and the data quality becomes top-notch when participants express their autonomy (Abouelmehdi et al., 2018). Besides, the organizations clearly understand the detrimental effects on a person's dignity, the potential to cause stigma, and be a subject of discrimination. Compliance with the HIPAA Security Rules prevents these harms while improving the quality of care.
The rationale on the Regulations
Despite the much-popularized skepticism about the HIPAA Security Rule, the regulation provides reasonable protocols and measures that any security professional would recommend in an environment where data privacy and security are of essence. To insinuate that the security rules are too strict is rather misguided because the regulations sufficiently address the security concerns in the health care sector. The Security Rule's main aim is to ensure that the covered entities are compliant with the CIA triad of information security that is fundamental in addressing cybersecurity needs. The HIPAA Act is subject to amendments and additional legislations have been enacted to supplement the initial objectives of the regulation (Smith, 2019), thus offering some flexibility. Furthermore, covered entities are offered an option to provide an alternative...