HIPAA Violation: Client Data is Exposed to the Media

HIPAA Violation: Client Data is Exposed to the Media
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HIPAA Violation: Client Data is Exposed to the Media
Introduction
Do you know that healthcare providers are prohibited from sharing their patients’ information without owner consent and that engaging in such an act might lead to imprisonment and cancellation of medical license? The federal government implemented the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to safeguard patient electronic health data such that no information should be shared without the consent of its owner. Health institutions and professionals are entitled to adhere to HIPAA regulations. By referring to an incident that took place at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the paper will focus on how exposing patient data to the media violates HIPAA (Vigdor, 2021). The paper will have five primary sections, namely introduction, HIPAA regulations, scenario ending and recommendations, merits and demerits of applying technology in the healthcare sector, and conclusion. The primary objective of this paper is to show that healthcare professionals should use technology without violating HIPAA standards, which foster patient privacy and confidentiality.
HIPAA, Legal, and Regulatory Discussion
The federal government implemented HIPAA regulations to promote patient health information privacy and confidentiality. Many healthcare organizations and hospitals in the United States of America (USA) have implemented electronic health recording systems. They have embraced the application of technology in different facets of the medical industry. HIPAA’s privacy regulations prohibit physicians from disclosing identifiable patient data unless under specific exceptions that are clearly stated (Cohen & Mello, 2018). The most significant thing about using technology is that it allows patient information to be stored and retrieved when the need arises, contributing to the effectiveness and efficiency of the treatment process. However, mishandling of this data can have detrimental consequences on patients.
Healthcare regulations are implemented to protect healthcare providers and patients. For example, in 2021, medical residents at Spectrum Health specializing in gynecology and obstetrics shared photos of a patient’s organ and tissue material in the operating room on Instagram as they played a game called “The Price Is Right” (Vigdor, 2021). The game entails guessing the weight of the organ. During this incident, the patient was undergoing surgery to remove uterine fibroids. To make the matter worse, the patient was seen in the background on the operating table in some of the pictures shared on Instagram. Such acts violate HIPAA standards.
The government does not restrict healthcare organizations from using technology. However, it has implemented proper legal guidelines to enhance the appropriate use of technologies in the medical sector. In reality, hospitals are encouraged to adopt electronic health records so that it can be easy to store and retrieve patients’ data to promote the quality of healthcare services. The only way of respecting and maintaining individuals’ dignity and integrity is by ensuring that their health information is well-protected (Thompson, 2022). Besides, HIPAA standards are crucial in preventing potential data breaches since they avoid patient data from falling into the wrong hands.
Scenario Ending and Recommendations
Sharing opinions, ideas, and thoughts on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, has become ubiquitous. However, physicians are restricted from sharing their patients’ identifiable health information regardless of their intentions. Examples of patient-identifiable health data include names, physical addresses, social security numbers, medical record numbers, contact, email addresses, and patient pictures among others (Fargen et al., 2021). Whenever physicians are required to share patient data, they should comply with the HIPAA guidelines. For instance, in the scenario at hand involving medical residents at Spectrum Health, these professionals violated the HIPAA standards. They shared a patient’s organ on Instagram while playing the game “The Price Is Right,” without permission. Moreover, some photos revealed the picture of the patient in the background on the operating table. This action was unprofessional and medical residents who did it deserved to be punished.
The situation attracted more attention on social media since it is unexpected for medical residents to share their patients’ health information. Spectrum Health responded by saying that the surgical images were posted on social media that was not connected officially to it. However, investigations were underway to identify the healthcare providers who did this since it was unacceptable and unprofessional behavior. This incident violated HIPAA standards and slightly tarnished the reputation of Spectrum Health. According to the New York University Grossman School of Medicine’s professor of medical ethics, Arthur Caplan, the majority of patients consider organs or tissues surgically removed to be part of themselves, particularly female reproductive organs (Vigdor, 2021). As such, posting pictures of organs or tissues is highly unethical and unprofessional.  
Specific actions should have been taken to mitigate the circumstances presented in the scenario at hand. First, Spectrum Health should have commu...