Privacy, Confidentiality, and Security Issues
WEEK 3 DISCUSSION
Privacy, Confidentiality, and Security Issues
Loss of data, theft, and penetration of system safeguards are the main ways in which large scale electronic data can be compromised. With the increasing use of digital and electronic information technologies in health care, it is more important than ever to safe guard against these types of safety issues.
Reflect on your reading from this week, and then address the following:
• Describe at least one event where privacy or confidentiality or security of client data was violated.
• How do you know which type of violation occurred (privacy, confidentiality, security)? If a computer-based information system contributed to the violation, explain how.
• Name one information or data security issue that you see as the greatest obstacle to using electronic or computerized information technology in health care.
Support your ideas or those of others with references from the professional nursing literature.
Post your response by Day 3 of this week. Cite the references used in APA style format.
Privacy, Confidentiality, and Security Issues
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Privacy, Confidentiality, and Security Issues
1 Describe at least one event where privacy or confidentiality or security of client data was violated.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) assisted by the use of information technology (IT) ensure that the patient’s information is confidential and secure. The main objective of HIPAA’s Privacy Rule is to guarantee that the health information of an individual is protected properly while facilitating the flow of information necessary for in providing and promoting high quality care (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). However, despite the fact that IT has facilitated the confidentiality the patients’ information, there are some cases in which the electronic data could be compromised. For instance, according to Simpson (2005), although electronic medical records are more secure compared to paper records, they are problematic since they could be dispersed widely.
For instance, some situations may necessitate the health care provider to obtain the patient’s medical information from the Website. Clearly, this violates the privacy of the patient owing to the fact that such information is obtained without the patient’s consent. In addition, such information may not be accurate since it may not have been updated. Consequently, the use of the patient information that is obtained from the Web site may compromise the quality of patient care and thus threatening the patient safety. In this case, the possibility of making medical errors is very high especially if the information obtained from the Web site is inaccurate.
Another situation in which the privacy of the patient’s data may be violated is the use of cybermedicine. Simpson (2006) asserts that just like telemedicine, cybermedicine is dubious with regards to confidentiality. This is due to the fact that cybermedicine entails the patient and the caregiver exchanging e-mails. These e-mails could easily be accessed by unintended party, especially the hackers and thus violating the patient data’s privacy. Furthermore, since cybermedicine "lacks the actual human interaction", the caregiver may not fully understand the patient’s information and hence resulting to incorrect diagnostic procedures.
2 How do you know which type of violation occurred (privacy, confidentiality, security)? If a computer-based information system contributed to the violation,...