2. Position Statement
Pros
Physicians have an obligation to safeguard
patient’s information within their information
data base systems.
Cons
Physicians posted clinical and surgical
appointment for its patients on an internet-
based calendar that was publicly accessible.
3. Applicable Laws
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act of 1996 (HIPAA) called for the establishment
of standards and requirements for transmitting
certain health information to improve the
efficiency and effectiveness of the health care
system while protecting patient privacy.
4. Specific Regulations
Title IV is a safeguard ensuring the protection of
privacy for your medical information. Along with
federally ensuring your privacy, the HIPAA law is
intended to lead to reduced fraudulent activity
and improved data systems.
5. Case Precedents
Pros:
Phoenix Cardiac Surgery has agreed to pay the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS) a $100,000 settlement and
take corrective action to implement policies and procedures to
safeguard the protected health information of its patients.
Cons:
Phoenix Cardiac Surgery the physician practice was posting
clinical and surgical appointments for its patients on an Internet-
based calendar that was publicly accessible.
6. Applicable Industry Standards
The Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Public Law
104-191, included Administrative Simplification
provisions that required HHS to adopt national
standards for electronic health care transactions
and code sets, unique health identifiers, and
security.
7. Evidence Based Research
Pros:
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010
has focused attention on major reforms.
Cons:
A recent study of consumers' attitudes toward health
care found that there is a “disconnect between the
central tenets of evidence-based health care and the
knowledge, values, and beliefs held by many
consumers.
8. Recommendation
It is my recommendation for the Phoenix cardiac
surgery to follow the HIPAA law within their
organization such as getting consent from
patient before providing confidential
information like appointments on the internet
based systems for everyone to see. This will
prevent further settlements in the future.
9. Reference
References: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2012),
Health Information Privacy, Washington DC: Author, retrieved on April
26, 2012, from about.com://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/
Sage, B (2012). HIPAA Law and Regulations retrieved on April 18, 2012
from http://personalinsure.about.com/od/health/a/aa041806a.htm
Schardt, C 2011, J Med Libr Assoc. 2011 Health Information Literacy
meets evidence-based practice retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3016648/
Editor's Notes
The settlement with the physician practice follows an extensive investigation by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules. On further investigation, OCR found that Phoenix Cardiac Surgery had implemented few policies and procedures to comply with the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, and had limited safeguards in place to protect patients’ electronic protected health information (ePHI
At the same time, Congress recognized that advances in electronic technology could erode the privacy of health information. Consequently, Congress incorporated into HIPAA provisions that mandated the adoption of Federal privacy protections for individually identifiable health information
This including greater use of evidence-based medicine, shared decision making, comparative effectiveness research, and transparency of cost and quality information
