With the advancement of modern technology, healthcare professionals are taking on social networking and social media use for the distribution of helpful medical information and providing patient care while patients suffering from serious sicknesses turn to social media for support, being a catalyst for triggering Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act violations and the rise of compliance concerns.
Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as the acronym HIPPA, and passed by Congress in 1996, “the Privacy Rule protects all individually identifiable health information held or transmitted by a covered entity or its business associate, in any form or media, whether electronic format, paper, or oral.” When
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Interactions through virtual social media, such as, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter are prevalent ways information can be generated, shared, and exchanged. With the use of these networking platforms, medical professionals and healthcare employees are putting themselves in a liableness situation connecting with patients and colleagues as it is essentially an open forum. When the patient creates a message on the forum they are giving authorization for anyone to see; however, if the physician or healthcare employee were to post on the forum and disclose PHI relating to the patient without a care-related need for the disclosure it would constitute a HIPAA violation. Social media platforms have turned out to be an enticing channel to disclose patient information, committed deliberately or not, that should have otherwise remained private. Reports in the news have emerged that allude to nursing staff posting photos of patients, physicians releasing case specifics that allowed the patient to be recognized, and employees who thought gaining access to and distributing the health information of friends, relatives, or celebrities was okay. PHI may be used or disclosed for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations. If the disclosure does not meet these qualifications and PHI …show more content…
Patients who are confined to home may feel it is important to get the conventional help as they cannot get to an office. Many individuals also find it reassuring to turn to social media sites to communicate with others with communal healthcare interests and matters. Persons have also found that involvement on social media has positively taken affect towards a more healthy lifestyle and compliance with one’s personal health management, and has become a great way to showcase personal success stories to exemplify accomplishments. The use of social networking and social media in healthcare is beneficial to attract new patients, to maintain connections with established patients, and recruit medical personnel. Social media is the most cost effective way to promote healthcare services and to build awareness through the use of a Facebook page, Twitter account, or YouTube channel. The use of social media now provides healthcare professionals the ability to engage a targeted audience and establish relationships to provide awareness and education about a particular issue. Many entities are now using social media to expedite emergency or disaster communications to provide instantaneous updates for those affected by any type of catastrophic situation and for those who would like to help with the disaster recovery
As the evolution of healthcare from paper documentation to electronic documentation and ordering, the security of patient information is becoming more difficult to maintain. Electronic healthcare records (EHR), telenursing, Computer Physician Order Entry (CPOE) are a major part of the future of medicine. Social media also plays a role in the security of patient formation. Compromising data in the information age is as easy as pressing a send button. New technology presents new challenges to maintaining patient privacy. The topic for this annotated bibliography is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Nursing informatics role is imperative to assist in the creation and maintenance of the ease of the programs and maintain regulations compliant to HIPAA. As a nurse, most documentation and order entry is done electronically and is important to understand the core concepts of HIPAA regarding electronic healthcare records. Using keywords HIPAA and informatics, the author chose these resources from scholarly journals, peer reviewed articles, and print based articles and text books. These sources provide how and when to share patient information, guidelines and regulation d of HIPAA, and the implementation in relation to electronic future of nursing.
During the 1980’s, medical-related situations continuously occurred that made patients question their insurance policies as well as the privacy of their health care. Congress worked to create a bill containing strict rules regarding insurance policies and availability for one to keep their insurance if they are to move jobs. These rules were soon applied to all medical facilities and faculty and titled the “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act”.The H.I.P.A.A. policies brought about change in professionalism, medical standards, taxing, and enforcement. Throughout history, maintaining patient privacy has always been a problem in the medical field. Patients have the right to their privacy and the information that they do not want to disclose should be kept privately. Since this was an overly occurring problem, the congress believed that they should make a law to fix this problem. On August 21, 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed by congress and President Bill Clinton.
Employees within healthcare and anyone who has been a mature patient in recent years have been duly informed of the Health Insurance Privacy and Portability Act (HIPPA), but even more people are more intimately familiar with the social networking site Facebook. Prior to researching the legal and ethical boundaries at it pertains to patient confidentiality in nursing school, many of us thought little of the HIPPA concept and how it applies to each of us as individuals. We can announce to the world on Facebook that I have a lump, please go get a mammogram! We can whine on for ages about our children’s medical problems. We make announcements and call for prayers for our spouses and parents who are ill. We share with our friends and family, sometimes things we should not share. This is not about Facebook; its essence is respecting others privacy and refusing to participate in activity that may divulge private medical information about anyone. Crossing that line, making clear the intent to become a part of the health care sector, changes your responsibility toward identifying information regarding a person other than yourself, and that information dies with you or there can be harsh consequences.
... and HIPAA, Does instant access and availability from mobile technology jeopardize patient privacy? [Electronic version] Nursing Management, June 2007, 38-40
HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) was put in place by the Federal Government for several reasons; better portability of health insurance for employees, to prevent fraud and abuse within the healthcare delivery system, and simplification of administrative functions associated with healthcare delivery (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2012). Due to sensitive healthcare information being shared federal regulations were also put into place, resulting in the “Privacy Rule” and “Security Rule”. The Privacy Rule limits the use and disclosure of patient information. The Security Rule protects the patients’ healthcare information from improper use or disclosure, to maintain information integrity, and ensure its availability (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2012). Both regulations apply to protected health information (PHI) which is any form of health information that can be used to identify an individual patient. Practitioners who refer to HIPPA are not referring to the act itself but the “Privacy Rule” and “Security Rule” (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2012). It is extremely important to understand these concepts as a student in the clinical setting and how each hospital enforces these concepts. Before starting at any clinical site there is an extensive orientation about HIPPA regarding what is appropriate and not appropriate when it comes to patient information and the repercussions of violating HIPPA. In this paper I will discuss Akron General’s rules and policies regarding their EHR, PHI, EPHI, and social media.
Randolph, S. A. (2012). Using Social Media and Networking in Health Care. Workplace Health & Safety, 60(1), 44-44.
Due to technology progressing as it is social media is becoming more and more popular. Per (Williams & Hopper, 2015) “discussing your nursing shift on Facebook is not a safe practice, even if you do not use the patient’s name.” Without knowing you could be violating HIPPA when you post a picture or status. “Taking photos in patient setting on personal devices, posting patient information, including images such as photos or x-rays on social media sites” is said to violate HIPPA. (Williams & Hopper, 2015) Also, it is said that employers look at social media and your pages when they’re considering hiring you. (Williams & Hopper, 2015) As you can see using social media when in the patient setting is very dangerous as it can cost you not getting a job. Being conscious of what you post is important for your job's sake and for you and your facilities professionalism. Social media is very useful for research to provide for the patient care, but we must find a way to use it so it does no harm to the patients and gets the most of
... of potential threats such as unauthorized access of the patient information. Health care leaders must always remind their employees that casual review for personal interest of patients ' protected health information is unacceptable and against the law just like what happened in the UCLA health systems case (Fiske, 2011). Health care organizations need clear policies and procedures to prevent, detect, contain, and correct security violations. Through policies and procedures, entities covered under HIPAA must reasonably restrict access to patient information to only those employees with a valid reason to view the information and must sanction any employee who is found to have violated these policies.In addition, it is critical that health care organizations should implement awareness and training programs for all members of its workforce (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013).
Health information opponents has question the delivery and handling of patients electronic health records by health care organization and workers. The laws and regulations that set the framework protecting a user’s health information has become a major factor in how information is used and disclosed. The ability to share a patient document using Electronic Health Records (EHRs) is a critical component in the United States effort to show transparency and quality of healthcare records while protecting patient privacy. In 1996, under President Clinton administration, the US “Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)” established national standards for the safeguard of certain health information. As a result, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 or (HIPAA) was established. HIPAA security standards required healthcare providers to ensure confidentiality and integrity of individual health information. This also included insurance administration and insurance portability. According to Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), an organization must guarantee the integrity, confidentiality, and security of sensitive patient data (Heckle & Lutters, 2011).
These days’ health care systems are using social media to improve quality and safety of overall health care delivery, through access to information. Nurses as well as patients can get deta...
According to an article written by Scranton University, the positive affects that social media has on Healthcare
Cambell, L. C., Ed.D, Eichhorn, K. C., PhD, Early, C., Caraccioli, P., & Greeley, A. E., .S.T. (2012). Applying the transtheoretical model to improve social media use in the health care industry. American Journal of Health Studies, 27(4), 236-244.
Smart phones and social media in the health care field presents opportunities and growth advancement but also comes with many consequences and challenges. Health care organizations have regulated the use of smartphones and posting confidential information on social media such as HIPPA, which have laws intact if violated these laws may lead to termination or fines. The patient’s privacy and confidentiality is important when creating such policies, to maximize work efficiency and to create a safe environment. Furthermore, health care staff need to ensure that their patient care standards aren’t compromised by the use of these devices or social media postings.
Social media sites including Twitter and Facebook are in their infancy yet play an increasingly important role in the response to a disaster. After all, “one of the basic tenants of emergency management is mass communication and being able to deliver pertinent information to those who need it” (Gould, 2012). Social media offers an avenue to obtain up to the minute information on a given situation right in an individual's hands thanks to the proliferation of mobile devices. “Each disaster sparks its own complex web of fast-paced information exchange. It can both improve disaster response and allow affected populations to take control of their situation as well as feel empowered” (Maron, 2013). While traditional forms of media, print, radio and television in particular, have been the standard since the inception of the emerg...
When it comes to social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube, nobody wants to think about the negative effects it has on patients. Brian Cayko, the director of clinical education in the respiratory care program at Great Falls College, Montana State University in Great Falls, Montana argues that social media makes it easier for patients. When a patient is not able to acquire care at the medical facility, they can get in touch with their respiratory therapist with the use of social media sites. Cayko also states that social media sites can be helpful as “educational resources, patient support and social and professional networking.” I think that Cayko knows that everyone must remember the negative things about social media and the internet, with the understanding that just because it’s on the web doesn’t mean that it is the truth. No, not everything is wrong with social media sites, I am involved in social media sites myself; however, personally I know that when it comes to an occupation especially in the medical field, you have to be more aware of the negatives than the