Student Name
Law and Ethics in Medicine, HIT 105
Research Project 40903800
Put in place by the federal government to protect private health care records to patients, HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) began in 1996. Companies that need to implement HIPAA rules and regulations include healthcare providers, health plan organizations, and health care clearinghouses. Although the rules are stringent some exceptions exist to ensure the healthcare industry can both abide by the law and give patients (and/or family members if authorized by the patient) access to their healthcare records. Health care organization employees need to be trained in HIPAA policy and procedures and must strictly adhere to the regulations.
The patient gains access to his or her records by written consent. A release of information form is used to protect both the patient and the releasing party. Medical records data is computerized leaving some to fear their privacy is at risk. For this reason some patients do not divulge all of their health conditions. “According to a recent poll, one in six adults (17%) — representing about 38 million persons — say they withhold information from their health providers due to worries about how the medical data might be disclosed” (“Privacy and Health Information Technology,” 2009, p.124). These patients may not receive the best health care because their physicians may be unaware of conditions that affect treatment.
There are 13 circumstances for which health information can be used unrelated to health care. According to Health Care Tips ( n.d.), they are as follows, “as required by law, for public health activities, to report abuse, health over site activities, judicial and administrative proceedings, law enforcement purposes, to facilitate cause of death, to aid in tissue/organ donation, research, serious threat to health