Hcs 335 Patient Confidentiality in the Emergency Department
Patient Confidentiality in the Emergency Department
Ethics: Health Care and Social Responsibility
HCS 335
June 23, 2013
Patient Confidentiality in the Emergency Department Confidentiality and privacy are words used interchangeably in the medical world when they have very different meanings. Confidentiality is in line with protection of patient information from unauthorized users and privacy is in line with protection of the patient’s physical body from unauthorized users. In the emergency department (ED) this is a lofty and constant task that requires vigilance from staff, in all departments, involved with the patient. This student will report on the issues with confidentiality in the ED.
Describe the issue and the population it affects most. There are many issues with confidentiality in the ED but this student believes that the overcrowding and “the growth in the subspecialty of Hallway Medicine” (Freeman, 2003, p. 1) is an enormous problem facing emergency department’s (ED’s). Hallway medicine happens when an ED has full rooms and the hallway gets employed as a waiting or staging area for the overflow patients. Emergency room visits by patients are not just for emergencies anymore. The ED is becoming more like an urgent care setting. As more patients cannot pay for the medical care, they need a higher utilization of the ED is happening because the ED cannot refuse to treat a patient. This is causing an influx of patient volume. Because most ED’s have not had the opportunity to rebuild or redesign the patient rooms to single person rooms the use of curtains separating patient’s is still widely used. Some precautions have been instituted by widening the space between beds and using portable dividers there is still an issue with maintaining patient’s confidentiality. Poor division between patients and overcrowding of ED’s can create a sense of no privacy for the necessary communication between patient and provider to happen. Patients
Ethics: Health Care and Social Responsibility
HCS 335
June 23, 2013
Patient Confidentiality in the Emergency Department Confidentiality and privacy are words used interchangeably in the medical world when they have very different meanings. Confidentiality is in line with protection of patient information from unauthorized users and privacy is in line with protection of the patient’s physical body from unauthorized users. In the emergency department (ED) this is a lofty and constant task that requires vigilance from staff, in all departments, involved with the patient. This student will report on the issues with confidentiality in the ED.
Describe the issue and the population it affects most. There are many issues with confidentiality in the ED but this student believes that the overcrowding and “the growth in the subspecialty of Hallway Medicine” (Freeman, 2003, p. 1) is an enormous problem facing emergency department’s (ED’s). Hallway medicine happens when an ED has full rooms and the hallway gets employed as a waiting or staging area for the overflow patients. Emergency room visits by patients are not just for emergencies anymore. The ED is becoming more like an urgent care setting. As more patients cannot pay for the medical care, they need a higher utilization of the ED is happening because the ED cannot refuse to treat a patient. This is causing an influx of patient volume. Because most ED’s have not had the opportunity to rebuild or redesign the patient rooms to single person rooms the use of curtains separating patient’s is still widely used. Some precautions have been instituted by widening the space between beds and using portable dividers there is still an issue with maintaining patient’s confidentiality. Poor division between patients and overcrowding of ED’s can create a sense of no privacy for the necessary communication between patient and provider to happen. Patients
References: Freeman, J. (2003). The Emerging Subspecialty of Hallway Medicine. CJEM : Journal of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, 5, 283-5. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/195782153 INCIDENTAL USES AND DISCLOSURES. (2002). Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/coveredentities/incidentalu&d.pdf Moskop, J. C., Marco, C. A., Larkin, G. L., Geiderman, J. M., & Derse, A. R. (2005, January 2005). From Hippocrates to HIPAA: Privacy and Confidentiality in Emergency Medicine--Part II: Challenges in the Emergency Department. American College of Emergency Physicians, 45, 60-66. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/science/article/pii/S019606440401282X