Privacy Issues In Health Care Research Paper

Concerns Surround Medical Records Privacy Issues
Juanita Newell
HCS/430
May 13, 2013
Melissa Borrelli, Esq.

Concerns Surround Medical Records Privacy Issues
The health information of Americans is expected to rise in the coming years because millions of patients’ medical records are changing into electronic medical records. Electronic medical records give the healthcare providers, regulators, insurers, and researchers the right to analyze the patient’s health information. These concerns have patients’ worried about how much privacy he or she has concerning their personal health information. This article focuses on how the concerns surrounding medical records privacy issues relates to the nature, sources, and functions of the law.
Doctors
The privacy rule deals with patients’ “protected health information” and its goal is to make sure that the person’s health information is protected but also allowing his or her information to use properly to provide proper quality health care. Health plans, healthcare providers, and healthcare clearinghouses are covered by the privacy rule. The information protected by the privacy rule includes the past, present, or future physical or mental condition of the individual, provisions of the healthcare, and the payment for the provision of the healthcare. The healthcare information may be used for treatments, payments, and healthcare operations. Privacy practice notices are required to be given to all patients by the covered entities so that they know their health care privacy rights. Health care organizations and providers must abide by the Standards for Privacy for Individually Identifiable Health Information. If they organizations and providers do not comply the can be fined up to $250,000 and 10 years in
The security rule’s goal is to protect the privacy of the individual’s health information while allowing covered entities to explore new technologies that will improve health care. Individuals covered by the security rule are the same as the privacy rule, but the security rule also covers healthcare providers who send health information electronically. The security rule protects the same information as the privacy rule, but it also covers all identifiable information a covered entity receives, maintains, creates, or transmits electronically. The security rules require covered entities protect the e-PHI, which is Electronic Protected Health Information with appropriate technical, administrative, and physical safeguards. Security rules means all files are confidential and are not to be given out to unauthorized individuals. Covered entities are required to maintain security policies and procedures and written records of assessments, activities, and required actions for six years from the date of their creation. It must also keep its documentation up-to-date with the changes that may affect e-PHI. If an individual is not in compliance with the security rules, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) are to enforce these rules and have the right to conduct compliance