4-2 Final Project Milestone Two HSE (1)
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Milestone Two: Draft of Review of Case
Melissa Lawrence
Southern New Hampshire University
HSE 340: Law & Ethics in Human Services
J. Brooke Andrews, MSW
11/19/2023
2
Regarding HIPAA and CFR part 42, maintaining the confidentiality of a client's personal
information is crucial. These laws aid in maintaining the confidentiality and security of a client's
personal health information (PHI). Nonetheless, relationships between mental health providers
and persons involved in the criminal justice system are not uncommon.
In this hypothetical situation, a parole officer has requested that Stephanie, a human
services policy analyst, provide private information about Kevin, a patient who is seeking
treatment at a state-run mental health facility. Information about Kevin's diagnosis, the location
of his discharge, and the personnel who provided his hospital care have been requested by the
parole officer.
Stephanie is obligated by law to keep his PHI confidential. There must be a court
order enabling Stephanie to reveal Kevin's personal information without his agreement for her to
disseminate the information about the parolee.
"Permission under the consent provisions in 42 CFR Part 2 or the authorization sections
of HIPAA must have been granted for the supervising officer to receive PHI." If protected health
or substance abuse treatment information is requested, the court may also order the person to
waive confidentiality as a condition of probation or may issue an order directing disclosure by
HIPAA3 and/or 42 CFR Part 24
(
Bureau of Justice Assistance
. (n.d.).
Since sharing private
health information is involved, Stephanie is legally prohibited from disclosing Kevin's PHI to the
probation officer without breaking the law. Information on a parolee cannot be shared with
parole officers without the parolee's consent unless the parolee has joined a treatment facility
under a court order containing particular probationary terms.
Companies respect the privacy of their patients and demand that their employees adhere
to all guidelines on patient data protection. "The Office for Civil Rights of the US Department of
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Health and Human Services has mandated HIPAA regulations. The rules and procedures set up to
protect data must be followed by each organization or individual that comes into touch with
protected health information (Lifestyle, n.d). Nonetheless, there have been cases where HIPPA
has been broken and PHI was inadvertently disclosed, which is regarded as a civil rights
violation for the patient. Legal repercussions include the possibility of lawsuits, hefty penalties,
disciplinary action or termination of employment, and reputational damage to the organization.
Examples of situations in which patient PHI was not secure are:
An emergency room employee who snaps a photo and posts it to social media to show
how busy it would represent a HIPAA violation, as people in the photo may be
recognizable.
A nurse shares patient information with a radiology technician who is authorized to
receive the information. That is fine in and of itself. However, if the discussion takes
place in a common area non-authorized personnel could easily overhear. That would be a
HIPAA violation.
It's not unusual for family members to pressure nurses or doctors to share information
with them about a loved one's medical condition or treatment options. Unless the patient
has specifically authorized PHI to be shared with that person (in writing), this is not
allowed.
If a nurse or other medical professional releases PHI about a patient to a party that is not
formally authorized to receive the data, this would be a violation. It's important to check
authorization documentation, as patients can authorize the release of only certain kinds of
information to specific parties.
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Releasing the wrong patient's information is a common unintentional HIPAA violation.
This could occur through a careless mistake in a situation where two patients have the
same or similar names. This is one reason why medical offices often verify additional
information beyond a person's name, such as date of birth or address.
Releasing information to an undesignated party is a HIPPA violation scenario. Only the
exact person listed on the authorization form may receive patient information. If a patient
authorizes his or her mother to receive medical information, she is the only person the
information can be shared with.
Releasing unauthorized health information is also a violation. This refers to releasing the
wrong document that has not been approved for release. A patient has the right to release
only parts of their medical record
(White, 2021).
With examples in mind, firms must implement adequate measures to ensure that their
personnel do not reveal patient information without adhering to the required protocols.
The publication of material that shouldn't have been shared presents a few ethical
challenges for human services professionals and their companies. For example, maintaining
confidentiality and privacy is a serious ethical concern. If private information is disclosed, an
employee or the business may be held liable for any resulting harm. Criminal charges might
even be made against the corporation or that individual. After the event, the organization
might have a very hard time rebuilding a trustworthy reputation. The worker may struggle in
their career and find it tough to get back into that line of employment. Organizations' ability
to protect patients' privacy is crucial to their safety because disclosing personal information
about them could harm them. The organization and human services worker may face several
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ethical and legal ramifications because of this. Data privacy is another potential ethical
problem. Since many employees have access to an organization's computers, technology
raises ethical concerns with patient health information. The likelihood of PHI being disclosed
can be decreased by allowing access to records and enforcing a need-to-know basis for
anyone who can view the information included in patents. Health professionals must deal
with ethical concerns with EHRs. Autonomy is compromised when medical records are
shared or connected without the consent of the patient. Because they don't trust the system to
protect their data, the patient can withhold information. Consequently, their care may be
jeopardized. Errors or theft could lead to the disclosure of thousands of patient's health
records (Ozair et al., 2015). Adding security to their medical systems against internet threats
and implementing authentication methods to identify the users who have accessed that
organization's records are appropriate strategies to mitigate the ethical difficulties that have
been highlighted. Adding security to their medical systems against internet threats and
implementing authentication methods to identify the users who have accessed that
organization's records are appropriate strategies to mitigate the ethical difficulties that have
been highlighted.
Since Kevin is a 25-year-old illegal immigrant, other concerns that should be considered
that are particular to this case scenario are any social and political opinions concerning
immigrants receiving medical care. Some people believe that because immigrants are not
citizens, they shouldn't be entitled to the same medical care if any at all. Additionally,
individuals from households with illegal immigrants are reluctant to seek medical attention
for fear of being deported, and undocumented immigrants have limited access to federal
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programs. "They are not eligible for Medicaid, which offers coverage to those with low
incomes, nor are they eligible for federal subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
In Conclusion, because "Human service professionals ensure that their values or biases
are not imposed upon their clients," Human Service Code of Ethics Standard 7 can be applied
to this situation. A human services professional will make sure they are impartial toward their
client's legal status and will make every effort to give them the appropriate assistance for
their circumstances. Furthermore, Human service professionals protect the integrity, safety,
and security of client records. Client information in written or electronic form that is shared
with other professionals must have the client's prior written consent except during
professional supervision or when legally obliged or permitted to share such information
(Allen, n.d.).
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References –
Allen, B. (n.d.).
Ethical standards for HS professionals
.
https://www.nationalhumanservices.org/ethical-
standards-for-hs-professionals
Search | Bureau of Justice Assistance
. (n.d.).
https://bja.ojp.gov/search/results?keys=hipaa
Lifestyle. (n.d.).
HIPAA Violation Fines: What Happens if Your Company Violates HIPAA?
New Haven
Register. Retrieved September 27, 2020, from
https://blog.nhregister.com/lifestyle/2020/09/27/hipaa-violation-fines-what-happens-if-your-
company-violates-hipaa/
Ozair, F. F., Jamshed, N., Sharma, A. K., & Aggarwal, P. (2015). Ethical issues in electronic health
records: A general overview.
Perspectives in Clinical Research
,
6
(2), 73.
https://doi.org/10.4103/2229-3485.153997
White, M. G., MA. (2021). Examples of HIPAA violations and common scenarios. In
YourDictionary
.
https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/examples-hipaa-violations
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