Question

1) Choose an article from HHS.gov about HIPAA.

2) Identify the HIPAA issue and share your thoughts on how the article applies to you as a health care professional.

Thanks for the help!

Answer 1

1). In the article "HIPAA for Professionals," it was mentioned that the Congress adopted Federal privacy protections for health information. All the regulations regarding the health information privacy and breach notification rule are also mentioned in this article.

2). Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed in 1996, which established several privacy rules and regulations for healthcare professionals about the patient confidentially. The discussions done in an examination room must not be disclosed to the other staff members or family members (outside the office). Also, healthcare professionals must not access the patient's information without any valid reason or authorization.

Healthcare professionals can use social media to form groups of patients with various health conditions, to share the ways of improving health in several ways, posting related videos and discussions.

However, healthcare professionals must not discuss the privacy issues of the patient or should not post the photos (though the patient cannot be identified) and videos. They must not comment on a patient's health or complain about the patient's behavior or views. So, as a healthcare professional, it is important to know the HIPAA rules, regulations, and consequences of breaching these rules.

HIPAA violation, example:

A Californian (China immigrant), Huping Zhou was sentenced to jail for 4 months for accessing the electronic medical records (EMR) of his immediate supervisors and his co-workers without any valid reason. He also accessed the medical records of celebrities and high profile, patients. This person worked as a researcher in the UCLA School of Medicine, later he was dismissed for violating the HIPAA guidelines. However, Zhou did not attempt to get benefited from the information such as by selling the information.