Introduction
Technology has helped us to live quality lives for many years. At the home, work, and school and there is no limit to its use. It also provides benefits to patients and providers in a healthcare setting. By using technology, patients receive prompt care from healthcare workers which help to prevent an unsought event that might occur. But it may cause serious problems to patients and healthcare workers if the technology used without regulation. It has been a major concern for patient’s security and privacy by violating HIPAA rule. HIPAA is United States legislation that provides privacy and security guidelines for medical information use (Terry, 2015). Like any other rule, it has a penalty and it can cause mild to severe consequence to violators.
HIPAA, Legal, & Regulatory Discussion
HIPAA is The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 signed into law by President Clinton (Terry, 2015). There are two most applicable rules to mobile usages in healthcare setting which are the security rule and privacy rule while HIPAA rule makes people able to maintain their health insurance coverage between jobs (Chen & Benusa, 2017). According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the HIPAA Security Rule deals with protecting an individual’s electronic protected health information and Privacy Rule protects patient’s medical records and other health information and it applies to health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and any healthcare providers (www.hhs.gov).
In the healthcare industry, regulating security and privacy of patient health information is most challenging subject because it seems easier to violate the rule since the increase in mobile device usages in patient care. During the work hour shifts, the nurses or healthcare providers are allowed to use Smartphone. Some say that they carry them for work, but most of the time is for personal use (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2012). They want to have the phone with them for family emergency situations even though the places they work have phones. Some people share their daily events by posting pictures or write a comment on social media such as Facebook or Twitter. Healthcare workers also use social media and it is easily accessible by Smartphone at their fingertips. According to the American Medical Association, the penalty for violating HIPAA compliance are based on the level of negligence and can be fined $100 per case and face a fine of up to $50,000 per case with up to 1 year of imprisonment. A maximum penalty is $1.5 million per year with violations of an identical provision. For example, according to Chen and Benusa, in 2015, The University of Washington Medicine had to pay the penalty of $750k for potential violations of HIPAA Security Rules (2017).
Scenario Ending & Recommendations
The investigation of a HIPAA violation and legal action against the hospital due to some photos of a celebrity who had been hospitalized due to an accident and picture had been sold to the magazine is probable ending of the scenario. Even though the nurse who took the picture of the celebrity did not sell the picture to the Gossip Gazette, and the problem had started when she started to take pictures of the patient and send it to her friend to share her excitement.
According to American Nurses Association (2015), nurses rank as the most honest and ethical profession in America for the past 14 straight years. It is important to use this trust to lead and make a better change in the healthcare system. In the nursing profession, nurses follow Code of Ethics to ensure the safety of patients and the health and wellness of nurses and other healthcare providers (American Nurses Association, 2015).
Taking pictures of the patient due to personal interest is not ethically right because it occurs while caring patient and it may damage not only patient’s reputation but also his fame and health. In order to be an honest and ethical nurse, she had to focus on her position and duty which continues to monitor patient’s vitals and follows hospital’s HIPAA regulations and protocols.
Advantages and Disadvantages
The main reason why technology such as Smartphone has been used in a healthcare setting is that it has helped to improve many patients’ health. Avancha states that (2012) mobile technology has helped physicians to keep track of their patients’ health in a timely manner which enables to access quickly to patients vital information when they are not at patient’s bedside.
Patients save money by using mobile technology. According to Avancha (2012), the efficiency of mobile technology makes patients to visit doctors less than before and to spend less time in a hospital stay. Patients can easily send an email to the provider to ask some questions whether the need to see the doctor for the condition they have or not.
The most disadvantages of mobile technology will be the privacy issue. Even though hospitals have strong HIPAA regulations that require confidentially, nurses or healthcare workers can easily violate its rules by sharing not medically necessary information with others (Avancha, 2012). Strong training and constant monitoring of hospital staffs and workers are necessary to prevent unwanted event to occur.
The next disadvantage will be a security issue. If patient’s health information is on the internet even if it protected by security software, there are still chances for someone to access the information. For example, we heard a story from the news or received a letter saying that one of top credit report company, Equifax, had cybersecurity incident which approximately 143 million U.S. consumers were impacted. Even though its protected, it still happens and put many people at risk and chaos.
Conclusion and Reflections
Whether it is social media or Smartphone, these are tools that we can use to improve or enhance patient care. However, these have potential risks to patients and healthcare providers. The potential risks can be damage to professional image, violating HIPPA rules, legal issues, and providing poor quality care to patients, and most of these outcomes are preventable by continues to train employees and staffs about HIPAA privacy and security rules and remind them to aware of mobile devices usage at healthcare environment (Ventola, 2014).
References
AVANCHA, S., BAXI, A., & KOTZ, D. (2012). Privacy in Mobile Technology for Personal Healthcare. ACM Computing Surveys, 45(1), 3:1. doi:10.1145/2379776.2379779
Chen, J. Q., & Benusa, A. (2017). HIPAA security compliance challenges: The case for small healthcare providers. International Journal Of Healthcare Management, 10(2), 135-146. doi:10.1080/20479700.2016.1270875
College of Nurses of Ontario. (2012). Survey says….Nurses weigh in on social media. The Standard, 37(2), 14-15. Retrieved from www.cno.org/Global/pubs/mag/TSMVol37No2.pdf
“HIPAA Violations & Enforcement.” HIPAA Violations & Enforcement | AMA, www.ama assn.org/practice-management/hipaa-violations-enforcement.
Nurses Rank as Most Honest, Ethical Profession for 14th Straight Year. (2015, December 21). Retrieved November 10, 2017, from http://nursingworld.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/MediaResources/PressReleases/2015- NR/Nurses-Rank-as-Most-Honest-Ethical-Profession-for-14th-Straight-Year.html
SUMMARY OF THE HIPAA PRIVACY RULE. (2003, May). Retrieved November 9, 2017, from https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/summary/privac summary.pdf
Terry, M. (2015). HIPAA and Your Mobile Devices. Podiatry Management, 99-104.