Patient Confidentiality

1. Toni Meeks
MHA 690
Instructor Cole
April 5, 2012

2.  The legal term for confidentiality is to some thing that
is done or communicated in confidence
 Patient confidentiality is that a physician may not
disclose any medical information that is revealed by a
patient or discovered by a physician in connection with
the treatment of a patient

3. The issue
 More than 120 workers at UCLA hospital looked at
celebrity medical records and other personal
information without authority.
 After this was discovered 127 employees were fired
and suspended
 From 2003 to 2007 , one employee looked at 900
patients records for no particular reason, viewing
Social Security numbers and health insurance
information

4. The Issue continued
 Employee LaWanda Jackson viewed 60 patient records
and faces federal criminal charges for violating privacy
of a celebrity patient
 Jackson was able to use her supervisor’s password to
view records
 In order to prevent this from happening, the hospitals
later updated computer systems and blocked the
complete numbers of Social Security numbers, staff
was also being trained on privacy and security

5. HIPAA
 Known as Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996
 HIPAA able to provide federal protections for personal
health information for patients
 It addresses the security and privacy of health data
 HIPAA is meant to improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of the nation’s health care system

6. Provide HIPAA Training
 Make sure employees are in appropriate HIPAA
practices
 During training employees will learn which patient
information is protected private health information and
how to protect it at the individual, organizational and
affiliate levels
 Conduct training in group training sessions or using
individual online courses

7. Use Confidentiality Agreements
 All employees who deal with any type of health
information should sign confidentiality agreements
 Anyone who comes in contact with private patient
information should sign and agree not to share or
disclose information
 Anyone who decides to share information should
career and legal consequences

8.  Employees should make sure to not allow others to use
passwords
 Passwords should be changed every 3 to 6 months to
avoid privacy issues
 Automatic termination should take place if employees
fail to follow guidelines in keeping patient information
private

9.  Groepl, J. (2011). Ways to Upkeep Patient Confidentiality.
Retrieved from
http://www.ehow.com/info_8173783_ways-upkeep-patient-confidential
 Health Information Privacy. U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/.
 Over 120 UCLA Hospital Staff Saw Celebrity Health Records.
Retrieved July 20, 2010 from
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,398784,00.html.