Mha690 healthcarecapstonequestion2weekone
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Training Exercise on Capstone Course at Ashford University for Week #1
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Mha690 healthcarecapstonequestion2weekone
- 1. Bradley Cade MHA690 Healthcare Capstone (NBC1339A) Dr. Hwang-Ji Lu, Ph.D., Instructor Ashford University September 25, 2013
- 2. What is Confidentiality? Confidentiality is a set of rules or a promise that limits access or places restrictions on certain types of information. What is Confidentiality in a health care setting? Confidentiality in a health care setting is the principle in medical ethics that the information a patient reveals to a provider is private and has limits on how and when it can be disclosed to a third party.
- 3. CONFIDENTIALITY BREACH – A CASE STUDY Over 120 UCLA Hospital employees viewed medical records of celebrities and personal information without permission between January 2004 and June 2006 according to a report from the California Department of Public Health. Medical records of celebrities including Britney Spears, Farrah Fawcett, and Maria Shriver were compromised. Another report disclosed that 127 workers viewed celebrities’ medical records without permission and one employee who viewed the records of about 900 patients including social security numbers, health insurance information and addresses from April 2003 to May 2007. One employee, Lawanda Jackson, used her supervisor’s password to view the records and faces federal criminal charges for violating Ms. Fawcett’s privacy.
- 4. ACTIONS TAKEN BY UCLA MEDICAL CENTER After the violations in April, one nurse was fired and two other employees were given warnings according to the report. Computer systems have since been updated to block complete social security numbers and the staff is being trained on privacy and security. All patients whose privacy was breached by Ms. Jackson were notified by the hospital. The hospital’s chief executive, Dr. David Feinberg, did not make any excuses stating that the violations made by Ms. Jackson should have been discovered years ago and she should have been dismissed immediately. According to Dr. Feinberg, the medical center continues to investigate and all employees found to have breached patient confidentiality were disciplined or fired.
- 5. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SECURITY CLEARANCE LEVELS FOR ALL EMPLOYEES, WITH ONLY A SELECTED FEW GIVEN THE LEVEL OF CLEARANCE FOR MEDICAL RECORDS AND PERSONAL INFORMATION INVOLVING CELEBRITIES. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FEATURES THAT REQUIRE THE EMPLOYEE TO SIGN IN AND SIGN OUT VIA THE PATIENT NOTES SECTION EVERY TIME HE OR SHE LOGS INTO A PATIENT RECORD. THIS WOULD ENSURE THAT AN INDIVIDUAL’S ACTIVITIES ARE BEING TRACKED. PERIODIC OR RANDOM CHECKS OF PATIENT RECORDS BY SUPERVISORY STAFF, MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL AND THE I/T DEPARTMENT TO ENSURE THAT SECURITY PROTOCOLS ARE BEING MAINTAINED. IN THE EVENT OF A CONFIDENTIALITY BREACH, THE HOSPITAL OR HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATION SHOULD HAVE A ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY FOR SUCH BEHAVIORS, REQUIRING AUTOMATIC TERMINATION OF THE GUILTY PARTIES AND POSSIBLE CRIMINAL OR CIVIL CHARGES DEPENDING UPON THE INFRACTION.
- 6. THE EMPLOYEES WOULD UNDERSTAND THAT CONFIDENTIALITY IS A SERIOUS MATTER AND SENSITIVE INFORMATION MUST BE SAFE AND SECURE AT ALL TIMES. THE EMPLOYEES WOULD LEARN BY VIRTUE OF THE TRAINING WHAT INFORMATION IS CONSIDERED TO BE CONFIDENTIAL AND WHAT IS NOT. THE EMPLOYEES WOULD BE TRAINED TO IMAGINE THEMSELVES IN THE ROLE OF THE PATIENT AND HOW THEY WOULD FEEL ABOUT THEIR PRIVATE INFORMATION BEING COMPROMISED. THE EMPLOYEES NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT A LEVEL OF TRUST EXISTS BETWEEN THE PATIENT AND THE HEALTHCARE PROVIDER AND WHEN THAT TRUST IS BROKEN, AS IN THE UCLA MEDICAL CENTER CASE, THE DAMAGE IS IRREPARABLE.
- 7. Fox News website. (2013). Report: Over 120 UCLA Hospital Staff Saw Celebrity Health Records. Retrieved from: http://foxnews.com/story/2008/08/06/report. Tech Target website. (2013). http://whatistechtarget.com/definition/confidentiality. The Free Dictionary.com website. (2013). http://medical- dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/confidentiality.
Editor's Notes
- Confidentiality has become an essential part of everyday life. Every individual faces a situation involving confidentiality in his or her own personal or professional life. Sometimes an individual is dealing with his or her own issues involving confidentiality, from personal information such as social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, or bank account information. In other situations, individuals may be working in a setting where he or she is entrusted with personal information belonging to other individuals or companies. This could be anything from another individual’s social security number, to his or her credit information, to financial information for a particular company or organization. Because of the nature of the sensitive information involved, one must understand the ramifications involved if this information were to become public knowledge. For this reason, one must understand the definition of confidentiality in general and confidentiality within a healthcare setting.
- According to a report from the California Department of Public Health, between January 2004 and June 2006, over 120 employees from UCLA Hospital in Los Angeles looked at the medical records and other personal information of celebrities without permission, which was nearly double the number reported earlier in the year. Despite a crackdown of record peeking in April, three staff members at UCLA Medical Center continued to look at the confidential records of a celebrity. Other state reports disclosed that the medical records of prominent patients including Britney Spears, Maria Shriver and Farrah Fawcett were compromised. The latest report went on to state that 127 workers peeked into the medical records of celebrities without permission, which lead to several individuals being fired, some suffered suspensions, while others received warnings. In addition, one case involved an employee who looked at the records of over 900 patients without a legitimate reason and viewed social security numbers, health insurance information and addresses from April 2003 to May 2007. Lawanda Jackson, viewed about 60 patient records, using her supervisor’s password to view the records while at her workstation. In addition, Ms. Jackson faces federal criminal charges for violating Ms. Fawcett’s privacy.
- The actions taken by UCLA Medical Center after the April violations include the firing of one nurse and two other employees receiving warnings. Since that time, computer systems have been updated to block complete social security numbers and the staff is being trained on privacy and security. In addition, all patients whose privacy was breached by Ms. Jackson were notified by the hospital. Dr. David Feinberg, the chief executive of the medical center stated that they have no excuses. Ms. Jackson’s violations should have been discovered years ago and she should have been dismissed immediately. Dr. Feinberg went on to state that the medical center continues to investigate the matter and all employees found to have breached patient confidentiality were disciplined or fired.
- In order to avoid the same type of debacle suffered by UCLA Medical Center, some of the protocols or training that could be implemented include: the creation of security clearance levels for all employees, with only a selected few given the level of clearance for medical records and personal information involving celebrities. The implementation of features that require the employee to sign in and sign out via the patient notes section every time he or she logs into a patient record. This would ensure that an individual’s activities are being tracked. Periodic or random checks of patient records by supervisory staff, management personnel and the I/T Department to ensure that security protocols are being maintained. In the event of a confidentiality breach, the hospital or healthcare organization should have a zero tolerance policy for such behaviors, requiring automatic termination of the guilty parties and possible criminal or civil charges depending upon the infraction.
- Some ways in which training on confidentiality can be effective for the employees would include the following. First, the employees would understand that confidentiality is a serious matter and sensitive information must be safe and secure at all times. Second, the employees would learn, by virtue of the training, what information is considered to be confidential and what is not. Third, the employees would be trained to imagine themselves in the role of the patient and how they would feel about their private information being compromised. Lastly, the employees need to understand that a level of trust exists between the patient and the healthcare provider and when that trust is broken, as in the UCLA Medical Center case, the damage is irreparable.