2. • Confidentiality is the right of an individual patient to
have personal, identifiable medical information kept
private; such information should be available only to
the physician of record and other health care and
insurance personnel as necessary
• As healthcare providers, maintaining a patient’s
confidentiality, human dignity and privacy is expected
at all times. Nurses are faced with maintaining patient
confidentiality on a daily basis. The Coded of Ethics
for Nurses is the framework of nonnegotiable ethical
standards and obligations that all nurses are to uphold.
Nurses are to be accountable for their actions and are
expected to advocate and strive to protect the rights,
health and safety of patients.
3. • Patient confidentiality is defined as medical and personal
information when given to a healthcare provider will not be
disclosed without their permission to others unless they have
given permission for a release.
• Health care professionals and nursing staff who will be working
regularly with their patients along with their medical records that
should be kept Confidential should be able to comply with the
development of any standards, laws and policies that are in place
to protect their patient’s privacy (HIPAA) and the Confidentiality
of their information/health records.
• EMR’s or Electronic Medical Records, Tele-health and the
Internet, this has all helped to open the doors to unintentional or
potential breaches in our patients confidential/private information
about their health
4. • HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
• • The HIPAA Privacy Rule provides protections
for personal health information held by covered
entities and gives patients an array of rights
with respect to that information.
• • The HIPAA Privacy Rule provides federal
protections for personal health information held
by covered entities and gives patients an array
of rights with respect to that information. At the
same time, the Privacy Rule is balanced so that
it permits the disclosure of personal health
information needed for patient care and other
important purposes.
5. • Protect the security, confidentiality and integrity of health information
• Protect against threats or hazards that jeopardize patient care
• Portability of health insurance
• Encourage the use of electronic technology
6. • If individuals didn’t know they violated HIPAA
they would be fined a minimum violation of $100
per violation and a maximum violation of $50,000
per violation.
•
If an individual violates HIPAA due to reasonable
cause and not willful neglect then they would be
fined a minimum violation of $1000 per violation
and a maximum violation of $50,000 per violation.
7. • Take all reasonable steps to make sure that individuals
without the need to know do not overhear conversations
about PHI.
• DO NOT discussion about PHI in public areas to
include but not limited to elevators or cafeterias.
• Do not let others see your computer screen while you
are working. Be sure to log out when done with any
computer file.
8. Protecting a patient’s private health information is an ethical practice
that helps to maintain the trusting relationship between patient and
nurse. The professional nurse is obligated to do so not only by the
professional code of ethics but also by government mandates related
to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
There are instances when the best interests of the patient or
community safety provide good cause for breaking patient
confidentiality. It is important for the nurse to use an ethical decision
making process either alone or in collaboration with the healthcare
team to determine the appropriate course of action (Purtilo &
Dougherty, 2010).
9. • Confidentiality (2012). American Medical Association. Retrieved
15 Feb 2012 from: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-
resources/legal-topics/patient-physician- relationship-topics/patient-
confidentiality.page
• HIPAA (2011). What is HIPAA. Retrieved from
http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/index.html.
• HIPAA (2011). HIPAA Violation and Enforcement. Retrieved
from http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-
resources/solutions-managing-your-practice/coding-billing-
insurance/hipaahealth-insurance-portability-accountability-
act/hipaa-violations-enforcement.page.
• Purtilo, Ruth M., Doherty, Regina (112010). Ethical Dimensions
in the Health Professions [5] (VitalSource Bookshelf), Retrieved
from http://pageburstls.elsevier.com/books/978-1-4377-0896-
7/id/B9781437708967000126_f5010
