HIPPA Breaches
A Common Legal Issue in Healthcare
When it pertains to patient health information discretion is paramount. Protecting patients from threats that could endanger their rights is essential and the primary reason for safeguarding their personal information is to secure the interest of the individuals who are entrusting the organization with their information. There are however breaches to individuals’ private health information. In the healthcare field one common legal issue is HIPPA and data breaches. These breaches and failure to comply with the rules can be detrimental to the healthcare organization and most importantly the patients.
The Privacy Rule applies to “covered entities” which generally includes health plans and health care providers who transmit health information. Covered entities include almost all health and mental health care providers (NYS, n.d). Therefore, whether the healthcare organization is inpatient, outpatient, residential provider or
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Financially they can receive astronomical civil monetary penalties as well as criminal penalties of up to 10 years in prison. The quality of the organization will be tarnished. Who will want to be affiliated with an organization that fails to protect their patient’s valuable information from getting into the wrong hands.
In Conclusion, protecting members’ privacy and complying with the laws is very serious and could lead to severe punishment. It’s a common legal issue in todays healthcare system. Thing can fall through our fingers yes, but it is the organizations job to follow the right procedures mandated by the law. This in turn can contribute to finding better ways to protect patient’s personal information and keep the hospitals quality for caring and protecting their members not just their physical needs, but personal needs as