Civil procedure refers to a set of standards courts are expected to follow in civil lawsuits. These standards shape how cases commence, process, pleadings, motions, timing, disclosure, and judgment among others. The overall purpose of civil procedure extends to clinical practice. Its significance can be noted in the protection of critical data in healthcare. It ensures data is protected by influencing its disclosure.
During the litigation process, the court requires each party to disclose relevant information or documents to a dispute. Apart from the court order dispensing the disclosure, the obligation may also arise from the mutual agreement of the parties (van der Haak et al., 2013). Here, all types of documents including electronically stored information, should be availed. However, civil procedure restricts the amount and nature of documents that can be disclosed. This is to say that certain types of confidential data cannot be disclosed to third parties other than for litigation and legal advice privileges.
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Privileged data, as civil procedure directs, should not be disclosed to other parties apart from lawyers and judges. Legal advice privilege was created for a healthcare professional or client to disclose confidential data for purposes of obtaining legal advice (Withers, 2011). Under the litigation privilege, a healthcare organization or practitioner may disclose confidential documents to assist in a pending or actual trial (Sorenson Jr, 2015). As such, unauthorized parties are barred from accessing such documents.
Healthcare providers in today's healthcare environment possess a vast amount of sensitive data both in hard and soft copies. With an increasing number of legal proceedings affecting practitioners and providers, the risk of disclosing sensitive data is high. However, legal concepts such as the civil procedure play a significant role in protecting patients and other healthcare players from the risk of data breaches.
References
Sorenson Jr, C. W. (2015). Disclosure under federal rule of civil procedure 26 (a)—Much Ado About Nothing. Hastings Lj, 46, 679.
van der Haak, M., Wolff, A. C., Brandner, R., Drings, P., Wannenmacher, M., & Wetter, T. (2013). Data security and protection in cross-institutional electronic patient records. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 70(2-3), 117-130.
Withers, K. J. (2011). Electronically stored information: The December amendments to the federal rules of civil procedure. Nw. J. Tech. & Intell. Prop., 4, 171.
