Confidentiality and Privacy of Health Information and Records

Study shows that since the establishment of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), the issue of confidentiality and privacy on health information has drastically improved (Wilkes, 2014). Therefore, it has led to an increase in the number of people who feel satisfied with how the health organization handled their personal medical information. Majority of the patients believe that the federal and state law on health privacy and protection provide sufficient and reasonable level of privacy protection for their health information. However, despite the improved security, there are also a few cases of a privacy breach relating to the custody of clinical history and records together with the accessibility of the documents. In some cases, patients are not fully informed on the individuals that need to have access to their data in the course of providing adequate healthcare services. Therefore, in such instances, it is possible for the information to fall in the hands of the unauthorized person who may misuse it.

Challenges to solve in the Future 

Proper planning is key to solving the current healthcare challenges and ensure that they do not continue in the future. In the next 10-20 years, healthcare providers will be better with low cases of inefficiency and errors in sharing healthcare information. With improved technology, the process of data sharing between the various stakeholders will be holistic and secure thus enhancing the privacy and confidentiality of the data. Another challenge that technological development will solve is wastefulness and un-optimized supply management among the healthcare entities. In the future, it is expected that all the management operations will be conducted using technology and not manually. Thus, losses and unnecessary spending of an organization will be eliminated for optimal use of finances.

References

Wilkes, J. J. (2014). The creation of HIPAA culture: Prioritizing privacy paranoia over patient care.  BYU L. Rev. , 1213.