Patients must be sure that any health information they provide to healthcare organizations or experts will be confidential. Patients may fail to offer important data that could influence the outcome, safety, and quality of care without assurances of the safety of the information they offer. The U.S legal system provides several laws that protect patient health information. The laws include the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Regulations and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) (Brodnik, Rinehart-Thompson & Reynolds, 2017). The HIPAA law applies to healthcare providers, healthcare clearinghouses, and health plans that transfer specific information digitally. The HIPAA privacy regulation gives patients the right concerning their health information by establishing restrictions on the way healthcare organizations or professionals use and share patient health information. The HIPAA security regulation establishes the guidelines regarding the way healthcare organizations or professionals secure patient health information through both physical, technical, and administrative measures. The final 2013 HITECH rule amended the HIPAA by providing enhanced protection and management of protected health data. It focuses exclusively on health information communication and technology. The rule expands disclosure provisions and related liabilities covered by HIPAA to business associates by requiring business associates to adhere to the same disclosure provisions as covered entities.
These laws are necessary because they protect patient privacy. Breaching the confidentiality and privacy of patients adversely affects their dignity besides harming them (Saranto, Kivekäs, Kinnunen & Palojoki, 2018). For instance, when an organization discloses personal health information of a patient such as financial status or existing diseases to an insurer, the insurer can use the data against the patient by either adjusting existing insurance plans or requiring additional payments. Patients need privacy assurances to allow them to share the most sensitive information about themselves with healthcare professional or organizations to enhance the provision of quality care. Without this assurance, patients may resist disclosing the required information to physicians, which may adversely affect their healthcare outcome. The existence of these laws assures patients of the privacy of their health information, which leads to positive healthcare outcomes.
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References
Brodnik, M. S., Rinehart-Thompson, L. A., & Reynolds, R. B. (Eds.). (2017). Fundamentals of law for health informatics and information management . Chicago, IL: AHIMA Press.
Saranto, K., Kivekäs, E., Kinnunen, U. M., & Palojoki, S. (2018). Lack of Patient Data Privacy Challenges Patient Safety. In ICIMTH (pp. 163-166).
