Introduction
More often than not when we think of tort claims, we think of a medical procedure gone wrong. Perhaps the wrong body part was operated on; an instrument was left a patient; a diagnosis was missed; or the wrong medication was given. However, that is not the only area where a healthcare organization can get into trouble. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountable Act (HIPAA) has very specific rules and regulations when it comes to releasing patient information. In most cases, the patient has to explicitly give written permission to release information. A person, can in fact, restrict the hospital from even telling anyone he is a patient. The penalties for not adhering to HIPAA can be high. The resulting impact of an improper release will be the topic of this assignment.
Unit Learning Outcomes
ULO1: Identify the proper procedures for release of information (CLO 2).
ULO2: Propose a plan to prevent improper release of patient information (CLO 2).
Directions
Initial Posting
A high profile celebrity, Mr. Big Star, has been admitted to your facility for cancer treatment. The celebrity has not told anyone that he is being admitted to the hospital or that he has cancer. However, the next day, the news of his admission and cancer diagnosis is front page news. The only place it could have come from was the hospital. It was later determined that a friend of one of your staff members leaked the information for a sizeable amount of money.
You are the Director of the Health Information Management System (HIMS). Release of information falls under your purview. You have been asked to investigate this case and prepare an action plan to prevent this in the future. Be sure to be very specific in the actions to take and how it addresses the issues in this case. You are to also discuss what should happen to the employees involved in this case. Also, how do we address any negative consequences to the patient? The action plan should be submitted as a memorandum to the Medical Center Director.
The initial posting should be prepared as a Microsoft™ Word document, and then pasted into the unit discussion thread. There is no minimum or maximum in terms of the word count; however, the response should explicitly address all required components of this discussion assignment. The document should be prepared as a practical business deliverable (single-spaced) and reflect higher-level cognitive processing (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation).
Support the initial posting with at least 3 references of credible or peer-reviewed sources. The in-text citations and the list of references should be consistent with the APA writing style (7th ed.). To earn the maximum number of points for the initial posting, the overall quality of the writing should be consistent with that expected of a college student and industry professional.
Initial posting demonstrates a full understanding of the concepts and key points contained within the discussion question.
Each component of the discussion question has been explicitly addressed in the posting.
Posting provides significant detail, including at least two relevant examples; content supported by credible or scholarly sources; discerning ideas; and provide personal insight.
