Protected Health Information (PHI): Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality Best Practices

Protected Health Information (PHI): Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality Best Practices

 

Prepare a 2-page interprofessional staff update on HIPAA and appropriate social media use in health care.

Introduction

 

As you begin to consider the assessment, it would be an excellent choice to complete the Breach of Protected Health Information (PHI) activity.

We will write
a custom nursing essay or paper
specifically for you
Get your first paper with
15% OFF

The activity will support your success with the assessment by creating the opportunity for you to test your knowledge of potential privacy, security, and confidentiality violations of protected health information.

The activity is not graded and counts towards course engagement.

Health professionals today are increasingly accountable for the use of protected health information (PHI).

Various government and regulatory agencies promote and support privacy and security through a variety of activities. Examples include:

  • Meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR).
  • Provision of EHR incentive programs through Medicare and Medicaid.
  • Enforcement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rules.
  • Release of educational resources and tools to help providers and hospitals address privacy, security, and confidentiality risks in their practices.

Technological advances, such as the use of social media platforms and applications for patient progress tracking and communication, have provided more access to health information and improved communication between care providers and patients.

At the same time, advances such as these have resulted in more risk for protecting PHI. Nurses typically receive annual training on protecting patient information in their everyday practice. This training usually emphasizes privacy, security, and confidentiality best practices such as:

  • Keeping passwords secure.
  • Logging out of public computers.
  • Sharing patient information only with those directly providing care or who have been granted permission to receive this information.

Today, one of the major risks associated with privacy and confidentiality of patient identity and data relates to social media. Many nurses and other health care providers place themselves at risk when they use social media or other electronic communication systems inappropriately.

For example, a Texas nurse was recently terminated for posting patient vaccination information on Facebook. In another case, a New York nurse was terminated for posting an insensitive emergency department photo on her Instagram account.

Health care providers today must develop their skills in mitigating risks to their patients and themselves related to patient information. At the same time, they need to be able distinguish between effective and ineffective uses of social media in health care.

This assessment will require you to develop a staff update for the interprofessional team to encourage team members to protect the privacy, confidentiality, and security of patient information.

Preparation

 

To successfully prepare to complete this assessment, complete the following:

  • Review the infographics on protecting PHI provided in the resources for this assessment, or find other infographics to review. These infographics serve as examples of how to succinctly summarize evidence-based information.
  • Analyze these infographics and distill them into five or six principles of what makes them effective. As you design your interprofessional staff update, apply these principles. Note: In a staff update, you will not have all the images and graphics that an infographic might contain. Instead, focus your analysis on what makes the messaging effective.
  • Select from any of the following options, or a combination of options, the focus of your interprofessional staff update:
    • Social media best practices.
    • What not to do: social media.
    • Social media risks to patient information.
    • Steps to take if a breach occurs.
  • Conduct independent research on the topic you have selected in addition to reviewing the suggested resources for this assessment. This information will serve as the source(s) of the information contained in your interprofessional staff update. Consult the BSN Program Library Research Guide for help in identifying scholarly and/or authoritative sources.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE !!

Instructions

 

In this assessment, assume you are a nurse in an acute care, community, school, nursing home, or other health care setting. Before your shift begins, you scroll through Facebook and notice that a coworker has posted a photo of herself and a patient on Facebook. The post states, “I am so happy Jane is feeling better. She is just the best patient I’ve ever had, and I am excited that she is on the road to recovery.”

You have recently completed your annual continuing education requirements at work and realize this is a breach of your organization’s social media policy. Your organization requires employees to immediately report such breaches to the privacy officer to ensure the post is removed immediately and that the nurse responsible receives appropriate corrective action.

You follow appropriate organizational protocols and report the breach to the privacy officer. The privacy officer takes swift action to remove the post. Due to the severity of the breach, the organization terminates the nurse.

Based on this incident’s severity, your organization has established a task force with two main goals:

  • Educate staff on HIPAA and appropriate social media use in health care.
  • Prevent confidentiality, security, and privacy breaches.

The task force has been charged with creating a series of interprofessional staff updates on the following topics:

  • Social media best practices.
  • What not to do: Social media.
  • Social media risks to patient information.
  • Steps to take if a breach occurs.

You are asked to select one or more of the topics and create the content for a staff update containing a maximum of two content pages. This assessment is not a traditional essay. It is a staff educational update about PHI. Consider creating a flyer, pamphlet, or PowerPoint slide. Remember it should not be more than two pages (excluding a title and a reference page).

The task force has asked team members assigned to the topics to include the following content in their updates in addition to content on their selected topics:

  • What is protected health information (PHI)?
    • Be sure to include essential HIPAA information.
  • What are privacy, security, and confidentiality?
    • Define and provide examples of privacy, security, and confidentiality concerns related to the use of technology in health care.
    • Explain the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information.
  • What evidence relating to social media usage and PHI do interprofessional team members need to be aware of? For example:
    • How many nurses have been terminated for inappropriate social media use in the United States?
    • What types of sanctions have health care organizations imposed on interdisciplinary team members who have violated social media policies?
    • What have been the financial penalties assessed against health care organizations for inappropriate social media use?
    • What evidence-based strategies have health care organizations employed to prevent or reduce confidentiality, privacy, and security breaches, particularly related to social media usage?

Notes

  • Your staff update is limited to two double-spaced content pages. Be selective about the content you choose to include in your update so you can meet the page length requirement. Include need-to-know information. Omit nice-to-know information.
  • Many times people do not read staff updates, do not read them carefully, or do not read them to the end. Ensure your staff update piques staff members’ interest, highlights key points, and is easy to read. Avoid overcrowding the update with too much content.
  • Also, supply a separate reference page that includes two or three peer-reviewed and one or two non-peer-reviewed resources (for a total of 3–5 resources) to support the staff update content.

Additional Requirements

  • Written communication: Ensure the staff update is free from errors that detract from the overall message.
  • Submission length: Maximum of two double-spaced content pages.
  • Font and font size: Use Times New Roman, 12-point.
  • Citations and references: Provide a separate reference page that includes 2–3 current, peer-reviewed and 1–2 current, non-peer-reviewed in-text citations and references (total of 3–5 resources) that support the staff update’s content. Current means no older than 5 years.
  • APA format: Be sure your citations and references adhere to APA format. Consult the Evidence and APA page for an APA refresher.

Competencies Measured

 

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

  • Competency 1: Describe nurses’ and the interdisciplinary team’s role in informatics with a focus on electronic health information and patient care technology to support decision making.
    • Describe the security, privacy, and confidentially laws related to protecting sensitive electronic health information that govern the interdisciplinary team.
    • Explain the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information.
  • Competency 2: Implement evidence-based strategies to effectively manage protected health information.
    • Identify evidence-based approaches to mitigate risks to patients and health care staff related to sensitive electronic health information.
    • Develop a professional, effective staff update that educates interprofessional team members about protecting the security, privacy, and confidentiality of patient data, particularly as it pertains to social media usage.
  • Competency 5: Apply professional, scholarly communication to facilitate use of health information and patient care technologies.
    • Follow APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references.
    • Create a clear, concise, well-organized, and professional staff update that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE !!

Protected Health Information (PHI): Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality Best Practices Scoring Guide

CRITERIA NON-PERFORMANCE BASIC PROFICIENT DISTINGUISHED
Describe the security, privacy, and confidentially laws related to protecting sensitive electronic health information that govern the interdisciplinary team. Does not describe the security, privacy, and confidentially laws related to protecting sensitive electronic health information that govern the interdisciplinary team. Attempts to identify the security, privacy, and confidentially laws related to protecting sensitive electronic health information that govern the interdisciplinary team. Describes the security, privacy, and confidentially laws related to protecting sensitive electronic health information that govern the interdisciplinary team. Provides a comprehensive and insightful summary of confidentially laws related to protecting sensitive electronic health information that govern the interdisciplinary team.
Explain the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information. Does not explain the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information. Explains interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information, but the explanation lacks detail or is missing critical information. Explains the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information. Explains in detail, and with professional insight, the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information.
Identify evidence-based approaches to mitigate risks to patients and health care staff related to sensitive electronic health information. Does not identify evidence-based approaches to mitigate risks to patients and health care staff related to sensitive electronic health information. Attempts to identify evidence-based approaches to mitigate risks to patients and health care staff related to sensitive electronic health information; however, omissions and errors exist. Identifies evidence-based approaches to mitigate risks to patients and health care staff related to sensitive electronic health information. Identifies multiple appropriate and well-researched evidence-based approaches to mitigate risks to patients and health care staff related to sensitive electronic health information.
Develop a professional, effective staff update that educates interprofessional team members about protecting the security, privacy, and confidentiality of patient data, particularly as it pertains to social media usage. Does not develop a professional, effective staff update that educates interprofessional team members about protecting the security, privacy, and confidentiality of patient data, particularly as it pertains to social media usage. Attempts to develop a staff update that educates interprofessional team members about protecting the security, privacy, and confidentiality of patient data, particularly as it pertains to social media usage. Develops a professional, effective staff update that educates interprofessional team members about protecting the security, privacy, and confidentiality of patient data, particularly as it pertains to social media usage. Develops a comprehensive, professional, and effective staff update that educates interprofessional team members about protecting the security, privacy, and confidentiality of patient data, particularly as it pertains to social media usage.
Follow APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references. Does not follow APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references. Partially adheres to APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references. Formatting inhibits effective communication or detracts from good scholarship. Follows APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references. Academic citations and references are largely error-free. Follows flawless APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references.
Create a clear, concise, well-organized, and professional staff update that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Does not create a clear, concise, well-organized, and professional staff update that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Creates a staff update that contains errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling that distract from good scholarship. Staff update is more than two pages of content. Creates a clear, concise, well-organized, and professional staff update that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Creates a clear, concise, well-organized, and professional staff update that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Adheres to all applicable disciplinary and scholarly writing standards.

 

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE !!

Solution

 

Social Media Risks to Patient Information

 

Protected Health Information (PHI)

PHI is a HIPAA privacy provision that protects the personalized health information of patients kept by certain organizations. Patients have a variety of rights under PHI. In order to comply with PHI rules, all medical payment, treatment, and operation organizations, as well as any other organizations with access to PHI, are considered covered entities and business associates.

Under the privacy regulation, PHI can only be disclosed when it is absolutely necessary, such as while delivering medical care (Cohen & Mello, 2018). Patient names, addresses, and other personal information are among the PHI that covered agencies and their business associates are prohibited from disclosing to third parties under the HIPAA privacy standards.

 

Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality

The necessity that all healthcare personnel who have access to patient data maintain such information in trust is all what confidentiality means in the healthcare sector. Electronic health records should not be shared with any third parties or passwords to health portals shared or left logged in by healthcare providers (Keshta & Odeh, 2021).

Privacy, on the other hand, refers to the right of each patient to decide how their confidential information is shared. As a result, PHI is safeguarded under the HIPAA privacy rule, which also lays forth limits for when such information about patients may be disclosed (Keshta & Odeh, 2021). For example, healthcare practitioners should never post patients on social media or identify patients in public forums while employing technology in healthcare settings.

Security is a term used to describe the methods employed to safeguard patient health information and give assistance to healthcare practitioners in maintaining the confidentiality of PHI. (Keshta & Odeh, 2021).

As a result of the widespread use of technology, healthcare providers are obligated to take precautions to protect patient information such as logging out of public accounts and storing passwords securely and only exchanging patient information with authorized persons

 

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

In order to preserve sensitive electronic health information, a team effort by health care experts working in diverse companies is necessary, and interdisciplinary teamwork is the best way to do it. Interprofessional collaboration allows medical professionals to take unilateral actions to ensure the safety of sensitive electronic health data (Cohen & Mello, 2018). As a result of their improper use of social media, thousands of nurses in the United States have been dismissed. Professionals on the multidisciplinary team must exercise caution while using social media in the course of their job so as not to reveal any information about activities or practices that might be used to identify patients, whether they do so intentionally or not (Flew et al., 2019). Health care providers who breach social media standards are typically fired by their employers, while others are suspended indefinitely while their cases are being evaluated.

 

Evidence-based Strategies (EBP)

Hospitals and other healthcare institutions have used a variety of EBP measures to protect patient confidentiality and security while using social media. Private social networks like Doximity, Sermo, and Peer, which are only available to physicians are examples of such data security measures (Huo et al., 2029). Public social media networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook, on the other hand, pose security risks (Chan & Leung, 2018).

There are also formal social media rules in healthcare businesses that all staff members are expected to adhere to. Additionally, these regulations are complemented by formal staff training and technological solutions that boost security. HIPAA-compliant social media use is made possible by the proper use of policies, training, and technology.

 

References

Cohen IG, & Mello, MM. (2018). HIPAA and Protecting Health Information in the 21st Century. JAMA. 320(3):231–232. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.5630. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2682916

Flew, T., Martin, F., & Suzor, N. (2019). Internet regulation as media policy: Rethinking the question of digital communication platform governance. Journal of Digital Media & Policy, 10(1), 33-50. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/jdmp/2019/00000010/00000001/art00005

Chan, W. S., & Leung, A. Y. (2018). Use of social network sites for communication among health professionals: systematic review. Journal of medical Internet research, 20(3), e8382. https://www.jmir.org/2018/3/e117

Huo, J., Desai, R., Hong, Y. R., Turner, K., Mainous III, A. G., & Bian, J. (2019). Use of social media in health communication: findings from the health information national trends survey 2013, 2014, and 2017. Cancer Control, 26(1), 1073274819841442. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1073274819841442

Keshta, I., & Odeh, A. (2021). Security and privacy of electronic health records: Concerns and challenges. Egyptian Informatics Journal, 22(2), 177-183. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1110866520301365