Change Theory

In this task I will discuss a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, HIPAA. In this incident a nurse worked at a mid-size healthcare facility and breached the confidentiality of a patient for personal gain. What happened? The nurse's spouse was involved in an automobile accident and was sued by the people in the other car. In an effort to help her husband, she was going through some medical records and came across the plaintiffs name on a medical record. She read the Medical record and came across some interesting information and wrote it down. The nurse retrieved information from the medical record and delivered it to her spouse. The spouse contacted the plaintiff and informed him of the information that he had on him that could weaken his case. The spouse suggested that the plaintiff consider dropping the lawsuit. (Latner, 2008)

Needless to say, the Plaintiff called the healthcare facility and the District Attorney. The healthcare facility fired the nurse and the District Attorney forwarded the plaintiff/patient complaint to a Federal Prosecutor. The Prosecutor's office indicted the nurse and her husband. The "nurse was charged with violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and Conspiracy to wrongfully disclose individual health information for personal gain with maliciously harmful intent in a personal dispute. The husband was charged with witness tampering" (Latner, 2008). The nurse pleaded guilty, and she faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.00 and up to three years of supervised probation. The charges against the husband were dismissed. The nurse lost her licensure to work. (Latner, 2008)

The purpose for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA is to protect the Personal Medical Information, PMI and medical history of our patients. This means that no one is allowed to get the patient's information without written consent from the patient. The reason we have HIPAA is to protect and secure the confidentiality of al medical information and personal information, such as, the social security number and so on. The penalty for violating the HIPAA comes with heavy penalties. As you can see, the nurse will have to possibly do 10 years in jail and pay a large fine. The consequences for violating the Act are very serious.

There are several ways the patient's confidentiality can be protected. The patient's chart or medical record should be stored properly and disposed in a secure receptacle or shredded in oppose to throwing them in a garbage can. On the computer, the use of strong passwords that are mixed with numbers and letter can make it difficult for someone to use your code. The computer should time out when left unattended too long. Employees should not discuss the patient's medical information with anyone unless they have written permission. These were just a few of the ways to protect patient's confidentiality.

The job of a healthcare provider is bounded by a Code of Ethics, all expect for Physicians that practice Mental Healthcare. A healthcare provider has a moral and ethical obligation to the people they care for. These professionals have a responsibility to their patients by treating them with respect no matter what their background is. They also have a responsibility to the people they work with by assisting them with professional growth and help them to achieve it. Along with these codes of ethics, they have a responsibility to protect the patient's confidentiality and to the families and the employees.

The Healthcare Facility will need to develop a Code of Ethics to include HIPAA policy, Illegal Conduct, Affirmative Action and Equal Employment. It is the responsibility of all staff members to report anyone that violate the Code of Conduct that will be put in place. The nurse has an ethical and moral duty to the facility she worked for, and to the patients that are serviced. Ethically she was wrong beyond the law in this situation. She committed a crime, by violating a law that was put in place to protect the privacy and confidentiality of individuals' she is supposed to care for and to the staff. The nurse compromised the integrity and reputation of the Medical Facility. The physician has an ethical duty to maintain his patient's medical information confidential. When a patient discloses their information to the one that is caring for them, they want assurance that the information they shared will be protected.

The Code of Ethics that I feel that will be appropriate for this scenario will serve as a guide for employees to assess their conduct as it relates to the patients, staff and members of the Healthcare team. A code of Ethics can ensure that there is a high level of ethical conduct that provides and environment that keeps the patient's information private and confidential in accordance with HIPAA. The Nursing staff will practice with "compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by consideration of social or economic status, personal attributes or the nature of health problems" (American Nursing Association, 2012). The nurses should and must follow the Code of Ethics