1
Final
Workshe
et
1. HIPAA: Speaking, Sharing, Documenting
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
(HIPAA)
- Finalized in 2002
- Most agencies require workers to undergo HIPAA training and to review and sign a
confidentiality agreement when hired and at each performance review.
- Punishments for anyone caught violating patient privacy:
o for financial gain – Fined as much as $250,000 and up to 10 years in jail
o even unintentional violations can carry legal punishment as well as embarrassment(for you
and employer)
Ensures that patients have a right:
- To see and copy their health record
- To update their health record
- To request correction of any mistakes
- To get a list of the disclosures a health care institution has made independent of disclosures
made for purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations.
- To request a restriction on certain uses or disclosures
- To choose how to receive health information
What is confidential?
,2
▪ All information about patients is considered private or confidential, whether written on paper,
saved on a computer, or spoken aloud.
Includes:
▪ Name
▪ Identifiers: Address, Telephone / Fax Numbers, Social Security Number, Any other personal
information
▪ Reason Patient is sick or in the hospital, office, or clinic
▪ Treatments the patient receives
▪ Information about Past Health Conditions
▪ Protected health information may be found in the patient medical record, computer systems,
telephone calls and voice mails, fax transmissions, e-mails that contain patient
information, and conversations about patients between clinical staff.
Nursing Acts that could constitute as invasion of
privacy:
,3
▪ Unnecessary exposure of patients while moving them through corridor or while caring forthem in
rooms they share with others
▪ Talking with patients in rooms that are not soundproof
▪ Discussing patient information with people not entitled to the information
▪ Includes: patient’s employer, the press, or even not authorized patient family
members)
▪ Pressing the patient for information not necessary for care planning
▪ Interacting with the patient family in ways not authorized by the patient
▪ Using tape recorders, dictating machines, computers, and such without taking precautionsto ensure
patient confidentiality
▪ Preparing written or oral class assignments about patients without concealing their identity
▪ Carrying out research without taking proper precautions to ensure anonymity of patients
2. Safety
Safety - freedom from danger, harm, or risk – is a paramount concern that underlies all nursing
care.
Patient safety is the responsibility of all health care providers
Factors
Affecting
Safety
Developme
ntal Level
Children: potential hazards multiply as their motor skills develop and environment
expands.
Toddlers: increasingly active and need appropriate safeguards to prevent falls in the
home.
Adolescents: great dangers: abuse drugs/alcohol; engage in high-risk sexual
activities. The outcomes are devastating:
▪ Alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents – can be fatal
▪ Pregnancy
▪ Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)
, 4
▪ Suicide
Young & Middle-Aged Adults: drug and/or alcohol abuse – increased risk for those who are
employed in stressful work environments.
Older Adults: altered balance or decline in cognitive abilities are increasingly at risk
to falls and episodes of confusion.
Final
Workshe
et
1. HIPAA: Speaking, Sharing, Documenting
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
(HIPAA)
- Finalized in 2002
- Most agencies require workers to undergo HIPAA training and to review and sign a
confidentiality agreement when hired and at each performance review.
- Punishments for anyone caught violating patient privacy:
o for financial gain – Fined as much as $250,000 and up to 10 years in jail
o even unintentional violations can carry legal punishment as well as embarrassment(for you
and employer)
Ensures that patients have a right:
- To see and copy their health record
- To update their health record
- To request correction of any mistakes
- To get a list of the disclosures a health care institution has made independent of disclosures
made for purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations.
- To request a restriction on certain uses or disclosures
- To choose how to receive health information
What is confidential?
,2
▪ All information about patients is considered private or confidential, whether written on paper,
saved on a computer, or spoken aloud.
Includes:
▪ Name
▪ Identifiers: Address, Telephone / Fax Numbers, Social Security Number, Any other personal
information
▪ Reason Patient is sick or in the hospital, office, or clinic
▪ Treatments the patient receives
▪ Information about Past Health Conditions
▪ Protected health information may be found in the patient medical record, computer systems,
telephone calls and voice mails, fax transmissions, e-mails that contain patient
information, and conversations about patients between clinical staff.
Nursing Acts that could constitute as invasion of
privacy:
,3
▪ Unnecessary exposure of patients while moving them through corridor or while caring forthem in
rooms they share with others
▪ Talking with patients in rooms that are not soundproof
▪ Discussing patient information with people not entitled to the information
▪ Includes: patient’s employer, the press, or even not authorized patient family
members)
▪ Pressing the patient for information not necessary for care planning
▪ Interacting with the patient family in ways not authorized by the patient
▪ Using tape recorders, dictating machines, computers, and such without taking precautionsto ensure
patient confidentiality
▪ Preparing written or oral class assignments about patients without concealing their identity
▪ Carrying out research without taking proper precautions to ensure anonymity of patients
2. Safety
Safety - freedom from danger, harm, or risk – is a paramount concern that underlies all nursing
care.
Patient safety is the responsibility of all health care providers
Factors
Affecting
Safety
Developme
ntal Level
Children: potential hazards multiply as their motor skills develop and environment
expands.
Toddlers: increasingly active and need appropriate safeguards to prevent falls in the
home.
Adolescents: great dangers: abuse drugs/alcohol; engage in high-risk sexual
activities. The outcomes are devastating:
▪ Alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents – can be fatal
▪ Pregnancy
▪ Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)
, 4
▪ Suicide
Young & Middle-Aged Adults: drug and/or alcohol abuse – increased risk for those who are
employed in stressful work environments.
Older Adults: altered balance or decline in cognitive abilities are increasingly at risk
to falls and episodes of confusion.
