Question

Why do HIPAA’s privacy and security requirements cover some health care entities and not others? How might an entity not covered by HIPAA pose a risk to a health care provider or organization? In addition to the privacy and security of confidential patient information, what are some other risks in a health care organization, both legal and ethical, that arise from using health IS/IT? Provide examples to support your response.

Answer 1

1.The HIPAAS privacy and security requirements applies only to covered entitiles.It does not apply to all persons or institutions that collect individually identifiable health information.It may however affect other types of entitles that are not directly regulated by the rule.For instance,rely on covered entities to provide PHI.

2.With the rapid pace of technology development and explosion of health data collected by health apps and consumer devices.Healthcare sector stakeholders should develop a values framework to reduce the risk of healthdata not covered by HIPAA.According to a recent health initiative foundation and manatt health report.The risky,sharing data with entities not covered by HIPAA,outlines the extent of health data is generated from consumer devices and apps that are left ungoverned by the HIPAA rule.As HIPAA was drafted long before the creation of consumer driven apps and other advanced technologies,there is a gray area in determining how that data should be handled by app developers.

3.The main legal issues in the healthcare system relate to medical negligence,informed consent and confidentiality.The healthcare sector is governed by sets of rules,regulations,laws and ethical standards.Laws are designed to protect individuals when making decisions about their healthcare.In addition,they also set out the responsibilities of healthcare professionals.However,there are differences between legal and ethical standards.Legal standards are set by government laws and ethical standards do not necessarily have a legal basis.