Unit outcomes addressed in this Assignment:

• Apply the legal and ethical aspects of confidentiality in health care.
• Identify violations of patient confidentiality.
• Interpret the Privacy Rule.

Course outcomes addressed in this Assignment:

HS101-4: Explain the legal and ethical principles of confidentiality, documentation, and risk management.

Instructions:

Your Assignments in this course will take you through “A Day in the Life” of a healthcare professional. You will be given the opportunity to apply the concepts that you have learned throughout the course to a variety of situations that a healthcare professional might face.

In addition to the grading standards found in the Syllabus, projects will also be graded on accuracy and application of course materials. Each answer should be at least 1 paragraph in length, including supporting facts from the textbook and references.

Directions:

Read the case study. Respond to the questions that correspond to the scenario and upload to the appropriate Dropbox.

Each question should be answered in complete sentences, using correct sentence structure. Responses should be free of grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors.

Case Study:

A patient has just left the office after having an outpatient surgery procedure. As you get ready to put away the patient’s file, you realize that the patient has forgotten to take his prescriptions and after-care instruction sheets home with him. It is vital for proper healing and recovery for the patient to have these documents. You know you will have to contact this patient so you look inside for his contact information and signed HIPAA Release of Information form.

Questions to answer:

1. Under HIPAA, are you legally allowed to view this patient’s medical information? Why or why not?
2. In this case, how would you be able to correct your error and provide the missing documents and instructions to the patient while still protecting patient confidentiality under HIPAA?
3. List 3 ways patient confidentiality is maintained in the reception/waiting area of a medical office.
4. A breach of confidentiality can result in what consequences for a healthcare professional?
5. Identify and explain two exceptions to confidentiality in healthcare settings.