Challenges Facing Healthcare Workers in Using HIPAA Privacy Policies and Protecting Patients' Rights

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

ABSTRACT

Under the Privacy Rule, the care recipients have a number of rights that can be exercised by them or on their behalf by an authorized representative. These rights include the right to be assured that the personal health information will be treated in a confidential manner and disclosed only when necessary, the right to authorize release of information, and the right to restrict uses and disclosures of information. It is important to note that use generally refers to revealing information within an institution among health care professionals and disclosure refers to making information available to an entity outside the institution or for a purpose unrelated to care; consequently, use and disclosure are two different things although the information may be the same. Additional rights include the right to request confidential communications, the right to access the care recipient's protected health information, the right to amend the record if an error has been made, and the right to receive an accounting of disclosures of protected health information. This paper deals with the challenges faced by healthcare workers in using HIPAA privacy policies and protecting.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTii

DECLARATIONiii

ABSTRACTiv

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

HIPAA Rules2

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW4

Review of Literature6

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY13

Target Population13

Sample Methodology13

Selection of participants14

Unit of Analysis14

Survey Administration15

Questions and Variables15

Quantitative Data Analysis16

Focus Group Selection19

Focus Group19

Focus Group Schedule20

Ethical Issues and Consideration20

Privacy and Confidentiality20

Research Setting Issues20

REFERENCES22

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

HIPAA refers to a federal statute, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, passed by Congress in 1996. Prior to the enactment of HIPAA and its Privacy Rule, confidentiality of health care information was protected by a patchwork of state statutes; the common law right to privacy, enforced by tort actions for invasion of privacy; and the ethical requirements of confidentiality assumed by all health care professionals, violations of which could lead to discipline imposed by state licensing boards. However, there were numerous and recurring reports of confidentiality breaches (Koshar & Bugdanowitz, 2003).

The principal goal of HIPAA was to allow portability of health insurance, that is, to permit employees to take their health coverage with them when they change employers. The law contained several other provisions related to health care, however, the most notable being one related to privacy of health information. The statute created the authority for extensive regulations in three areas. First, it mandated regulations creating a national standard for health care privacy, applying to all health care providers that transmit information electronically. The second area was electronic and computer security.

Rules were developed that created consistent standards for all computers that ...