Privacy

Greter Pacios

West Coast University

Privacy

The digitalization of patient health information is of significant benefit to the care system. Electronic health records (EHRs) create a sharable and centralized record of a patient’s entire medical history, which is critical in care delivery. Because EHRs carry large personal data amounts, they are exposed to the risk of violation of privacy. Protection of patient health information is a central responsibility of caregivers, and the federal law on medical information release regulates the management of sensitive patient health data; however, the area of population health complicates patient privacy issues. Population health involves the analysis of large groups’ health outcomes. The population health concept is becoming common in this time of big data, which is utilized to identify the association between diseases and particular environments or socioeconomic groupings.

Sharing the patient information for secondary use, like population health programs, requires anonymization of the information or a patient’s consent. However, anonymized information also faces the risk of being misused. Through data re-identification practice, the anonymous health data can be compared with the information available in public and matched with a person (Séroussi, Hollis, & Soualmia, 2020). Lenders, insurance companies, and employers can use similar information used by public health professionals to treat, diagnose, and promote public plans.

Whether the information on population health is matched to a person or used in the aggregate to a certain population, if the information is used for reasons other than health promotion, there is a high possibility of negatively impacting the people who supplied the information. The health analysis that informs about the increased rate of disease in a particular population could be utilized to focus on treatment and education efforts; however, the information can be utilized for the adjustment of the insurance coverage.

The discussion about the use of data electronic health records (EHRs) in various health promotion programs raises some very important ethical considerations. The concern is about the kind of measure to be put in place to protect the de-anonymization of patient information, how can the patients be effectively safeguarded from the negative impact of inherent bias in the used algorithms for the analysis of public health information. Another ethical concern is the patient’s level of control of the use of their private health data in public programs.

Healthcare professionals are obliged to protect their patients’ privacy and confidential health information unless the law requires disclosure. Care providers should strictly adhere to confidentiality and workplace security regarding the protection of patient confidential information. This helps them to be careful when handling the EHR information. HIPPA regulations and rules provide a useful measure for ensuring patient information is not misused, and nurses must comply with the rules (Cohen, & Mello, 2019). Caregivers should try their level best to develop strategies that keep patient information from the public eye as much as possible.

Health organizations need to establish access control policies and keep an updated log of authorized people with access to the information to help with a quick investigation in case of the suspected information breach. Healthcare professionals should ensure secure transmissions by using a minimum of 128-bit encryption. The care providers should always seek the patient’s consent before sharing their information.

The concept of privacy is critical in building a good patient-nurse relationship, which is important in the care provision. Privacy is one of the core responsibilities and duties of clinical practice. It requires care professionals to keep personal information of a patient in private unless written consent from the patient is provided to release the information.

Reference

Cohen, I. G., & Mello, M. M. (2019). Big data, big tech, and protecting patient privacy. Jama, 322(12), 1141-1142.

Séroussi, B., Hollis, K. F., & Soualmia, L. F. (2020). Transparency of Health Informatics Processes as the Condition of Healthcare Professionals’ and Patients’ Trust and Adoption: the Rise of Ethical Requirements. Yearbook of Medical Informatics, 29(1), 7.