Essay On Confidentiality

908 Words2 Pages

Confidentiality Confidentiality is defined as the protection of personal information. It means keeping a client’s information between the health care providers and the client. Every single patient has the right to privacy regarding their personal information from being released to anyone outside of their health care providers. Health care providers have a legal and ethical responsibility to protect all information regarding patients by not disclosing their information to anyone without their written consent from the patient. The “Patient Bill of Rights” was adopted in 1988 by the U.S. Advisory Commision on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Healthcare Industry to assure and protect patients’ rights. These rights provide the patient with …show more content…

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act (PSQIA), Confidential Information and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA), and the Freedom of Information Act all provide legal protection under many laws. It also involves ethical protection. The patient must be able to completely trust the healthcare provider by having confidence that their information is kept safe and not disclosed without their consent. Disclosing any information to the public could be humiliating for them. Patient information that is protected includes all medical and personal information related to their medical records, medical treatments, payment records, date of birth, gender, and …show more content…

Laws and regulations state there are no exceptions to disclosing information of a patient without consent. If a patient gives consent to a family member the healthcare provider may devise a code to give family members so they may confirm their identity. Exceptions to confidentiality include healthcare providers who care for a patient between one another regarding patient care and treatment. Another exception to breaching confidentiality includes mandatory reports. Mandatory reports are legislative requirements under the government authorities and may include any incident or knowledge of suspected neglect, physical or sexual abuse of children to the Child Protection Services, any maltreatment of dependent adults, or serious bodily injuries that are discovered related to the treatments of a

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