Informatics and Healthcare Informatics is the science of computers and technology. Informatics has become such a crucial and substantial factor in people’s lives and affects them in a variety of ways. Informatics can be found anywhere whether it is at work, school, and most importantly the healthcare setting. The science of computers has an impact in health care by changing the way nurses document, perform daily duties, and how a nurse treats the clients and their family according to PHI and HIPAA. Informatics in Nursing and the Healthcare Setting Nurses nowadays are using computers and technology more and more every day because it is so useful in different ways. With informatics, decisions can be made through systems to support the nursing process, schedule times for procedures and medication are organized using the computer system, patient education along with nursing education can be provided with the help of technology too (Ball, n.d). So many hospitals have seen a decline …show more content…
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Protected Health Information (PHI) were made to make sure a patient’s personal health information is kept private (HIPAA, 2009). Healthcare workers need to fully understand and enforce HIPAA so patients could feel comfortable when they enter a healthcare setting. Patients could feel embarrassed or scared to give personal information to complete strangers, but with HIPAA they know that their information is safe and private. Nurses need to be careful at all time with a patient’s health record and information. They should not speak about a patient to anyone who is not caring for that patient. Incidents that occur in the healthcare setting can be interesting and very tempting to tell friends and family about, but it is illegal to share a patient’s healthcare experience (HIPPA,
Overall these sources proved to provide a great deal of information to this nurse. All sources pertained to HIPAA standards and regulations. This nurse sought out an article from when HIPAA was first passed to evaluate the timeline prospectively. While addressing the implications of patient privacy, these articles relate many current situations nurses and physicians encounter daily. These resources also discussed possible violations and methods to prevent by using an informaticist and information technology.
... of potential threats such as unauthorized access of the patient information. Health care leaders must always remind their employees that casual review for personal interest of patients ' protected health information is unacceptable and against the law just like what happened in the UCLA health systems case (Fiske, 2011). Health care organizations need clear policies and procedures to prevent, detect, contain, and correct security violations. Through policies and procedures, entities covered under HIPAA must reasonably restrict access to patient information to only those employees with a valid reason to view the information and must sanction any employee who is found to have violated these policies.In addition, it is critical that health care organizations should implement awareness and training programs for all members of its workforce (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013).
Introduction “Health informatics is the science that underlies the academic investigation and practical application of computing and communications technology to healthcare, health education and biomedical research” (UofV, 2012). This broad area of inquiry incorporates the design and optimization of information systems that support clinical practice, public health and research; understanding and optimizing the way in which biomedical data and information systems are used for decision-making; and using communications and computing technology to better educate healthcare providers, researchers and consumers. Although there are many benefits of bringing in electronic health systems there are glaring issues that associate with these systems. The
. HIPAA privacy rules are complicated and extensive, and set forth guidelines to be followed by health care providers and other covered entities such as insurance carriers and by consumers. HIPAA is very specific in its requirements regarding the release of information, but is not as specific when it comes to the manner in which training and policies are developed and delivered within the health care industry. This paper will discuss how HIPAA affects a patient's access to their medical records, how and under what circumstances personal health information can be released to other entities for purposes not related to health care, the requirements regarding written privacy policies for covered entities, the training requirements for medical office employees and the consequences for not following the policy.
“The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 made it illegal to gain access to personal medical information for any reasons other than health care delivery, operations, and reimbursements” (Shi & Singh, 2008, p. 166). “HIPAA legislation mandated strict controls on the transfer of personally identifiable health data between two entities, provisions for disclosure of protected information, and criminal penalties for violation” (Clayton 2001). “HIPAA also has privacy requirements that govern disclosure of patient protected health information (PHI) placed in the medical record by physicians, nurses, and other health care providers” (Buck, 2011). Always remember conversations about a patient’s health care or treatment is a violation of HIPAA. “All PHI is included in the privacy requirements for example: the patient’s past, present or future physical or mental health or condition; the provision of health care to the individual, or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to the individual, and that identifies the individual or for which there is a reasonable basis to believe it can be used to identify the individual” (Buck, 2011). Other identifiable health information would be the patient’s name, address, birth date and Social Security Number (Keomouangchanh, 2011). (Word count 197)
Working as a professional registered nurse in the hospital, I realized how nurses struggle to find balance between devoting the time charting on the computer and spending time taking care of the patients. Moreover, I’ve seen nurses where they get discouraged trying to find this balance between patients and charting. As a bedside nurse, I would love nothing, but to tend to the needs of my patients. The length of time consume on electronic charting all day, take the very essence of bedside nursing away from nurses, which is caring. Reducing the time of nurses being occupied on charting by eliminating redundant tasks while conforming to their standard, are the changes I would like to make. These are a few of the reasons why I wanted to pursue a degree in informatics. I would advocate for nurses everywhere and to become an instrument in providing them a better electronic health system to work on. Pursuing the degree in nursing informatics will benefit me in
Doctors, nurses, and medical assistants these people are supposed to ensure our safety and wellbeing, yet a small error can leak private information. That is why HIPAA was enacted in 1996, and became effective in the year 2001. HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. HIPAA serves to protect you and your medical files. You can decide when and with whom your information can be shared. Also, you can ask for your medical record and make sure it is correct, if it’s not you can file a complaint. HIPAA is valuable to keeping your medical files protected, but you may ask does it really work?
When confidential patient information is disclosed without consent it is a violation of the HIPAA Title II Security Rule. This rule was enacted in response to private information being leaked to the news and emails containing privileged information were read by unauthorized people. Identity theft is a real concern so patient privacy should be taken seriously. This is a rule can easily be broken without the offender feeling any malice towards the victim for example gossip and curiosity. Gossip in a medical office can have devastating effects on a health care facility’s reputation. Employees engaging in idle chatter to pass the time can inadvertently be overheard by patients or family members. Simply not using the patient’s name may not be enough if the person overhearing the conversation sees the resemblance. Professional behavior should be exercised at all times and juvenile behavior such as spreading gossip, has no place in a business that relies on its credibility. This rule will impact the way patient medical records are handled because we know the seriousness of it. Hospitals that don’t enforce HIPAA rules will have negative repercussions. The patient can have irreversible damage done to their view on the medical field and that hospital if their information is not treated with care. They may even feel so violated that they bring litigation against the hospital.
Each time a patient visits a doctor, is admitted to a hospital, goes to a pharmacist, or sends a claim to a health plan, a record is made of the confidential health information. The use of this information is protected and pieced together by state laws, which leave gaps in the protection of patient's privacy and confidentiality. Together all of the programs mentioned are developing strategies to better protect patient records. AHIMA members foresee daily conflicts and challenges dealing with patient confidentiality and access to their records. The resolution of these issues combined will one day result in a comprehensive national standard that will enhance individual privacy, foster research and protect the public health.
Information Systems/Technology and patient care technology for the improvement and transformation of health care is an important part of the DNP. Technology has transformed every aspect of human life in positive ways. Technology brought efficiency and improved healthcare deliverance system. Healthcare technologies enabled practitioners to better understand disease process and how to implement best treatment plan. DNP programs across the country embrace information systems and technology in their nursing curriculum because, it prepares nursing students to be innovative and deliver best care (AACN, 2006). DNP graduates must have the ability to use technology to analyze and disseminate critical information to find solutions that
A norm in society is when an individual sees danger, they are supposed to report it to the authorities, therefore preventing any further damage. Breach of confidentiality is when a nurse shares information about a patient with others who are not authorized to know about the patient's personal information. Due to this, patients are afraid to be honest with their physicians and nurses that are treating them. In order to assure patients’ confidentiality, health professionals created the patient bill of rights to ensure that patient’s personal information is kept safe from outsiders.
Technology is stated as the scientific method and material used to achieve a commercial or industrial objective. To go one step further, nursing technology is using a tool to advance nursing practice. “The Institute of medicine identified that technology as a viable method of enhancing patient care delivery and improving staff productivity” Sensmeier, Horowitz (2003 page). Because inadequate nursing staff causes shortcuts to be taken, there are mistakes made that could have possibly been prevented. Errors by nursing staff were variously reported as being responsible for between 44,000 and 98,000 hospital deaths per year. Sensmeier, Horowitz (2003). Technology can have a large impact on nursing. In the past 5 to 10 years, computerized patient records have increased less than 10%. This number shows us that we are still not embracing technology to its full potential. Today in most hospital systems computerized electronic charting is being used. Many hospitals have many different systems for...
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
Nursing Informatics is a nursing field that involves record keeping and focuses on finding ways to improve information management and communications in nursing to improve efficiency, reduce costs and enhance the quality of patient care. This field is primarily administrative but plays a part in patient care and quality of health care. There are other types of nurses, but many people focus on the nurses who perform the medical treatments with the doctors. This is evident in many films, TV shows, and in other popular media outlets. However, many people do not know what nursing informatics is nor pay attention to that side of nursing which involves the documentation of records and other miscellaneous items, use of advances in technology to improve
In other words, ICT basically promotes professionalism and reduce human effort as well as reducing the chances of erring. Healthcare simply means preventing, diagnosing and curing ailments that terminate life and reduce lifespan of human and all living things. In other words, the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well-being through the services offered by the medical and allied health professions. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) play a vital role in improving health care for humanity. It is efficient in providing, communicating and storing certain information about users and uses. ICT helps in bridging the gap created in health sector and may be used to enhance efficient relationships between the healthcare providers and health researchers. In other words, through the development of databases and other applications, ICT enhances health research and; this provides the capacity to improve health system efficiencies and prevent medical errors. The use of ICT can never be evaluated without