Legal Aspects of Documenting Patient Care - Essay Example

At a higher political level, the government should inflict stiffer fines and graver penalties on individuals or group of individuals who disrespects the patient’s right to privacy of information through any unlawful means. Offenders should be made liable for civil torts for such breach however intentional or not and for the fact that it still resulted in moral damages (Scott, 2000).2. Because of the security weaknesses in the information system, there lies a question about the quality of information used in professional studies.

This is potent enough to cripple the organizational assets and degrade the reputation or image of the agency (CMS, 2009). Consequently, this leads to major economic losses. On the one hand, patients would only normally lose confidence or trust in the agency. In extreme cases, those who are especially emotionally unstable may experience severe physical and/or moral injuries which could lead to death. 3. The HIPPA dictates that professionals in the field of health care must protect any pertinent health information, giving due respect to patients and his/her direct kin and relatives.

Therefore, they are prohibited to disclose any information outside their line of duty for this kind of disclosure is not merely unethical, but it is both unlawful and unprofessional. However, even without the code of law, as an individual entrusted with sensitive information and in the right mind, this becomes an automatic moral obligation as a person in a value-driven society.