Report in the News: Health Care Incident - Essay Example

? Health Care Incident in the News of Health Care Incident in the News Chad Terhune’s article within the Los Angeles Times on May 5th 2012 reported State Regulators’ verdict on Redding Hospital which violated the confidentiality of its patient. The hospital is owned by the Prime Healthcare Services Inc. and is said to have shared the medical files of their patient Darlene Courtois with journalists. Moreover, the hospital disclosed the patient’s treatment though email to more than 780 hospital workers (Terhune, 2012). Courtois is a diabetic patient who was treated in Redding Hospital in 2010 did not consent to the decision of the hospital’s chief executive and medical officer in disclosing her treatment information. This followed allegations that the hospital was involved in overbilling Medicare. The officials of the hospital also failed to report the violations of the patient’s privacy as postulated by the HIPAA. Courtois daughter said that “we are appalled by the number of people they shared the information with" (Terhune, 2012). Among the journalists into whom the patient information was disclosed were those from the Times. It is reported within the news article that Prime Healthcare Inc. is to face up to $ 250 000 fines for these violations (Terhune, 2012). This essay is based on this story and aims at examining and evaluating how governance, organizational structure, culture and lack of social responsibility led to the violation of the patient’s privacy by the hospital. The essay also presents recommendations on resources and changes that would help to preventing future violations of patient privacy in relation to the ethics of patient care. The health care situation that is described within the Los Angeles Times is a case where the rights of patients for confidentiality and privacy of treatment information are violated by a health care system. This case demonstrates the failure of the hospital and its administration in adhering to the provisions of HIPAA. Notable in this case is the fact that the top administrators of the hospital were involved in the violation of patient privacy. Moreover, the workers within the hospital failed to report the violation of patient privacy to the relevant authorities. It is in this regard that it is apparent that the hospital is obliged to take responsibility for its legal and ethical misconduct. Nonetheless it is important to note that the violation of HIPAA provisions for patient privacy is legally wrong regardless of the number of people with who patient information is disclosed (Moore, et al, 2009). Darlene Courtois’ case however received the attention of the media and the legal system because many health care providers and journalists got access to the patient’s treatment records without consent. The organizational structure at the Redding Hospital’s hospital is topped by the chief executive. This official is followed by the medical officer. Below these officials are the medical health records officers and other workers. The fact that private patient information was disclosed to the journalists by the chief executive and medical officer reflects that they had direct influence on the medical health officers from whom this information was obtained. This reveals an organizational culture where the top executives exercise roles beyond their lines of duty. Moreover, the health records officers were coerced to provide the patient information to the senior executives. This demonstrates that the health records officers failed to adhere to the ethical and legal requirements for confidentiality and privacy of all patient data. This case also reveals an organizational culture where workers fail to take legal responsibility by reporting medical misconduct in relation to patient data. This is revealed that the health care workers who were emailed the patient data failed to report the violation HIPAA provisions. This case came into light of the legal system because it was featured in the media. Nonetheless the legal responsibility and legal fines becomes the responsibility of Healthcare Services Inc. This is due to the fact that this company owns the Redding Hospital and hence is higher within the organizational structure and governance. The Redding Hospital clearly failed to adhere to its corporate social responsibility by disclosing the private information of its patient to the media and health care workers. As a result of this, the image of the hospital within the community was tarnished. This also caused the trust of the patient on the hospital to be lost. Hospital administration and health care providers are mandated by the ethics of medical practice to uphold the law. This means that health care and the use of patient information must be done with due respect and consideration of the interests of the patient (Zulman, et al., 2011). This means that by sharing treatment data of the patient with journalists and many other health care workers, the administration of the hospital failed to adhere to their social responsibilities. The legal and ethical provisions of health care as postulated by the HIPAA demonstrates that health care providers must ensure that the consent of patients is obtained before any information on their treatment is disclosed to a third party (Love, 2011). In the light of the news article on the health care incident, it is evident that the hospital failed to obey its legal and ethical obligations. This is therefore translated to the fact that the hospital also failed to adhere to its social responsibility. The situation at Redding Hospital can be changed through proper allocation of resources and changes to its organizational structure, culture and policies. These changes will prevent future disclosure of patient information and the legal and ethical consequences which results from violation of HIPAA provisions. In this regard, it is recommended for the hospital to review its policies on patient information so that they would match with the provisions of the law. This will restrict the hospital officials in the top positions of organization structure from accessing patient information from the health records officers unless consent is obtained from patients. Moreover, it is recommended for the company to review its policies related to the chain of command within its organizational structure. As a result, the health records officers will not be obliged to provide private information and data on patients to the chief executive and medical officer just because they are higher within the chain of command and organizational structure. To prevent future violations of patient privacy, it is recommended for Redding Hospital to invest resources on training of its staff along all levels of organizational structure and governance. The training programs will help the management and workers to understand their roles in relation to patient records. The importance of adherence to the legal and ethical aspects of patient privacy will also be emphasized through the training program. Investing resources on training will also empower the health care records officers in upholding the privacy of patient information. The decision for training is tied by the ethical obligations of health care providers in ensuring that patient data is not disclosed without consent from the patient. Moreover training will ensure that health care providers understand their rights in protecting the privacy of patients regardless of possible coercion from the top executives. Organizational culture within Redding Hospital should be changed with the leadership of top executives. This will ensure that all levels of the health care organization perform roles with the interests of patients as the top priority. Moreover, the organizational culture should be changed in a way that makes all health workers liable to their responsibility of reporting any form of medical misconduct. This will facilitate the participation of employees in upholding the legal rights of patients for protection of their confidential data or information. Furthermore, change of organizational culture should be geared towards enabling the health care staff to adhere to the social responsibility of the hospital in relation to safeguarding the interests of patients for privacy and confidentiality. The management approach within Redding Hospital is another part of the organization culture which requires to be changed. It is therefore recommended for the management of the hospital to ensure that their roles in the hospital governance do not override the obligations and responsibilities of the junior employees within the organizational structure. In addition to the above recommendations, Redding Hospital should also invest its resources on information and communication technology especially on the management of patient records. This includes the adoption and implementation of health care records management systems. This will prevent future violations of patient confidentiality and privacy through the information system security protocols and policies. As a result the access of patient data and information by health care workers within the organizational structure will need authentication from health record managers or officers. Moreover, the application of information technology promotes the communication among health care providers and with patients (American Nurse, 2012). This will enhance the reporting of violation of patient rights to privacy and confidentiality of personal medical data. In addition, the application of information technology systems in the management of patient information will facilitate communication with patients in regard to the use of their private data. Therefore implementation of information and communication technology is recommended because it will promote the involvement of all parties in promoting confidentiality of patient information in addition to ensuring that the use of private data seeks the consent of patients. References American Nurse. (2012). Patients' needs and electronic health data. American Nurse, 44(2), 5. Love, V. D. (2011). Privacy Ethics in Health Care. Journal of Health Care Compliance, 13(4), 15-57. Moore, I. N., et al. (2009). Confidentiality And Privacy In Health Care From The Patient's Perspective: Does HIPAA Help? Health Matrix: Journal of Law-Medicine, 17(2), 215-272. Terhune, C. (2012). Hospital violated patient confidentiality, state says. Los Angeles Times. 1 Zulman, D. M., et al (2011). Patient Interest in Sharing Personal Health Record Information. Annals of Internal Medicine, 155(12), 805-810. Read More