Essay Sample on Protecting Health Data: The HIPAA Policy

Introduction

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a United States legislation established in 1996 to guarantee data privacy and security to protect personal health information (Anthony et al., 2014). Undoubtedly, HIPAA policy dictates that personal health information should be kept confidential and adequately protected from potential data breaches. The policy is hinged on Christian values where health practitioners are required to operate within the confines of the set rules to ensure that the patients' information is protected. Notably, strict compliance with the HIPAA regulations illuminates the desire of the medical personnel to follow the set rules, which is in line with Biblical teachings on obeying existing laws. More often than not, medical personnel are required to apply faith in their daily practice, and adhering to the HIPAA regulations and rules illustrates their commitment to take Jesus into the medical field (Rumbold, 2013). The paper will explore how Christian faith can be embedded in medical practice to ensure that the underlying ethical policies such as HIPAA are strictly followed.

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Understandably, HIPAA is a critical policy that can be effectively applied in the Christian healthcare organization to ensure that the medical personnel do not disclose confidential medical information of patients (Anthony et al., 2014). Healthcare providers are often bestowed with the responsibility of restoring the health status of their patients, and therefore they obligated to guarantee security to patients' personal health information. Equally important, unauthorized access to health records of patients is often considered as a HIPAA violation that not only attracts fines but also dents the reputation of a healthcare organization. Christian healthcare organizations often seek to ensure that they apply faith in their operations, and that requires that they adhere to the underlying ethical issues anchored in Biblical values (Rumbold, 2013). Undeniably, operations that are hinged on God's character will guarantee effective medical practice that offers both physical and spiritual treatment to patients.

Under the HIPAA rules and regulations, the hospital administrator and staff have the immense responsibility of ensuring the rights of patients are adequately protected (Anthony et al., 2014). For instance, the hospital administrator should ensure that an organization-wide risk analysis is conducted to establish the existence of any vulnerability to the integrity, availability, and, most importantly, confidentiality of patients' health information. More imperatively, the administrator should initiate programs that would help in training all the medical staff on the importance of adhering to the HIPAA rules and stress how application of Biblical values is critical in maintaining their compliance (Rumbold, 2013). Also, a hospital administrator can foster teamwork within the organization and emphasize the need to protect patients' data against any possible breaches. More importantly, the administrator can seek spiritual guidance from Biblical teachings to ensure that all healthcare staff is encouraged to remain committed to enforcing underlying security and privacy issues as outlined in the HIPAA policy (Anthony et al., 2014). Additionally, the hospital administrator should align their administration duties to the Biblical teachings and God's character to guarantee the establishment of ethical issues and standards within the organization.

More fundamentally, hospital staff often handles private and sensitive private information relating to patients. Considering their primary focus on patients' health and daily exposure to patient data, hospital staff should depict great ethical standards to ensure that such critical data are protected (Anthony et al., 2014). In light of this, therefore, HIPAA compliance will ensure that personal health information of patients are safely kept and only reviewed under certain circumstances. Hospital staff should ensure that they practice situational awareness, especially when discussing an individual's health information. From a Biblical standpoint, medical staff is often required to ensure that their operations and practice are in tandem with Christian values, and protecting patient data will undoubtedly illustrate their commitment to remain faithful (Rumbold, 2013). Further, despite the significant adoption of electronic health records, most healthcare organizations still use a substantial amount of paper files. Therefore, hospital staff should ensure that they practice safe handling of medical documents to curtail any possible infiltration by unauthorized individuals. Moreover, most healthcare organizations have embraced the digitization of medical records to enhance the efficiency and quality of their services to the patients. The underlying challenge is always to ensure the privacy and security of patients' information stored in the electronic systems (Anthony et al., 2014). Hospital staff should ensure that they implement HIPAA policies to protect such critical information.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Christian values and Biblical teachings are instrumental in shaping medicine practice. The provision of healthcare often requires that certain ethical issues are observed to guarantee efficient operations within an organization. HIPAA policy has often been used in reshaping the ethical values and how they can be effectively applied to protect patients' health information. Health administrators and staff are always entrusted with confidential patient data, and they have the responsibility that there are no breaches that will inevitably foster patient trust in their organization. Further, maintaining an organization's reputation is critical in any healthcare organization, and the administrators and staff should depict ethical values and apply Christian faith in their daily practice to guarantee restoration of the physical and spiritual health of patients.

References

Anthony, D. L., Appari, A., & Johnson, M. E. (2014). Institutionalizing HIPAA compliance: Organizations and competing logics in US health care. Journal of health and social behavior, 55(1), 108-124.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022146513520431

Rumbold, B. (2013). Spiritual assessment and health care chaplaincy. Christian Bioethics, 19(3), 251-269.

https://academic.oup.com/cb/article-abstract/19/3/251/353722