Confidentiality, Privacy, and Security

Confidentiality, Privacy, and Security
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Three related and significant concepts are often interchangeably used while talking about the safeguarding the health information within the healthcare system of the US. These terms are security, confidentiality and privacy. However, every one of these concepts has a unique role and a different significant meaning as far as healthcare is concerned. This article will discuss the various meanings of the three healthcare concepts with reference to the article “A Day in the Life of a Medical Record.”
Confidentiality
In healthcare, the term confidentiality is used to refer to the obligation of health professionals with access to the records of a patient to “hold that information in confidence” (Darby, 2000). The principle has its roots in the patient-provider relationships that can be traced back to the time of Hippocrates. Several ethical codes in the medical professions support the need for the health information of any patient to be kept confidential. One such code is the “American Health Information Management Association Code of Ethics” with its principle I (Bayer, Santelli, & Klitzman, 2015). The policy requires all health professionals to uphold, defend, and advocate for the patients’ privacy rights and the confidentiality doctrine while using or disclosing any medical information. The law recognizes confidentiality as the privileged communication between “two parties in a professional relationship” like a nurse or a physician and a patient (Darby, 2000).

Patients expect their communication with these professionals to be kept confidential. According to the article, when the patient charts used to be placed in the back pocket of the wheelchair, the patient information was not very confidential. The chart could land in at least 17 hands before the day ended, each one with the ability to look through every detail they chose to (Morrissey, 2006). With the electronic system, the patient’s information enjoyed more confidentiality as only authorized people could sign in with passwords and access just part of the information they required. Based on the provided definition of confidentiality and the information from the article, the electronic system provides more confidentiality to the patient’s records than the chart system.
Privacy
Privacy is defined seen as the right of an individual patient or client to be left alone and to decide on how his or her personal information is to be shared. The constitution of the US does not specify the “right to privacy,” however; federal statutes, court decisions, and ethical codes have outlined the privacy rights regarding the healthcare decisions and information of an individual (Bayer, Santelli, & Klitzman, 2015). Privacy basically requires that the patient’s information be protected and used or shared only when he or she authorizes that or under exceptional circumstances as stipulated by various court decisions (Bayer, Santelli, & Klitzman, 2015). From the article, one learns about a clerk who used to run a background check for one of her friends. She pulled out individual records to look at the medical and financial records of young men without their authorization (Morrissey, 2006). These types of professional breaches are what make the electronic system more private than the paper system. If the clerk tried to retrieve unnecessary information from the electronic system, the many passwords would definitely hinder that. Therefore, the electronic system offers more privacy than the old chart system.
Security
The security of health information refers to the protection or the means employed in the protection of medical data as well as the professionals that help in keeping the information confidential (Darby, 2000). The security concept has been present in the paper system through systems like locked cabinets. The new electronic system involves electronic transmission of health information among relevant parties. Malicious individuals like the child abuser in the article can find ways of gaining access to the electronic information, and there will be no receptionist to stop them as was the case in the paper system discussed in the article (Morrissey, 2006). Therefore, the system uses strong passwords that only allow access to specific areas. Because of the passwords, the electronic system looks more secure than the paper system which requires manual protection by the same individuals who are likely to misuse the information like the clerk in the article.
In conclusion, these three concepts are very closely related, and a weakness of one is a weakness to all. If a hospital does not provide enough security to the health records of it patients, whether in the paper system or the electronic system, then the information is likely to land in unauthorized hands. Once in unauthorized hands, both the privacy of the patient and the confidentiality that was expected between the patient and the doctor is breached. Therefore, every healthcare institution or professional should observe all of these concepts if they want to maintain loyal clients.
References
Bayer, R., Santelli, J., & Klitzman, R. (2015). New challenges for electronic health records:
confidentiality and access to sensitive health information about parents and adolescents. JAMA, 313(1), 29-30.
Darby, R. (2000). Confidentiality, privacy and security in healthcare. South African medical
journal= Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde,90(10), 979.
Morrissey, J. (2006). A day in the life of a medical record: Lifting the veil on the security of
today’s paper-based environment. The National Alliance for Health Information Technology 2006. Retrieved May 31, 2006.