Administrative_Ethical_Paper

Administrative Ethics Paper By: Alondra Jimenez 06/19/11 HCS 335 Health care patient privacy has become the focal point of all issues because keeping the patient’s information confidential has apparently become a huge problem in the field. Patient privacy is an issue that came up about ten or more years ago, and for these issues many organization such as the privacy act and the HIPPA regulation have stepped in to stop patient’s health information from leaking out to unwanted sources. Now, there are serious consequences involving any staff member that is not confidential when dealing with patient records because there could be lawsuits ahead. Lawsuits are usually filed by patients who feel that their privacy has been violated and because the HIPPA regulations backed them up 100% and their process to file a suit against any health care facility is easy. The HIPPA regulations organization understand the patients and take all actions when they feel violated or abused when it comes to their personal health privacy. The following article regarding staff of an organization speaking freely and loudly about other patient’s health will explain why it is a legal issue and also unethical. The article is called “Respect patient’s privacy! Keep quiet in the elevator” (Melinda Thomas) is a perfect example of how the staff of an organization could be when dealing with other patient’s private information. The reason why this article was chosen, although it sounds quiet vague, is because of the truthfulness it contains when organizations are observed by visitors, other staff, and managers, and still staff speaks freely about issues in improper places. This issue is important to be addressed because this problem is still going on and even though regulation and laws were created for this reason it is absolutely incredible that the health privacy of the patients is still leaking out. Because it is natural that most people love the drama and gossip it is imperative that they are watched constantly because many times they could subconsciously not be aware of the information they might be contributing and cause the organization a huge lawsuit. This article basically explains how most staff members think that they have privacy in elevators and therefore they “rant with other staff members about patient’s information while patients, visitors and family members are also in the same elevator” (Melinda, Thomas). Although it might sound redundant, according to Thomas this issue is one of the biggest reasons how staff members get in trouble and lead out information. The only defense that the staff members bring up is the fact that they felt as if they can communicate with other staff members especially if it was in an elevator. However the article debates by making the following statement “You cannot discuss medical options, surgery, patients’ histories and other related issues inside the elevator and expect any privacy at all” (Melinda, Thomas). Actually, due to the seriousness of the privacy rights patients have, no employee has the right to speak about any patients health records even out side of his or her home because this can impact the whole population. The way this can impact the whole population is that the population will hear these comments and not feel safe with their privacy issues and this will affect the reputation of all health care organizations. The ethical and legal issues that could potentially come about regarding this privacy matter are many (Ebbesen, 2007). Patients health information could be critical and seriously affect his or her family this will lead to a legal issue if the family sues for depression due to sudden communication or improper communication. Staff members could take this information and make it seem as gossip among other staff members which makes it unethical to speak bad about the patients that for example may have a sexually transmitted disease such as HIV or AIDS. Because of these issues, managerial responsibilities to administrative ethical issues are highly important. Managers need to be aware of their environment, work, and staff to prevent any legal and ethical issues and run a professional organizations. It is important that managers are effective and always observant of the work and the patients that their staff is responsible for, this way if any issues come up then the manager will know who to go to and deal with the problem immediately. A proposed solution to preventing these issues is to put together a tougher process for applicants to go through when they are interviewed. Hiring the right staff, supervisors and managers in this type of field takes a lot of background searching, references and experience. With the right credentials that show good work ethics the interview is followed. In the interview it is important that if the applicant will be hired he or she will be required to read the laws and regulations of the organization and then should be called up for a following interview so that they can answer questions regarding the material. If the applicant passes the second interview he or she should be given a consent (Lnafranchi, 2008) form to agree to reserve the privacy of all patients and must agree that they will be held responsible for any information that is leaked and linked to them. This process will help the organization for future reference so that if there is any problems the facility will not be held fully responsible. In conclusion, the key to preventing these two very important issues is complete supervision so that the facility will always be aware of problems as well as prevent any future problems. Another solution would be thorough application process so that the organization will be certain of who they hire and who they can trust. This application process will also keep the organization from some of the responsibility if the employee ever got into trouble. This article has helped many of it’s readers understand how even the little things such as employees talking in an elevator could potentially cause the organization a legal or ethical issue. Understanding that the privacy of patients is extremely important to keep between the staff and the medical records is imperative in the health care field. Reference Respect Patients’ Privacy! Keep quiet in the elevator! Melinda Thomas, 2011 retrieved from Http://EzineArticles.com/'espert=Melinda_Thomas Lanfranchi, A. (2008, Summer). The federal government and academic texts as barriers to informed consent. Issues in law and medicine, 21(1), 61. Ebbesen, M., & Pedersen, B. D. (2007). Empirical inverstigaion of the ethical reasoning of physicians and molecular biologists-The importance of the four principles of biomedical ethics, philosophy, ethics & humanities in medicine.