CONFIDENTIALITY

By Paul Samuels

MHA690: Health Care Capstone (MFQ1430A)

Instructor: David Cole

What is considered Confidentiality?
Importance of Confidentiality
HIPAA
Medical Privacy
Ethics and Standards
Who monitors privacy and confidentiality ?
Conclusion
 WHAT IS CONSIDERED
CONFIDENTIAL?

 Age

 Sex

 Race

 Health information

 Health conditions and problems

 Insurance
 THE IMPORTANCE OF
CONFIDENTIALITY

 Workplace confidentiality can be defined as keeping the employee,

customer and client information private.
 Maintaining confidentiality in the workplace is important for
building and maintaining trust, and for honest communication
between customers, clients and employees.
 It is the employee's responsibility to treat all the information in the
workplace with care and caution.
 HIPAA

 Health Insurance Probability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

 The HIPAA Privacy Rule provides federal protections for

individually identifiable health information held by covered entities
and their business associates and gives patients an array of rights with
respect to that information
 MEDICAL PRIVACY

 Maintaining the privacy of medical information literally saves lives

because, without the assurance of privacy, people may avoid life-
enhancing and life-saving treatments.
 It is an independent good that individuals use to maintain control
over their personal lives.
 People who know they can trust the health care system are more
likely to seek full treatment.
 ETHICS AND
STANDARDS

 Breach of confidentiality and patient privacy can result in costly

lawsuits for healthcare providers and facilities.

 Ethical Standards for professional behavior are very important in

health care.

 Policies and guidelines are set up to help prevent incidences of

breach of confidentiality.
 WHO MONITORS PRIVACY
AND CONFIDENTIALITY

 Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations

(JCAHO)

 The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)

 Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA)

 CONCLUSION

 Patient confidentiality and privacy are very important aspect within

the healthcare industry. Maintaining it ensures quality care by
conveying that patients can rely on physicians and other healthcare
professionals to maintain privacy and respect for their care and their
medical records. Each day patients put their trust in the hands of
healthcare professionals. Confidentiality issues are also a standard of
practice related to ethical and professional healthcare.