Administrative Ethics

Administrative Ethics

Patricia Myers

HCS/335

January 12, 2015

LaShannon Spencer

Administrative Ethics

Even though patient confidentiality and privacy go hand in hand in the healthcare industry they do have different meaning and functions. To have a clearer understanding of these two words it is important to have a clear definition of them. According to the medical dictionary patient confidentiality means that the patient have the right to privacy and freedom from public dissemination of information that the patient regards as being of a personal nature. Patient privacy is the practice or methods of keeping the patient information confidential. Protection of the patient confidentiality and privacy are essential in the establishment of the trust that the patient has in their healthcare provider.

Changes in the health care system has been made and still ongoing because of the advancement in computerized technology. These changes have occurred in the methods of records keeping, storing patient information and communication. Some of these changes are seen in the use of electronic medical records keeping, and in the method that healthcare information is relayed. Some of these methods are the internet, emails, and also methods of storing, receiving, and transferring data or information. This can lead to the patient information being readily available to anyone. This in turn can lead to the potential of breaches occurring in the confidentiality and privacy of the patient health information. Due to these changes in technology the confidentiality and the privacy of patient information incidents has increased and have been noticed more often. Numerous articles relating to the violation of a patients right to confidentiality and privacy are occurring. This administrative ethical issues are seen frequently in newspapers, journals and in other forms of media by the general public.

Describe the issue and impact on the population it affects most.

The...