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Healthcare organizations are subject to quite a few rules and regulations. It is common to find an individual person inside or the organization that sole job is to ensure that these said rules and regulations are followed. It is imperative for these health regulations and laws in reference to the technology are followed and avoid violations to the highest degree. Not following these regulations can have a significant impact on healthcare organizations. It can affect the integrity of the daily operations much less have a huge financial impact. Once a violation is identified it should be handled with utmost care and integrity to show the commitment of the organization is to have a facility that is run flawlessly.
One of the most popular and publicized violations are the HIPAA violations. Violating HIPAA regulations could significantly put an organization in harm’s way and cost could have a huge impact on the organization. For example, a hospital can be found negligent by not protecting a patient’s personal data and can be sued leading to significant financial expenses from such lawsuit along with being responsible for any fines form the violation it can also put doubt in the public minds as far as their integrity and ability to maintain these regulations.
In recent events there was a health care organization “Pinnacle Health”, in which they are being held responsible for incidences due to the adverse effects of a patient being discharged on the wrong medication. This has brought negative attention to Pinnacle Health and that alone will cost them quite a bit, due to the fact of patients leaving this institution and going elsewhere for treatment. (Schencker 2016)
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There are several lawsuits that damage a facilities reputation, for example New York Presbyterian Hospital settled a lawsuit for $4.8 million for their HIPAA violations after physician clearly violated the regulations which led to over 6,000 patient’s information being leaked to Google. This has huge effect on an institution, not only the lawsuit that arose but also the reputation of the facility was greatly damaged. They were also subject to state and federal fines.
In such cases where an organization repeatedly violated the regulations it is considered “willful neglect”. The organization can face significant fines that can add up to have a significant impact, although a cap could be utilized in the cost of fines. (Compliance 2009)
Impact on Daily Operations
The daily operations needs to be handled very efficiently, otherwise we can see violations and the consequences from those violations. We see technology growing and the healthcare industry is no different, so along with that we will see a greater risk of personal information being at risk of being stolen. It is important to keep this in mind and always have a secure system that is equipped with the tools needed to fight such things.
One prime example of these issues with security was found in Online Tech, which talks about the breaches causing setbacks, and hurt reputations and the trust patients have in knowing their records are safe (Pham, 2011). If this is not a priority in a healthcare facility, the theft of personal information could happen and cause authorities to have a reason to investigate, which will only lead to more complications.
If you look at the Final Rule by the Federal Register it clearly spells out what needs to be done following a problem with security breaches. This procedure that must be implemented following a leak or problem with the security takes away from the workforce and the daily needs through out a facility. Having to pull individuals from a regular duty to take care of such problems leaves the facility lacking in another area and it just trickles down the line until it can have an even greater effect on the patient care.
We all have certain rules and regulations we must abide by and it is no different in these types of situations. If these said rules and regulations are not followed it can lead to the patient being the one suffering in the end. It can range from very small errors to larger ones that may consist of incorrect dosing of medications to sending the wrong patient for a procedure. One of the main issues a facility can run into could be associated with the Coding and Billing department; without this a facility could not survive. They all need to get paid and the same protection over billing correctly needs to happen. It is important to keep these securities in place or as you can see it could have a greater effect on the daily operations of a facility.
Impact of Security
When an organization follows all of the rules and regulations in reference to technology on a regular basis and keep their security updated at all times they have a lower risk of violations. When faced with a violation, it is utmost importance that it be handled properly and very quickly. Lack of keeping security technology up to date and lack of handling a violation that may occur can have severe consequences, which could affect the daily operations as well as the finances of that organization. It is an ongoing expense to keep up to date technology to deal with these types of security measures needed for an organization, it is however worth the investment rather than having to deal with all of the violations that would come from not having secure records. This could have a huge effect on their bottom line.
One physician in Columbia accidently disclosed some highly protected health records for about 7,000 patients, these records were accidently reachable to Google search engines upon using a search mechanism (“ePHI”). As a result of the investigation, had to offer a settlement and do a Corrective Action Plan, this settlement cost the facility $4.8 million, which was one of the largest settlements HIPAA security violations (Smith, 2014).
As one can clearly see, the importance of staying up to date with the latest security technology there are always more cost that are brought about by taking such security measures. One would be the constant retraining of employees. HIPAA is one of the number one privacy acts for the medical field. Keeping employees well trained on the handling of all personal and medical information for patients is of utmost importance. Failure to train employees, and found liable in a violation due to this failure to train employees would result in a severe penalization (Symes, 2016). Thus it is important to cover all bases when preparing to have secure technology at an organization.
We must always keep in mind The American Medical Association’s Code of Medical Ethics which states the information disclosed to a physician while treating a patient is considered information that must be kept in a very secure and confidential way (Gerrard, Kapadia, Acharya, Chang and Lefkovitz, 2013). As personnel being in the medical field, all must consider the most care possible to be given to the patients along with their medical and personal information. Failure to do so can have severe ramifications including reputation, financial and putting the organization being put at risk of shutting down.
References
- Gerard, P., Kapadia, N., Acharya, J., Chang, P.T., Lefkovitz, Z. (2013). Cybersecurity in Radiology: Access of public hot spots and public Wi-Fi and prevention of cybercrimes and HIPAA violations. Retrieved from: http://resolver.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/openurl?sid=EBSCO%3aMEDLINE&genre=article&issn=15463141&ISBN=&volume=201&issue=6&date=20131201&spage=1186&pages=1186-9&title=AJR.+American+Journal+Of+Roentgenology&atitle=Cybersecurity+in+radiology%3a+Access+of+public+hot+spots+and+public+Wi-Fi+and+prevention+of+cybercrimes+and+HIPAA+violations.&aulast=Gerard+P&id=DOI%3a10.2214%2fAJR.12.9651&site=ftf-live
- Smith, J. (2014). HIPAA Violation Results In $4.8 Million Settlement: An IT Perspective. Retrieved from: http://bi.galegroup.com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/essentials /article/GALE%7CA382811361?u=nhc_main
- Symes, S. (2016). How Do HIPAA Laws Affect Day-to-Day Organizations? Retrieved from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/hipaa-laws-affect-daytoday-organizations-16592.html
