Discussion on Confidentiality/Information Security/HIPAA

Step 1: Read the following article entitled, “The Beginner HIPAA Professionals Guide to the Electronic Health Information Considerations” (Attached to discussion)

Step 2: View the following videos,

“What is HIPAA?” https://www.prohipaa.com/training/video/what-is-hipaa (Links to an external site.)

“HIPAA Training: The HIPAA Privacy Rule”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y751i4QqP0g (Links to an external site.)

“Confidentiality: HIPAA Regulations”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8tnGvV9nc4 (Links to an external site.)

“How to Maintain Patient Confidentiality”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APs23yxH5zc (Links to an external site.)

Step 3: Visit the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services website for additional information regarding HIPAA at https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/index.html (Links to an external site.)

Confidentiality is the right to privacy with respect to one’s personal medical information. The Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) was established in 1996.

• HIPAA is a uniform, federal act providing protection for health consumers
• State laws that may provide additional protections to consumers are not affected by HIPAA
• HIPAA guarantees that clients are able to access their medical records
• HIPAA provides clients with control over how their personal health information is used and disclosed
• HIPAA outlines limited circumstances in which personal health information can be disclosed without first obtaining consent of the client of the client’s family. They include:
  • Suspicion of child or elder abuse
  • When otherwise required by law such as suspicion of criminal activity
  • Incidences of state agency of health department requirements; reportable communicable diseases

Initial Discussion Scenario:

Jenna Peterson, a 20-year-old college student, made an appointment to be seen by Susan Grant, M.D. Jenna had been seeing Dr. Grant for a few years. Dr. Grant was also the long-time family practitioner for Jenna’s mom and older sister.

On this visit, Jenna said she would like to get a prescription for birth control pills. They discussed other contraception options, as well as the risk and benefits of each and decided that “the pill” would be Jenna’s best option. After reviewing Jenna’s medical history and performing a brief physical examination, Dr. Grant gave Jenna a six-month prescription for Ortho-Novum 10/11, along with educational materials on oral contraceptives. She told her to schedule a six-month follow-up appointment over summer break.

When Jenna checked out with the front office, she told the billing office that she did NOT want this visit submitted to her mother’s insurance. Instead, she would pay for the visit herself because she didn’t want her mother to know the reason for the visit. The billing clerk said that she would send Jenna a bill because the practice’s billing system was undergoing a software upgrade. Jenna asked that the bill be sent to her college address.

About two weeks later, Mrs. Peterson had a routine appointment with Dr. Grant. When she checked in, she stopped by the billing office and asked the insurance clerk to check a notice of claim statement she recently received from her insurance carrier about a visit by Jenna. Mrs. Peterson said, “I know Jenna hasn’t been here because she’s away at school.” The clerk said she’d check on the claim and should have information for Mrs. Peterson by the time she was done seeing Dr. Grant. Mrs. Peterson was then taken back to an exam room for her appointment.

While seeing Mrs. Peterson, Dr. Grant inquired about the Peterson family and mentioned that “Jenna has really blossomed into a beautiful, intelligent young woman.” Mrs. Peterson thanked Dr. Grant and asked, “When did you see Jenna?” Dr. Grant unthinkingly said, “Oh, a couple weeks ago when she was in for her appointment.” When Mrs. Peterson questioned why Jenna had been seen, Dr. Grant realized she had said too much. She hemmed and hawed a bit, and finally suggested that Mrs. Peterson talk to Jenna.

Despite Mrs. Peterson’s insistence that she had a right to know why Jenna was seen, Dr. Grant refused to provide additional details. Mrs. Peterson was clearly angry with that response and stormed out of the exam room. On her way out, she stopped at the billing office, and the insurance clerk confirmed that Jenna was in for an appointment on the day in question and that the claim was correct.

Assignment: Discuss your responses to the following questions in your posting?

1. Was Jenna’s right to privacy violated by Dr. Grant and the billing office?
2. Once Mrs. Peterson was informed of her daughter’s visit, did she have the right to know the reason for her daughter’s visit?
3. Does Jenna have the right to sue for breach of confidentiality? Does Mrs. Peterson have a right to sue for failure to disclose information for a visit that her insurance company paid for?
4. What risk management recommendations would you give to this organization to prevent future violations?

The Beginner HIPAA Professional’s Guide to the Electronic Health Information Considerations.pdf

Case Study 12.2: “First Come, First Served”: Resource Challenges for Sunrise Restoration

This case is intended to highlight the challenges in resource assignment, particularly in the common cases where project managers within the same firm are competing with each other for the use of scarce and valuable human resources to accomplish their tasks.  Without clear guidance from top management and a valid priority system, the ability to acquire resources is often the result of chaotic bargaining and negotiation among equals. This case is based on a real situation and the outcomes were very much in line with the way they are described in the case.  The business owner did not want to simply invest in more resources for fear that they would be underutilized.  He much preferred the system of negotiating among his project managers, even if that led to inefficient utilization of the resources that were available.  Students can be asked to take the side of the owner or Tyler to debate the options that Sunrise can use to manage its resources.

Questions

1. Describe some of the resource constraints that Sunrise and its project managers are facing.
2. Is Sunrise’s current model of prioritizing resource assignments viable?  Why or why not?
3. How could technology alleviate some of Sunrise’s resource management issues?
4. Would Tyler’s suggestion to hire additional technicians and purchase more equipment solve the resource problems at Sunrise?  Why or why not?

Scenario/Summary

This week’s lab highlights the use of graphics, distributions, and tables to summarize and interpret data.

Follow the directions below to find one of the given academic articles from the school library and then use that to describe the graphs and tables included. Further, you will describe other ways that the same data could be presented.

Deliverables

The deliverable is a Word document with your answers to the questions posed below based on the article you find.

Required Software

• Microsoft Word
• Internet access to read articles

 

Steps to Complete Week 3 Lab

PART 1:

Step 1: For our first broad-based search, choose one of the articles listed below that interests you.  Use the underlined words in your chosen article to search and see how many articles from the Pro-Quest Nursing database contain these underlined words (see the example below the article list)

Article Titles Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and pulse pressure: An evaluation of their joint effect on mortality 

Step 2: Go to the school Library

Step 3: Click on the ProQuest Nursing link under the search box

Step 4: Type the underlined words from the article that you chose into the first search bar. Checkmark Full Text, Peer-Reviewed, and choose Last 12 Months from the drop-down list.  Last, choose English Language under the language section.

Step 5: Choose Search to see how many articles in the ProQuest database have those words.

Step 6: Post a screenshot of your search results (topic and the number of articles containing your search terms) to the top of a Word document [see Step 5 above]. Below the screenshot, answer the following questions:

On your search:

    A. What terms did you use?

    B. What other things did you mark on the search page before conducting your search?

    C.Why did you choose the keywords that you did?

    D. How many articles were found with these search terms [from screenshot]?

Part 2:

Step 1: For our second more narrow search, go back and search using THE ENTIRE TITLE of the article you used the keywords from in your first search.  Paste the ENTIRE title into the search bar and find the full article [Do NOT checkmark anything to narrow your search this time!].

Step 2: Find a frequency table and/or graph within the article and post a screenshot in your Word document.

Example:

 

Frequency Distribution      OR            Graph

Step 3: Answer the following questions about your table and/or graph:

    A. What type of study is used in the article (quantitative or qualitative)?

    B. What type of graph or table did you choose for your lab? What characteristics make it this type?

    C. Describe the data displayed in your frequency distribution or graph (consider class size, class width,             total frequency, list of frequencies, class consistency, etc)

    D. Draw a conclusion about the data from the graph or frequency distribution you chose.

    E. How else might this data have been displayed? Discuss pros and cons of 2 other presentation options, such as tables or different graphical displays.

    F. Give the full APA reference of the article you are using for this lab.

 

You are almost at the end of your critical thinking journey—but only for this class! Hopefully, this begins a lifelong journey of searching for knowledge, improving yourself, and seeking the truth! We started the course reflecting on what critical thinking is and how we formulate our opinions and beliefs. We then expanded the concept of critical thinking to include consideration of how we relate to friends, family, and other personal situations. This week, we look at a broader scope of areas where critical thinking is vital.

After completing the Learning Activities for the week, please respond to all the questions below. Your response should be a minimum of 175 words total (approx. 50 words per question).

• Where do you get most of your news, and how do you analyze what you hear, view, or read on media outlets?
• In what ways can/do you, as a citizen, get involved in the governmental process? How do you apply critical thinking when you are involved in these activities?
• Share an example of a fallacy or rhetoric you have seen used to market a product or service in commercials, advertisements, etc. How will you use information provided in Ch. 10 of THiNK: Critical Thinking and Logic Skills for Everyday Life to be a more mindful consumer?
• If someone asked you what your favorite activity or concept from this class was as well as what the most challenging activity or concept was, what would you tell them and why?

 

Please note that if you edit your initial response (Original Post), you will not get credit for the Original Post. The discussions are set up as “Must post first”.

Graded Discussion Week 5 

Please note that if you edit your initial response (Original Post), you will not get  credit for the Original Post. The discussions are set up as “Must post first”.

The Role of Monetary Policy in the Economy

Click on the links below and Read the articles. You can also use pdf. files with the articles posted in Content – Week 5 – Articles for Discussion week 5 area.  

• How does monetary policy affect the U.S. economy?

https://www.frbsf.org/education/teacher-resources/us-monetary-policy-introduction/real-interest-rates-economy/

• Understanding the Role of Monetary Policy in the Economy by Christine Smith, (Tuesday, March 31, 2020)

https://www.stlouisfed.org/open-vault/2020/march/understanding-role-monetary-policy-economy

• Monetary Policy: Stabilizing Prices and Output by Koshy Mathai

https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/basics/monpol.htm

In your initial response to the topic you have to answer all questions:

1. Discuss the effect of monetary policy on inflation. To what extent can monetary policy influence inflation?
2. How can adjusting interest rates make an impact on economy?
3. Discuss the effect of interest rates on employment in the short run and in the long run.
4. Describe the mechanism how changes in monetary policy affect output and prices in the economy.
5. Reflection – the students also should include a paragraph in the initial response in their own words, using macroeconomic terminology, reflecting on specifically what they learned from the assignment and how they think they could apply what they learned in the workplace or in everyday life.

Please also note that your answers should be written in your own words. Don’t use quotes from the articles.