Protected Health Information (PHI): Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality Best Practices
Learner’s Full Name
Capella University of Health and Sciences
FPX4040: Managing Health Info & Tech
Professor’s Name
Month Year
Protected Health Information (PHI) is one of the vital aspects in the health care, which is necessary to be protected from unauthorized access in order to maintain integrity and accreditation with law. Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) are particularly at a higher risk of PHI breach due to the modern world of information technology. The purpose of this update is to ensure that care inter-professional team understands the HIPAA requirements, and the proper usage of social media platforms in the SNFs. This involves consideration of the risks involved in sharing patients’ information over the social media. Maintaining the privacy of the patient data represented in the PHI is essential for data confidentiality and integrity (Stericycle, 2021).
Comprehensive Summary of Laws
HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is the law of protection for patients’ personal information. The Privacy Rule under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act also limits the use and disclosure of any information considered PHI unless the patient explicitly agrees to it; this information is only accessible to individuals who have been given proper credentials (Hennessy et al., 2023). Administrative, physical, and technical defenses which are included in the Security Rule enables healthcare providers to protect the PHI (Limmroth et al., 2024). The Breach Notification Rule requires healthcare providers to inform patients, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Moreover, the HITECH Act (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health act) improves HIPAA by advancing the implementation of health information technology and improves the compliance and enforcement
of the privacy and security rules (Limmroth et al., 2024). These laws apply to the interdisciplinary team in SNFs and highlight the importance of compliance and the safeguarding of patients’ PHI from being disclosed to unauthorized persons (The Fox Group, 2022).
Importance of Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Interdisciplinary collaboration becomes crucial to protect electronic health information that may contain sensitive data in SNFs. All team members are responsible for protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and security of both the data and the information itself that is contained in PHI. HIPAA dictates that policies and procedures are properly followed, and compliance work with stakeholders such as health specialist, administrators, IT professionals and lawyers. It also provide the opportunity for a professional team of IT professionals and business professionals to assess risks across functional areas, apply necessary controls, and address incidents or breaches when necessary. Therefore, engaging interdisciplinary teams facilitates compliance in terms of legal and ethical requirements on patient care, as well as the management of patient information, which ultimately protects patient’s privacy and encourage quality care delivery in SNFs (MedNet Compliance, 2020).
Evidence-Based Approach
Here are some evidence-based approaches that can be adopted to reduce risk exposures of patients as well as HC staff regarding sensitive PHI information in SNFs: First, it refers to risk assessment and come up with specific measures in case of risks (Limmroth et al., 2024). Secondly, it is about delivering continuous training and education to the staff on HIPAA rules and guidelines, and also on the proper ways of managing PHI to guarantee that everybody knows what they must do afterward. Third, strict policies for accessing data, like multi-factor authentication and role-based access, ensure that only those employees who are authorized have permission to access PHI
(BraveLabs, 2024). Fourth, encryption of PHI ensures it is secure from access of unauthorized persons (Stericycle, 2021). Last but not least, when it comes to social networking sites, it is worthwhile to set a clear policy and guidelines for information use and sharing within these networks to prevent the accidental disclosure of data (99mgmt, 2024). The above approaches are evidenced-based and aimed at reducing security and privacy threat to health information in SNFs (Group, 2020).
Professional, Effective Staff Update that Educates Inter-professional Team Members
It is essential to design a detailed, professional, and efficient staff update in order to inform the inter-professional team about security, privacy and confidentiality of patients’ information and relation to social media network using in Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs). The update should have informative descriptions about HIPAA rules and the applicability of those rules in the use of social applications. Specific examples of violations that can be made and their potential penalties can help the reader to understand the need to obey the law. The US Department of Health and Human Services released a report in 2020 showing that more than two-thirds (70%) of the healthcare firms said they had experienced not less than one major loss of PHI within the last two years (MedNet Compliance, 2020). Moreover there are estimates that data breaches result in about $6 for the healthcare sector. Global, over $2 billion annually (Stericycle, 2021). HIPAA compliance safeguards can help minimize such risks as well as costs and their enactment should be seamless across the healthcare industry. It is important to review and update policies and procedures concerning the use of social media from. This can help to develop a culture that allows for the protection of patients’ data and improvement in the quality of care. (Stericycle, 2021). Please remember that patient information regarding activities, therapies, or interactions within Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) should not be posted on social media, it will be considered a breach of confidentiality and violation of the HIPAA regulations. Your commitment to these standards is
vital in ensuring the integrity and quality of care within SNF. Thank you for your constant dedication and adherence to those important practices.
References
99mgmt. (2024, June 20). HIPAA-Compliant Social Media Strategy Checklist. Www.99mgmt.com. https://www.99mgmt.com/blog/checklist-hipaa-compliant-social-media-strategizing
BraveLabs. (2024, April 9). HIPAA-Compliant Social Media Strategizing For Hospitals – BraveLabs. BraveLabs. https://thebravelabs.com/blog/hipaa-compliant-social-media-strategizing-for-hospitals/ Group, T. F. (2020, October 1). HIPAA Regulations for Nursing Homes. The Fox Group. https://www.foxgrp.com/blog/hipaa-regulations-nursing-homes/
Hennessy, M., Story, J., & Enko, P. (2023). Lessons Learned: Avoiding Risks When Using Social Media. Missouri Medicine, 120(5), 345–348. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10569390/
Limmroth, S. P., CHC, & CIA. (2024). Patient Privacy and Security: Social Media. Compliancecosmos.org. https://compliancecosmos.org/patient-privacy-and-security-social-media-0
MedNet Compliance. (2020, July 28). HIPAA and Data Security in the Skilled Nursing Facility Environment. MedNet Compliance. https://www.mednetcompliance.com/hipaa-data-security-skilled/
Stericycle. (2021, June 17). HIPAA Guidelines for Social Media | Healthcare. Www.stericycle.com. https://www.stericycle.com/en-us/resource-center/blog/hipaa-and-social-media-guidelines
