Assignment:
The Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act
I. Primary goals of HIPAA
a. Privacy Compliance
b. Data Integrity
Outline should look like the above
II. One of the primary goals of the HIPAA is to make health insurance more affordable and as such, lower the cost of healthcare in the country (Chaikind,2004).
a) The act achieves this at the expense of hefty fines imposed in the case that the healthcare providers violate the privacy policy of the act, which is the most recognizable part of the HIPAA since its enactment in 2003 (Correa, 2011).
1. With the healthcare constantly checking their steps so as not to go against the law, the act might not be as good asit had been intended to be.It is especially so since the healthcare providers have to ensure that any information regarding the patient is given to a third party on the consent of the patient.
2. However tough it may seem to be, the act also aims at detecting and fighting fraud and abuse in the health industry (Hosford-Dunn &Roeser, 2007). The fines involved in the breach of the act bear testimony to this.
Need to clarify-you are talking issues but need to flush out goals if that is your category
III. The irony of the privacy policy of the HIPAA is the people that are allowed access to information regarding the patient's health with ease may not be of much help to the patient.
a) Information regarding issues such as diagnosis with diseases that may be genetically transmitted should be useful to the family more than the hospital staff and the government (Asfaw, 2011).
1. The family of the patient should be allowed access to such information so as to know what action to take regarding the new discovery.
2. As such, the act has been faced with a lot of opposition from several bodies, among them medical researchers and lawyers. These groups of people are not against the whole HIPAA act.
3. The part that is of utmost concern is the clause pertaining to privacy of patient information.
IV. In addition to that, another problem with the act is that it has slowed down medical innovation.
a) The aim of medicine revolves around solving and preventing factors that cause stress to the body from attacking an individual (Neuman& Fawcett, 2002).
1. In the case that innovation is inhibited, prevention might be, as well, inhibited.
2. Medical research, which leads to innovation, involves the researchers developing some new knowledge, which may not be necessarily to the benefit of the patient (Eaton & Kennedy 2007).
3. The HIPAA act, however, does not allow this. This is one of the factors that makes the act be viewed as a hindrance to medical progressiveness in the country.
V. As such, the law may be good in terms of the fact that it allows for comparable health insurance coverage in the case that one changes the job (Roach, 2008), it also has its limitations that make the intended good appear as bad.
a) There is need for there to be amendments to the bill so as to make it more appealing and friendly.
1. The privacy policy is the one that needs some adjustments.
2. As per the discussion, there should be some changes made to the policy so exempt some people from the privacy.
b) The family members, for example should not be kept away from information regarding the patient.
1. In the case that the same is corrected, it would give a chance to researchers to analyze some patient information and, perhaps, come up with some preventive measures of controlling some diseases that are currently a radical problem in the country.
Good on the HIPAA but unclear about which problem you are addressing-need to clarify this in the final paper-see 4 and 5 below. Is it slowing down innovation-saw some info on this. What about the future. This isn't a true outline need to review this. Good to see your research included
1. What is the legislation/policy that will be analyzed in this paper?
2. What is the problem/issue that this legislation attempts to address?
3. What is the history of the legislation?
4. Has (or will) the legislation been effective in addressing the problem or issue?
5. What group(s) of people have been the most affected by the problem?
6. Is there any information on the future of this legislation? (Revision, obsolete, status of bill, etc)
References
AsfawE. (2011). Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): Confidentiality and Privacy from the Perspectives of the
Consumer and the Physician. Michigan: Proquest.
Chaikind H. R. (2004). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): Overview and Analyses. New York: Nova Biomedical
CorreaC. (2011) Getting Started in the Computerized Medical Office: Fundamentals and Practice. USA: Cengage learning.
Eaton M. L., KennedyD. (2007). Innovation in Medical Technology: Ethical Issues and Challenges. Maryland: John Hopkins University Press.
Hosford-Dunn H., RoeserR. J. (2007). AUDIOLOGY Practice Management New York: Thieme
Neuman, B., & Fawcett J. (2002). The Neuman systems model (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Roach Jr. W.H. (2008). Medical Records and the Law. Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Publishers
Final Course Project Description
For the HSM410 Final Course Project, you will be completing a Health Care Policy Analysis Paper. You will be required to choose a single past, current, or proposed legislative item to analyze. Below you will find the deadlines and requirements of this project. All assignments related to the project, including the final version of you paper, total 240 points or 24% of your overall class grade.
Health Care Policy Paper Expectations
Assignment: Policy Paper Topic
It is expected that you will provide a focused topic that identifies a problem/issue of concern and the legislation that is/has/will address the problem. Once you have identified your legislation, you will not be allowed to change. Complete some preliminary research to ensure that you have enough sources and information available to meet both the page length and number of sources requirements.
Topics such as HIPAA and Medicare (for example) are to broad for this assignment. You need to focus your topic on a specific aspect, such as the Privacy Rules of HIPAA or the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit.
Assignment: Policy Paper Outline
It is expected that the Policy Paper Outline be submitted in a formal outline format as demonstrated below. Your outline should show enough detail to demonstrate that you have begun thinking about the organization of your paper and the research required into the topic. After your outline, please submit a listing of the sources you have already identified for your paper.
I. Each Roman numeral should be a main section of the paper
A. Subpoint
1. Details of Subpoint
a. Related details to the Subpoint
B. Subpoint
Assignment: Final Policy Paper
It is expected that the final version of your Health Care Policy Paper be 9-11 pages in length with 10-12 sources identified. Your paper should be 12pt Times New Roman font, double spaced, with standard margins. You should have a thesis statement in your introduction identifying the legislation/policy your paper will be addressing.
APA in-text citation is required in addition to listing all of your sources on a Works Cited Page at the end of the document. Your grade will be effected if you do not cite or identify your sources correctly.
Below is a list of questions that should be addressed in the body of your paper:
1. What is the legislation/policy that will be analyzed in this paper?
2. What is the problem/issue that this legislation attempts to address?
3. What is the history of the legislation?
4. Has (or will) the legislation been effective in addressing the problem or issue?
5. What group(s) of people have been the most affected by the problem?
6. Is there any information on the future of this legislation? (Revision, obsolete, status of bill, etc)