1. Healthcare Confidentiality
 All patients expect to have his or her privacy
respected by the clinicians and all other
healthcare providers and they should not be
disappointed.
 If a record must be released, the patient
should sign an appropriate release
authorizing the disclosure of information to
be released and only authorized should be
allowed to complete this process, due to
confidentiality rules.
 Confidentiality is a set of rules or a promise
that limits access or places restrictions on
who have access to certain types of
information.
 In the healthcare field, Confidentiality is
commonly applied to conversations,
documentation and records between
clinicians /doctors and patients.
What is hipaa?
 HIPAA stands for "Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act." The HIPAA
law is a combination of regulations aimed at
reducing waste, fraud and abuse in the health

2. care industry. It is intended to oversee
behaviors in the industry, as a whole.
 Confidentiality is mandated by these federal
HIPAA laws, specifically the Privacy Rule, and
various state laws, some being more rigorous
than HIPAA.
 The Office for Civil Rights enforces the HIPAA
Privacy Rule, which protects the privacy of
individually identifiable health information.
 The HIPAA law also addresses the exchange of
health information between health care
providers, pharmacies, health insurance
companies, employers, and patients. With the
advent of technology and ease of information
transfer, it's really easy to breach a
patient's privacy---whether intentionally or
otherwise.
 The HIPAA Security Rule sets national
standards for the security of electronic
protected health information
Who is responsible?
 Legal protections such as confidentiality
and hipaa laws prevent healthcare personel
from revealing certain medical information
about a patient, even under oath in a court
case.
 Not only do clinicians and doctors have the
responsibility to keep medical records and
information secure and confidential, but All
other health care employees are also bound
by the rules of strict privacy.

3.  A breach of confidentiality is a disclosure to
a third party, without patient consent or
court order, of private information that the
physician has learned within the patient-
physician relationship.
 Peeping at someone’s medical records without
authorization is also considered breaching
confidentiality.
 the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule requires
covered entities and business associates to
provide notification following a breach of
unsecured protected health information; and
the confidentiality provisions of the Patient
Safety Rule protect identifiable information
being used to analyze patient safety events
and improve patient safety.
Short Quiz
 What information is covered under the
privacy rule as Protected Health
Information? The Privacy Rule protects all
individually identifiable health information
held or transmitted by a covered entity or
its business associate, in any form or media,
whether electronic, paper, or oral.
 Who is bound by confidentiality and HIPAA
laws? All healthcare professional and
employees working with that patient, in any
capacity.

4.  Is peeping at a patient’s medical records
out of curiosity, a Breach of
confidentiality? Yes, this is a crime and
consequences can include loss of employment,
legal actions against the guilty entities and
financial compensation for the person who
was wronged.
 Is a minor patient breach of
confidentiality by an employee
important? Any breach in confidentiality,
even one that seems minor, can result in
mistrust and, possibly, a lawsuit and/or
disciplinary action.