HIPPA Methodology

                  My research methodology covers my research process and what I plan to do with my remaining time during this research process. The topics I cover are finding my sources, what I want to communicate, my plan, and the gap.

    Finding my sources:                      In my research what I immediately wanted to research was the HIPPA law. So approaching this topic I went on the UCF library page and searched “HIPPA” in articles and data bases. To narrow my search I made sure all of the sources were peer reviewed, and to make sure they were credible and reliable. So when I started gathering data, trying to make a conversation with all of the data, my first thought was communicating this information to society, so they were aware of their rights. The problem I had with this particular issue is that no one from society was doing research on HIPPA or asking for the information. So when I furthered my research to search for a new issue on a topic that intrigued others I came across one important issue, nurses are very confused on HIPPA and its laws and regulations. There have been question and answer forums where nurses with higher degrees and who have greater knowledge of the law communicate questions to nurses who are confused. I also noticed that some nurses tell the negative parts of HIPPA in their articles, but there are solutions to these issues in other articles.

What I want to communicate:          When I finally came to the decision of my audience being nurses, I had to formulate a way to give information on the HIPPA law to them. My goal of my research and paper is to create a document in which I gather a chunk of information from HIPPA, from issues such as child care, rights, and special situations that HIPPA can affect. To start my original claim I started researching many different forms, and situations the law can affect. I found articles on the rights parents have on their children, and what rights a child has in an abusive situation. I then found research on how HIPPA affects research, and how you can go about finding the research you need while still abiding with HIPPA.

My Plan:                                My plan on piecing the conversation together is to write in a genre in which nurses find credible and reliable. I will use headers such as HIPPA and its effects on child abuse, and other topics of that nature. I will do my best to find graphs, and cite the credible sources from professors and researchers who have researched this topic. My goal to actually giving this information to the nurses is to post my findings on a nurse’s blog, to start a conversation and give nurses the information they have been searching for.

                The Gap:                            All in all, my method was finding a variety of sources on the HIPPA law and trying to find the need for new research, trying to figure out a way of filling in the gap. The gaps come in place when nurses do not have a giant piece of research covering various topics of HIPPA which is what I plan to do. I gathered numerous data on many aspects of HIPPA from credible sources, researched the stakeholders, and I am formulating a method of giving nurses my findings in a credible way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

"Policy Statement--Child Abuse, Confidentiality, And The Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act." Pediatrics 125.1 (2010): 197-201. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 27 Sept. 2012.

 

Dougherty, M. "Health Care Advocate. Creating A Safe, Secure Health Care Environment: Understanding HIPPA & Exploring Its Implications." AWHONN Lifelines 8.1 (2004): 26-28. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 27 Sept. 2012.

 

Giacalone, RP, and GG Cacciatore. "HIPPA And Its Impact On Pharmacy Practice." American Journal Of Health-System Pharmacy 60.5 (2003): 433-445. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 27 Sept. 2012.

 

Conn, J. "HIPPA, 10 Years After." Modern Healthcare 36.31 (2006): 26-28. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 26 Sept. 2012.

 

Maradiegue, A. "From Research To Policy In Pediatric Nursing. The Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act And Adolescents." Pediatric Nursing 28.4 (2002): 417-420. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 28 Sept. 2012.

 

Frimpong, JA, and PA Rivers. "Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act: Blessing Or Curse?." Journal Of Health Care Finance 33.1 (2006): 31-39. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 28 Sept. 2012.

 

Banks, DL. "The Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act: Does It Live Up To The Promise?." Journal Of Medical Systems 30.1 (2006): 45-50. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 27 Sept. 2012.

 

Wipke-Tevis, DD, and MA Pickett. "Impact Of The Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act On Participant Recruitment And Retention." Western Journal Of Nursing Research 30.1 (2008): 39-53. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 27 Sept. 2012.

 

Bova, C, D Drexler, and S Sullivan-Bolyai. "Reframing The Influence Of The Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act On Research." Chest 141.3 (2012): 782-786. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 27 Sept. 2012.

 

"MA: Hospital Employee Violates HIPPA: Suspension And Termination Upheld By Court. (Hospital Law Decisions Of Note)." Hospital Laws Regan Report 51.12 (2011): CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 27 Sept. 2012.

Genre Memo 4

                        A methodology is an important genre because it is a piece of the research process. Methodologies give step by step procedures in their research journey, they tell what they did, how they did it, and how they plan on putting it all together.

                        Methodologies are important in our course because it gives an outline of the research process. It determines your method, and approach toward the goal of your research. Methodologies are a record of your process, which is very important to the researcher to know where their research is going.

 

Headers:          Most research methodologies include headers. This is for clarification, describing what the paragraph will be about in a few words, and its relevance to the research. This is also used to chunk certain pieces of information together for example, procedures, and data gathering.

Chronology:    Research methodologies tend to happen in chronological order, from where they originally start with their research and their journey until the end final product.

Format:            Some methodologies have different format but they are all similar. They include items such as bullets, and headers. They tend to have a short excerpt in the beginning to introduce their methodology. Some methodologies include graphs to display data. The format of methodologies is similar to academic journals.

Appeal:            Methodologies generally appear as credible, and very logical. They are written in formats such as academic journals, focusing on an academic audience.

 

Genre Analysis

            In my research I am targeting two audiences, nursing professors, and nurses. Both audiences are important in my argument because nursing professors are the nurses with greater knowledge, and they have the authority to communicate information with nursing students and nurses working in the field. Nurses are important because they are the ones who need the information that I am giving to them. The genre’s for my academic and non- academic audience are mostly the same, but some are slightly different.

            With my academic audience, the professors are the most credible subjects. Nursing professors have the knowledge, and support they need to conduct professional research. Sources that are credible to professors are mostly other forms of research from colleagues, academic journals such as AWHONN Lifelines, American Journal Of Health-System Pharmacy, Modern Healthcare, and other peer-reviewed medical journals such as these. The specific genre of these articles includes headers, bullet points, and sometimes charts. The genre usually begins with an abstract to summarize what they are proposing. Generally the researchers will discuss laws first to provide knowledge that is needed to understand their proposal, or rules that effect their proposal, and then break of certain pieces of their research in to headings. The endings sometimes give recommendations to the audience they are targeting, and then their final heading is reserved for references that they believe to be credible and reliable references.

            In other sources and forms of research nursing professors sometimes conduct experiments. When the research is an experiment the genre tends to be somewhat different. These genres include procedures, materials, methods, results, and sometimes include visuals such as charts. The main difference between the two separate genres professors use is that the first is proposing and communicating their thoughts about an issue, the second is an actual study performed with facts.

            Nurses who do not hold degrees as high as professors and work in hospitals, nursing homes, doctor’s offices, or other medical settings receive their information somewhat different. They can receive their information from their professors who post their research in academic journals which makes the genre the same. Nurses attempt to get their information from secured sites that are labeled “credible” by their company. Sometimes nurses receive information on blogs but these can be debated as “credible” so generally they try to stay away from blogs that is accessible to the society. The nurses get information from sites that support their company for instance the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website is labeled as “credible”. Websites considered credible are websites with .gov, or .edu. These genres also have headings that break down certain topics but they also have the option to contact the researcher, in case further explanation is needed, and there are ways of e-mailing, printing, and sharing the link to others so other nurses may receive the information. this could be a form of communicating their information to other nurses.

 

 

Works Cited

AWHONN Lifelines

American Journal Of Health-System Pharmacy

Modern Healthcare

Maradiegue, A. "From Research To Policy In Pediatric Nursing. The Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act And Adolescents." Pediatric Nursing 28.4 (2002): 417-420. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 28 Sept. 2012.

 

Citation added:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. <http://www.cdc.gov/>.

Stakeholder Analysis

            In my research there have been many voices, from nurses to pharmacists. I feel my research has equal importance because each piece is unique in their own way. I have researched my stakeholder’s to see how interested they are in the subject and their credibility.

My first stakeholder I researched was Ann Maradiegue. When researching Ann I learned that she is a professor at George Mason University, she is not only a professor but also a nurse practitioner who works in primary care. Ann’s primary interest of research is family history, the genetics/genomics of mental health, and the nursing profession knowledge of genetics/genomics in clinical practice. She makes a good stakeholder because she is highly qualified in the medical field to make claims, she has also been in the field longer than HIPPA has been around so she is very informed and knows how it has changed over the years, and the important issue in her research is how HIPPA has affected adolescents.

            Another important source I came across was how HIPPA affects research. The author of this source is  Deidre D. Wipke-Tevis. She is a very credible stakeholder, holding a PhD, she is a Registered Nurse director, PhD Program Associate Professor of University of Missouri. One of the reasons I chose to research this particular stakeholder is because she does a huge amount of research, so she is very aware and educated on the HIPPA law, and I could look at other research she has completed for further research on my issue.

            All in all, most of my stakeholder’s held PhD’s and have completed a numerous amount of research, and have won many awards for their research. I also had an opportunity to look at some of their research in other areas of study.

 

 

Works Cited

"Ann Maradiegue." Faculty and Staff. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2012.<http://chhs.gmu.edu/faculty-and-staff/maradiegue.cfm>.

 

"Sinclair School of Nursing." Nursing.missouri.edu/faculty. Sinclair School of Nursing, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. <http://nursing.missouri.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/wipketevisd/index.php>.

Trials and tribulations of the research process

 

 

In my research process I have come across many challenges, and at some points in the process I even felt hopeless, but since the beginning of the process I have learned a lot about forming a good research topic. One of my biggest challenges in my research was coming up with a good research topic. I went from how HIPPA affected society, to my final topic of how can I put a large piece of research out to the nursing world that discusses various aspects of HIPPA. You can see in my writing that I struggled to come to my final topic, but when I started doing research it became clear to me what I needed to research. During my research process I realized that the audience that needed information on HIPPA the most was nurses, and I learned what they need to know about, and I learned it was my job to find this information, piece it all together to make one giant piece of research for nurses. What I believe I could do different when approaching another research project, and making an original claim is I would first find something that interested me personally, and then I would find the audience that is in need of information about the topic.

            Another obstacle I faced in this process is that it came to my attention I had two audiences that were important in my discussion. My first audience is nurses; I am targeting them because they need the information about HIPPA. My other audience is an academic audience, nursing professors, the one who hold masters, and PhD’s, who are specialized in specific research and teach at universities. This audience is important because they are the people conducting research, and giving this information to the medical world. So with this newfound audience I have to construct my paper in a way that will be credible to both audiences. To achieve this goal I have been researching genres of both the professors who are researching, and sources that are credible to nurses, like company websites that are reliable. Luckily through my research the research done by professors, and the credible nurse websites are constructed in similar ways.

            I am still working to construct my paper in a way that will be credible to both professors and nurses, and finding a way to give this information to nurses.

Research Proposal Round Two!

So my first research proposal did not get approved by Professor Vives :( BUT that is OK because it is all a part of the research process. So as another step of my research journey here is my revised proposal, and this one was approved! :D

HIPPA: How it affects you and me

            The HIPPA law is important to everyone in society and plays a huge role in the medical world. However not many people think about HIPPA, know their rights, or their limitations. Lack of knowledge about the HIPPA law is very dangerous, it could get a person in to a heap of trouble without even realizing they did something wrong. Being a nursing major, I wanted to explore the HIPPA law more, learn the positive and negative aspects of this law, and learn how it has affected people in society. Through careful consideration I formulated a good research question that narrows my search down to my specific curiosity, how does the HIPPA law affect society negatively, and positively? Through my research I have noticed that there are many people in the health care world talking about this law, so it has significant relevance in the field.

            The relevance of this topic is simple; everyone should know the positive and negative aspects of the HIPPA law, because it affects every person in society. Every medical record a person has ever had is protected by HIPPA, and many people do not know this. A person is obligated to understand their rights and limitations, and I would like to explore this law more not only for myself going in to the medical field, but for my audience as well so they can also understand the law and how it could affect them. My goal is to look at this issue from both sides in a conversational debate, I want to see what nurses are saying about this, what society is saying about this. I want people reading my paper to know how much HIPPA could really affect them, this law could save someone’s life, but it could also take someone’s life that is how extreme this issue could really be.

            I have come across very interesting research in my studies. I ran across a nurses Q&A forum which was very interesting because I got an actual document of nurses communicating about the subject, it let me know that even people who work in the health care profession have questions about the law. Some of the things that were covered in this forum were how HIPPA affects the media, the patient, law enforcement, and family members of patients. I have also gone outside of the box with some popular sources since there has not been much research on how HIPPA can negatively affect society. The first popular source was an online article about three people hospitalized for measles, because of HIPPA the names were not able to be disclosed to the public, which left people that came in contact with these three ill people possibly in harm’s way. Another popular source I linked to HIPPA is the movie Girl Positive. This movie concerns HIV in high schools, the main character was a female who contracted HIV from a male, without knowing. This is a disease that kills people, and because of HIPPA it is not required by law for someone to disclose their medical information to another, I personally believe this could be classified as murder from an ethical standpoint. This issue is so important especially for UCF students to know because at orientation we learned that one in two people at UCF have some form of HIV, which is half of the university! Students should be aware that HIPPA will not protect you from everything, and in this case could potentially kill you.

            The research has given me tools to investigate and answer my question. Through my final paper I will be able to tell my audience how the HIPPA law can affect you and the society in a positive and negative way. Through my research in the library, and my search from popular sources I will be able to provide the audience with specific evidence, and scenarios of how they can be affected by the HIPPA law. I am planning to meet with a librarian soon to help me find more scholarly sources that can lead me to finding more information about the negative aspect of HIPPA.

            I want to conduct this research for knowledge; it is an important issue for me because I have volunteered in a hospital in the AIDS department where the HIPPA law was strongly enforced, and every day I couldn’t help but wonder if the HIPPA law could have caused half of these patients to catch the disease. Granted this is my first real research paper, but through research, preparation, and the will to learn, I believe I will be able to fully communicate my issue with my audience.

            Looking in to the future, I hope my research informs my fellow pupils. I want people to be informed by this paper and know how this law can protect them but also harm them. I would personally love to see this research continued, I have found some research about rules and regulations of HIPPA and how it can positively protect your rights, but I have found little to no scholarly research on the negative standpoint of the law and I think it would be a great idea to get some research on this standpoint out there. This research goes hand in hand with my personal career goals, I want to be a nurse, and I want to be the best nurse I can possibly be so I want to go in to my field being informed on HIPPA, and how to fully protect my patients. 

 

Works Cited

·         "HIPPA Q And A." Nebraska Nurse 36.3 (2003): 21. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 23 Sept. 2012.

·         Girl Positive. Dir. Peter Werner. Lifetime, 2007. DVD.

·         Fuoco, Michael. “Measles case raises the issue of privacy versus the public good”. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2 April 2009. Web.

·           Jolie. Measles Cases Raise HIPAA Debate. AllNurses.com, 3 April 2009. Web.

·           Haugh, R. "Banking On Privacy. Hospitals Must Protect Patient Information -- And Their Own Liability -- As Banks Balk At HIPPA." H&HN: Hospitals & Health Networks 78.2 (2004): 50. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 13 Sept. 2012.

·          Friedman, Emily. "HIPAA Humdrum: Generally Speaking, Laws Work Better If They're Enforced." Modern Healthcare 41.35 (2011): 26. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 13 Sept. 2012.

·          Stiles, Ella. "Promoting Health Literacy In Patients With Diabetes." Nursing Standard 26.8 (2011): 35-40. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 13 Sept. 2012.

·          Ingram, Racquel, Richardson. "Using Campinha-Bacote's Process Of Cultural Competence Model To Examine The Relationship Between Health Literacy And Cultural Competence." Journal Of Advanced Nursing 68.3 (2012): 695-704. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 13 Sept. 2012.

·         "HIPAA -- The Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act: What Rns Need To Know About Privacy Rules And Protected Electronic Health Information." National Nurse 107.6 (2011): 20-27. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 14 Sept. 2012.

·           Giacalone, RP, and GG Cacciatore. "HIPPA And Its Impact On Pharmacy Practice." American Journal Of Health-System Pharmacy 60.5 (2003): 433-445. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 14 Sept. 2012.

Interprative Summary

This is another part of my research journey. I actually wrote this before my secondary research report, this shows a part of my difficulty in coming to my final research topic, but this was vital to my research process, and finding my way to the perfect research topic. It is actually the document that led me to my main audience, this document showed me that it was nurses who had a need for information.

Interpretative Summary: HIPPA Q&A

             Throughout my research and drafting I have formulated my final research question; how does the HIPPA law affect society negatively, and positively? The article that I came across was "HIPPA Q And A". This directly relates to my issue because it helps me as a writer understand the rules and regulations of HIPPA better, and realizing how to go about using HIPPA in a positive way without breaking the law. Also, it is a question and answer article, which is a direct article of how nurses communicate to eachother, which relates to medical issues and literacy.

            The writer clearly understands that some people have trouble understanding the HIPPA law and its regulations, the author states “It's no secret that there have been many questions recently about HIPPA. In an effort to address some of the most frequent issues that arise, the Nebraska Nurse is providing a forum for your questions and answers.” It shows that nurses are reaching out to another, communicating, answering each other’s questions about the HIPPA law that is unclear. This provides a sense of community within the hospital environment; the article covers diverse questions from law enforcement disclosure, to media disclosure.

            The article shows the leniency of HIPPA, even to the media. One of the questions were “can we disclose information to the media”. Surprisingly you actually are allowed to disclose information to the media if the patient is asked for by name and is in the directory. If this information is available the disclosure of hospital name, location in the hospital, and general terms could be disclosed. This is interesting because HIPPA should be the one protecting medical rights of patients, disclosing this information seems redundant to the cause, and could possibly affect a patient in a negative way.

            The article also goes over family members rights. The patient is allowed to document who they want to disclose information to, and who can contact them while in the hospital. This could be a positive aspect of the HIPPA law, because it could keep the patient protected by someone who could possibly be harmful.

            This article was very informative not only towards nurses but people researching this issue as well. It gives society an idea of what to expect from the HIPPA law and it gives nurses an idea of what is allowed, so they do not go against the HIPPA law without knowing. Many issues have arisen with this law because the hospital staff does not always realize they are breaking the law, so the point of this article was to create a forum where nurses could ask questions in a professional environment and receive a correct and informative answer.

 

Works Cited

"HIPPA Q And A." Nebraska Nurse 36.3 (2003): 21. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 23 Sept. 2012.