Nursing reference sheet

This is a reference sheet for my nursing audience, it gives examples of situations a nurse may be faced with and how they should go about handling the situation. It also has consequences of violations on the sheet. The original reference sheet has the same data as the following, except with pictures.

HIPAA Reference Sheet

Media	1)    Contact head nurse, or spokesperson 2)      You do not have to disclose any information to the media 3)      If you share information with the media you may only give the patient’s name and condition 4)      When giving a patient’s condition you may only use six terms, undetermined, good, fair, serious, critical, and death. NOTHING more than this. 5)      A patient may choose to opt out which means NO information may disclosed to the media
Child Abuse/      Neglect	1)    If child abuse or neglect is suspected you MUST contact law enforcement 2)      Parents have no right to say no to further investigation 3)      Medical information may be disclosed without patient consent in order to protect the child 4)      Avoid releasing information to the media
Minors	1)    If under the legal age of 18, parents have rights to their child’s medical information with the exception of child abuse and neglect cases
Your computer and files	1)    Under no circumstances should you leave your computer unlocked while unattended 2)      Do not leave a patient’s file unattended 3)      Do not leave any patient file, or chart unattended
Family Members	1)    Do not ever assume a family member knows the condition of a patient. 2)      Treat family members as media, only disclose the condition as undetermined, good, fair, serious, critical, or death.
Communicating with staff	1)    Do not blog, text, or write on the internet about a patient’s medical information with staff or anyone 2)      When communicating with staff only communicate information with the appropriate staff members who are also dealing with your patient
Still Confused?	1)    Contact the head of your department for answers
Consequences of Violation	Minimum Penalty                                              Maximum Penalty
Individual did not know (and by exercising reasonable diligence would not have known) that he/she violated HIPAA	$100 per violation, with an annual                     $50,000 per violation, with an annual maximum of $25,000 for repeat                         maximum of $1.5 million violations (Note: maximum that can be imposed by state attorneys general regardless of the type of violation)
HIPAA violation due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect	$1,000 per violation, with an annual                      $50,000 per violation, with an             maximum of $100,000 for repeat                           annual maximum of $1.5 million violations
HIPAA violation due to willful neglect but violation is corrected within the required time period	$10,000 per violation, with an annual                     $50,000 per violation, with an maximum of $250,000 for repeat                            annual maximum of $1.5 million violations
HIPAA violation is due to willful neglect and is not corrected	$50,000 per violation, with an annual                  $50,000 per violation, with an maximum of $1.5 million                                     annual maximum of $1.5 million

It's all done!!!

This is my final draft of my all of my HIPAA research!

HIPAA: Rules, Regulations, and Special Cases nurses should be aware of

            It is dire for nurses to know the rules, regulations, and special circumstances of the HIPAA law. There have been many nurses in the field questioning what to do in specific cases, and become frustrated with the confusion of the law. HIPAA is relatively new, first documentation begun in 1996 and has continuously been changing. HIPAA stands for The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, in short, this law is to protect a patient’s medical information, it restricts people from obtaining a patient’s medical information without certain documentation or certification. There is an immense amount of information pertaining to this law that nurses should know however there is no research piecing all of the rules, regulations, as well as special circumstances together in to one piece of data which could be where all of the confusion is coming from.

This research should interest those who work in the medical field and deal with HIPAA in their everyday work environment because they have to deal with patient information on a daily basis. Nurses should specifically care about this information because they are what is known as “front line” workers in the medical field, they work hand in hand with patients, and their medical information. Another party that should care is nursing professors, because they are the leaders of the nursing field, they have the power to conduct research, and communicate data to nurses, however; my point should speak to anyone who cares about the larger issue of the HIPAA law.

Ultimately, what is at stake here is less violations of HIPAA. Violations of the HIPAA law start from one hundred dollar penalties and reach up to fifty thousand dollar penalties (National Nurse 23). Violating this law could also result in termination of your job. In a 2011 article from Hospital Laws Regan Report a nurse Jing Zhu violated HIPAA, unaware she was breaking the law, and this resulted in a court case which ended in termination of her current nursing job for violating HIPAA. With this research there would be more understanding of the law in the medical field including special cases and circumstances the law affects. There would also be better communication between nurses, and understanding this information will make patient confidentiality safer.

            Knowledge of the HIPAA law has great importance for nurses in the medical field, as well as the nursing professors who conduct research. The many properties of the HIPAA law are still not completely understood.  Studies have suggested that there is confusion on HIPAA, with my personal interview with Nurse Sharon Love she states “HIPAA is a very confusing topic for anyone who works with patient information, it takes an extraneous amount of effort to protect every little aspect of a patient’s information, you have to constantly be aware of your surroundings, you can’t even leave your computer unattended”.  Something as simple as a dietary plan of a patient has to be kept confidential, this is the kind of information hospitals, nursing homes, and doctors’ offices need to communicate with the nurses and staff. I am covering as much information as I can on HIPAA but one thing that is important for nurses to know is that every medical facility has different kinds of patients, and it is important for a leader, possibly a head nurse, to sit down with fellow nurses, and explain their expectations and regulations. HIPAA is pretty basic and you should follow the guidelines, but is important to know what guidelines affect your specific medical setting.

            One of the most important aspects of this research is special cases. There is the HIPAA law but there are special circumstances that nurses should be aware of. One of these special cases includes child abuse and neglect. Parents have rights to their children if they are under the age of eighteen years old, but what is not always known is that in cases where a child is suspected of being abused and/or neglected medical personnel are not required to give out a child’s information, for the protection of that child. There is also confusion when the media is brought in to the picture; nurses are confused on what they should do. 

            The gap in this research is that there is no research piecing HIPAA together, there are pieces of research stating rules and regulations, but they fail to mention special cases. In this article I argue that there is not enough research piecing HIPAA laws and regulations together while including special circumstances. This paper describes laws of HIPPA, regulations of HIPPA, consequences of violation of HIPAA, and special cases of HIPAA.

Aspects of HIPAA:

            One of the first articles I came across was a child abuse and neglect article. What I learned from analyzing this article is that HIPAA has exceptions for certain circumstances, in cases of child abuse and neglect HIPAA permits medical information being disclosed for a child’s safety and intervention (Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect 198). Also stated is that if child abuse or neglect is suspected, or mentioned it is required for a nurse to contact law enforcement or the appropriate investigative agencies; even if the nurse is not a reporter they are still able to report suspected abuse or neglect. If a case is fatal there is also an exception for further investigation on the death of the child (Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect 199). In some cases child abuse cases may be released to the media, if there is an arrest warrant the information in the warrant is allowed to be released to the media; however medical staff is not allowed to release any information about a patient to the media, they cannot control what is on a warrant therefore the staff themselves are not disclosing any information. The article should have described in more depth the media aspect, as well as given examples of cases.

            The media is another difficult aspect to understand. In hospitals nurses are faced with media wanting to know the conditions of a patient. If this occurs, the nurse or whoever the medical personnel may be is allowed to give the media a patient’s name, and the condition of the patient, unless a patient chooses to opt out, meaning that they want no information disclosed, if a patient requests this then no information is allowed to be disclosed.  It is also important for nurses to know who their spokesperson is for his or her hospital; this is the person who should be speaking to the media. When speaking to the media about a patient’s condition the spokesperson is allowed to disclose six forms of the condition; undetermined meaning the condition of the patient is not yet known, good meaning the patient is conscious and functioning normally, fair meaning the patient is conscious but has minor complications, serious meaning the patient is badly ill, critical meaning the patient is badly ill with major complications, and death however the date, time, or cause of death may not be revealed without consent of the coroner. (Guide to News Media Relations for Colorado Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities and the Media 1-4). The article fails to communicate that in order for media to have any information disclosed the reporter must first have the patients name and location in the hospital for any information to be disclosed.

            In another article it states aspects the medical staff should now be aware of including a patient’s rights to restrict certain information from being disclosed, obtaining their medical documents, look at and make copies of their health records, etc. There are lists of ways you as the medical staff can protect a patients’ rights, while still abiding with the HIPAA law. Another important issue in the article is that medical personnel should be communicating to the patient their specific rights and help them understand them therefore all medical personal should be prepared at all times to answer questions patients have about HIPAA. If a person of the medical staff does not abide with the HIPAA rules and regulation legal action could be taken, as well as termination of your job, and loss of credibility to media and patients. (Dougherty 26-28). The important thing to understand about this information is that each medical setting varies, so if you work in a nursing home, this is different than someone who works in a pediatric hospital, it is important each medical staff go over HIPAA guidelines and how their medical environment should handle situations.

            My next source that I analyzed is The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act: Does It Live Up to the Promise? The aspect of this article is to state the original claims of HIPAA that were released in 1996, it shows how HIPAA has changed and if it has successfully accomplished what it originally was put in the medical field to do, but this is far from accurate. One of the first claims that were made in this article is that one of the goals of HIPAA was to make the healthcare administrative process simpler; however this has proven to be far from the truth. HIPAA requires such extraneous effort in the healthcare environment that much more paperwork is required, the amount a medical staff member must do to abide with the rules and regulations of HIPAA makes their job a much more difficult task. This article also brings up that HIPAA promised cost-savings to the medical environment, but with as much paperwork, extraneous work, and effort the HIPAA law has been very expensive. (Banks 45-50) As you can see in the previous articles, much effort is required to abide with this law, making it much more extraneous and difficult on medical staff.

    Finding my sources:  In my research what I immediately wanted to research was the HIPAA law. So approaching this topic I went on the UCF library page and searched “HIPAA” 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 HIPAA 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 HIPAA 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 HIPAA in their articles, but there are solutions to these issues in other articles.

Analyzing the Data:  After figuring out my topic I analyzed many pieces of data. I looked at each piece of data and critically analyzed what they were communicating, writing down the thought process, and then asked what was missing in each one. I examined what each of them had in common, how a piece of information goes with the other and what could go against certain information. For example, HIPAA sets guidelines for minors, but in cases of child abuse and neglect, parents have no rights.

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 HIPAA 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 HIPAA 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 HIPAA affects research, and how you can go about finding the research you need while still abiding with HIPAA.

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. I will 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 HIPAA 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 HIPAA. I gathered numerous data on many aspects of HIPAA from credible sources, researched the stakeholders, and I am formulating a method of giving nurses my findings in a credible way.

Results:

            Concerning special cases one includes child abuse. One of the regulations of HIPAA is to protect a patient’s medical information; child abuse is one exception to this specific regulation. In cases of child abuse and neglect HIPAA permits to medical information being disclosed for a child’s safety and intervention (Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect 198). Also if child abuse or neglect is suspected or mentioned it is required for a nurse to contact law enforcement or the appropriate investigative agencies; even if the nurse is not a reporter they are still able to report suspected abuse or neglect. If a case is fatal there is also an exception for further investigation on the death of the child, medical records and information is able to be disclosed to the appropriate parties to further investigate the case (Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect 199). In some cases child abuse cases may be released to the media, if there is an arrest warrant the information in the warrant is allowed to be released to the media; however medical staff is not allowed to release any information about a patient to the media, they cannot control what is on a warrant therefore the staff themselves are not disclosing any information. However with this information said, nurses should be aware of media policies relating to HIPAA.

            In hospitals nurses are faced with media all of the time and it can be confusing. Through my time in volunteering in the hospital and speaking to nurses its hard to know what, and what not to do. If put in a media situation, it is important for nurses to know who their spokesperson is for his or her hospital; this is the person who should be speaking to the media, the spokesperson is allowed to give media a patient’s name, and the condition of the patient, however the patient can opt out if wanted, meaning that they want no information disclosed, if a patient requests this then no information is allowed to be disclosed, if a patient is unconscious the information of the patient can be delayed.   When speaking to the media about a patient’s condition the spokesperson is allowed to disclose six forms of the condition:

1 1)      Undetermined: the condition of the patient is not yet known

2 2)       Good: the patient is conscious, comfortable, and functioning normally

   3)       Fair: the patient is conscious but has minor complications 

   4)       Serious: meaning the patient is badly ill

   5)       Critical: meaning the patient is badly ill with major complications

   6)      Death: the patient is dead, but the date, time, or cause of death may not be revealed without consent of the coroner. (Guide to News Media Relations for Colorado Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities and the Media 1-4).

Nurses should be aware of their spokesperson, and know that they do not have to speak to the media because it is not their duty.

      HIPAA affects medical staff as well as patients, it is important that nurses know how HIPAA affects them and their patients. Patients now have the right to restrict certain information from being disclosed, obtaining their medical documents, look at and make copies of their health records, amend their health record. Sometimes it may be difficult to comply with all of these rules so some things nurses should be aware of every day are, leaving a patient’s chart unattended, leaving a patient’s information on a computer screen that others may be able to see, talking with a patient’s family or coworkers without the proper permission, discussing a patient’s medical condition with a colleague where other patients can hear you, accessing information of a patient you are not treating or assuming a family member is aware of the patient’s medical information. Medical personnel should be communicating to the patient their specific rights and help them understand them therefore all medical personal should be prepared at all times to answer questions patients have about HIPAA. If a person of the medical staff does not abide with the HIPAA rules and regulation legal action could be taken, as well as termination of your job, and loss of credibility to media and patients. (Dougherty 26-28)

Consequences of Violation:

      When thinking about HIPAA there is vocabulary nurses should be aware of including civil penalties, criminal penalties, covered entity and specified individuals, and enforcing agencies. Nurses should also be aware of the consequences of violating HIPAA. If a nurse or medical personnel was not aware they violated HIPAA the minimum penalty is $100, and the maximum penalty is up to $50,000. If the HIPAA violation was due to willful neglect but the problem is corrected within the required time period, there could be a minimum penalty of $10,000 and a maximum penalty of $50,000, and if the HIPAA violation is due to willful neglect and it is not corrected, there could be a minimum fine of $50,000. Nurses should be aware of these penalties at all times and to prevent things like this from happening they should set guidelines for themselves. Nurses should always be aware of who is around their computer, who could be looking at paperwork, and should never let another employee use their computer. It is so easy to slip up, and break HIPAA without even realizing you did something wrong, that is why it is so important for nurses to be aware every second. (National Nurse 20-27)

      During my interview with Nurse Sharon Love she agreed that HIPAA is very confusing and many people are confused with it. Nurse Love is currently a nurse in a nursing home in Kerrville, Texas and has also worked in nursing homes in Florida as well. She said that nurses have to take extra precaution with almost everything; even dietary charts have to be monitored to protect patient information. She states that you cannot leave your computer unattended at any time because someone could look at patient information saved in your computer. Also, she brings up the point that HIPAA is unfair; it is unfair that HIPAA does not make special cases for elderly patients with diseases such as schizophrenia who are not in their right minds to make decisions by themselves. This is why it is important for nurses to be aware of their surroundings, and why medical staff should communicate their expectations of their hospital, home, or office to nurses.

      All in all, HIPAA is a very confusing topic, nurses should be fully aware of the aspects of this law. There are so many different aspects and it is important that nurses understand their surroundings and what is expected of them. The gap in this research is that no one is piecing information together, a nurse could be faced with a child abuse case and not realize he or she disclosed information to the abusive parent, or faced with media asking questions and disclosing inappropriate information. Being a nurse you always have to know how to handle these situations, and know the consequences of violating the law. HIPAA has constantly been changing to help society, and continues to change, it is important for staff to communicate these changes as much as possible.

     

           

           

           

References:

·         "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.

What nurses need to know about HIPAA

This is my literature review, where I started to critically analyze my sources and think about what the author said and what I wanted to say.



                                                      What nurses need to know about HIPAA

             In my studies I have come to find a number of research on the HIPAA law. I have gone back and forth with many research questions, but when I started really diving in to my research the immediate issue came to me. There are so many articles with confusion on HIPAA, how they dislike it and it has made healthcare complicated, how it has changed, and how nurses are supposed to work around the law to complete their daily duties. Through my research I have seen many connections, and many complaints, and worries that have been left unanswered. I am piecing these connections together to make my research document stronger, and to help nurses have a piece of research they need to better their understanding, and clear up any confusion that they once had with the HIPAA law.

            Through my research I have noticed the connections. The biggest connection I have noticed is the confusion of HIPAA between nurses, nurses asking questions concerning privacy with their patients. There is a lot of information being given in small pieces, about certain aspects of the HIPAA law, and my goal is to piece them all together to make one big research document covering the various issues. I also noticed there is a lot of negative feedback about the HIPAA law, wanting to know why the law is the way it is, wanting to know how to better understand their problem to make it easier. One interesting aspect of the research exercise is I have found some articles that offer a solution to certain problems, this lets me know that there are people out there trying to build further on the research.

            One conversation that came to mind was concerning HIPAA’s effect on research and future nurses. One author claims HIPAA has only made research and recruiting incoming nurses more difficult, and costly (Wipke-Tevis). Another author responded by raising the topic that it may be difficult to get the research you need, but it is surprisingly more accessible than people seem to think (Bova). The only difference is you must take extra precaution when it comes to protecting the patient’s information. This is one of the “conversations” I found when researching, it offered a solution to the problem. The thing that ties the whole of the research together is they are giving bits and pieces of information on HIPAA, no one has pieced them together, or tried to answer the questions of nurses in a whole, which is what I plan to do.

            The loudest speakers are the nurses, which is no surprise considering nurses are always on the front line when it comes to the patients and their medical information. Nurses complain about not knowing HIPAA, ask questions about what is right and not right, how to go about the media, family members, and law enforcement asking for patients information (Nebraska Nurse). They are the ones needing the information the most. I believe these issues arise because there must be lack of communication in hospitals, and health related atmospheres. When the HIPAA law changes there should be immediate notification to all hospitals, and the leaders of the establishment should make sure all staff is aware of this change. If this would happen I believe there would be less complaints, and less violations of HIPAA, because the main problem is nurses not fully understanding HIPAA.

            I honestly believe that my sources are equally important, because my main goals were to bring many different ideas together to make one. Each of my sources bring a new idea to the table for me to tie the conversation together.

            The big comparison between my research articles is confusion with HIPAA, not knowing what to do, and wanting it to change. However, each article is different in its own way, there are direct questions, there are articles on child abuse, pharmacy practice, research issues, changes of HIPAA over a ten year time frame, questions on HIPAA’s original intentions, and violations of HIPAA. All are very diverse but point to the main idea that nurses are not aware of every aspect of HIPAA, and that there are numerous situations HIPAA relates to.

            When I first started this research I went in to it with my specific research question, and by the end of gathering numerous amounts of research, reading through many articles, I found where the real need for research was, and who it needed to be communicated to. My original audience was society as a whole, a patient’s standpoint, but the ones who need this research most are nurses. To perform their duties correctly, and maintain their job, knowledge of HIPAA is a must have.

            The sources I have come across give me an array of material covering HIPAA. The research allows me to expand on different issues of HIPAA, answer questions, and hopefully solve problems. The pieces I have found directly point to my issue because they give me different situations for me to piece together in one big document of information communicating how nurses can handle issues, how to perform when put in certain situations. The sources themselves do not chunk the information together, they are like puzzle pieces and my job is to fit all the parts together so nurses receive the big picture.

            When I first began this project I knew I wanted to research HIPAA. I have changed my question two times in total during the procedure but I think I have finally come to the right one. The way I refined my search, and came to my final research question was through piecing together what the research was asking for. Nurses needed information, a big piece of information that touches on many different issues of HIPAA, not just one. So when I knew what the need was I started expanding on that, and looking at ways to piece the research together to communicate my findings with the nursing community.

"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.

The argument in this article is for the protection of children in an abusive situation. In many child abuse cases, the child is unwilling to disclose information of their case. This article is arguing that in these abuse cases it is necessary to go against the child’s wishes to protect their health and well-being.  This source is labeled as an academic journal. The point of this article is to point out that HIPAA has leniency in extreme situations such as child abuse; it gives supporting evidence why this leniency is relevant in protecting a child’s health. The topics that are covered in this article include protected health information, public health authority, patient/parent rights to confidentiality, specific exceptions to HIPAA regulations related to child abuse, child abuse reports and investigation, disclosing information when the pediatrician is not the child abuse reporter, disclosing protected health information beyond reporting and investigating child abuse, issues specific to child abuse, child rights/media exposure, and effect of HIPAA on pediatric practice. I do not believe this source is biased; it is more on a factual level than an argument level, written by the committee on child abuse and neglect. The goal of this article is to discuss the rights of children, and how HIPAA is used to protect their health, and well-being. This source is extremely relevant for my paper because it shows that HIPAA has exceptions to certain cases including child abuse. This allows me to inform nurses on child abuse, so if they ever come across a situation where child abuse is a factor, they know how to go about it while complying with HIPAA.

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

The main argument is that HIPAA is positive, it is vital to keep to the medical environment private for the sake of the patient. This source is labeled as an academic journal. The point of this article is to convey the rules of HIPAA. Over the years, HIPAA has been revised, and has been changing its rules and regulations so it is somewhat difficult to understand the law since it keeps changing. This article makes it a point to give the proper rules and regulations of HIPAA to nurses, since nurses are the primary people visiting patients, dealing with their medical history, and transferring their information to appropriate people. So what this article does is explain the new rights of patients, and what you can do as a nurse to protect this information. The topics that are covered in this article include understanding the new HIPAA rule, protecting patient privacy, helping patients understand their rights, and consequences of noncompliance. The source seems biased because the beginning of the article is stating that the HIPAA law is good, it is inferring there is no bad regarding this law, also this article is written by a Registered Health Information Administrator, so it is only looked at from this particular point of view, not an entire medical staff as a whole. The goal of this source is to communicate the rights of the patient, how nurses can protect these rights, and how violating these rights can affect you. This source can be relevant in my research because just like the title states, it is an article used to understand HIPAA, and its implications. It also goes over the changes HIPAA has been through, providing more recent information of HIPAA.

Giacalone, RP, and GG Cacciatore. "HIPAA 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.

This article is discussing the affects HIPAA has had on pharmacy practice. The discussions include how pharmacy has had to change its traditional ways to obey the HIPAA law, and the extraneous affects it has had behind the counter. This journal acknowledges HIPAA’s positives, but consistently uses arguments against the positives.  The main points of the article include basics of HIPAA, protected health information, penalties for the violation of HIPAA, uses and disclosure of PHI, consent, notice and written acknowledgement, authorization, and rights of individuals. Each of these topics is discussed in a thorough manner, pointing out the difficulties the pharmacy has had to face with each of these topics. This source is labeled as an academic journal. The point of the overall article was to discuss how the HIPAA law has affected pharmacy practice. The source is biased, because it is only looking at HIPAA from a pharmacist’s standpoint, it fails to look in to the other perspectives of people like the patients. The article mostly gives negatives however it does point out some positive points like the rights that HIPAA promises the people. The goal of this source is to dive in to HIPAA, understand the rights of the people, and discuss how the law has changed pharmacy practice. The article comes to an end by basically stating HIPAA has its positives in society, but these positives are going to come with a big price tag.  Overall this article seems like it will be a valuable piece of research in my final paper. It is focused towards pharmacies but I believe it to be relevant because nurses work side by side with pharmacists, so it is important for them to know how it affects others in their field.

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

The main arguments of this journal were really how HIPAA has affected health care negatively and positively from when it was first started in 1995. Listed in the journal were the pros and cons of HIPAA, and what they think should be changed about it. The genre of this source is an academic journal. The point of this article was to get information and feedback from professionals in the health care field on their views of HIPPAA, and how HIPAA has influenced the health care world over the past ten years. Negative and positive effects were given in this journal. Topics that were covered are the effort of the medical staff to protect patient’s privacy, the work HIPAA requires, and the doors that HIPAA has opened for IT. The source is in a way biased because the information and feedback that is given in this article is strictly people from the medical field, there are no patients, or people from society giving their feedback. The main goal of this source is to point out where HIPAA has come in the past ten years, how it has affected the world of health care, negatively, and positively. This source gives me a look at what the law is doing in the medical field; it also shows me how HIPAA started from its beginning, until 2006. This gives me evidence of how HIPAA has changed, and continues to change.

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.

The main argument of this article is that the HIPAA law affects adolescents in a negative way, by allowing parents to have access to the medical documentation of their children. This resource is an academic journal. The point of this article is “… the minors' rights and HIPAA regulations regarding Standards for Privacy of Identifiable Health Information (PHI)” (417). Topics that are covered in this article include public policy problem to be solved, government objectives, the political issues and influences, relevant actions, ethical principles, impact on nursing practice, and knowledge needed to improve policy. This source is written by a woman who holds a PhD, and an RN degree so it is apparent she has done research on the issue, but the source could possibly be biased because she is looking at the issue from a medical profession standpoint, not a standpoint of an adolescent, or parent of an adolescent.  The goal of this source is to describe how HIPAA is unfair to minors, and how we can work to change this, and the knowledge that is needed to improve the HIPAA policy. This source helps my research because again, this is another exception to HIPAA. This gives me information on what rights parents have to their child’s medical records.

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.

The main argument of this article is that even though HIPAA has its flaws, and healthcare providers will have to take extra precaution, that HIPAA is an overall positive aspect to our society. The genre of this article is labeled academic journal. The point of this article is to show the reader that there are indeed flaws of the HIPAA law, but the government is working to make these flaws better in time, so all in all the HIPAA law will be positive to our society. Topics that are covered in this article are HIPAA on research, privacy, administration simplification, practice, costs of HIPAA compliance, technological investment, and costly changes to office procedures. This source seems to be objective because it is not simply looking at a positive standpoint of HIPAA, the writer acknowledges that HIPAA is not perfect, but that there is work being done to perfect the law as best as possible. The goal of this source is to provide positive, encouraging feedback about the HIPAA law, encouraging that it may not be perfect as of right now, but it could eventually get there. This information is relevant for my research because it shows the negatives of HIPAA but it gives the positives and how HIPAA is trying to take the negative aspects and make them positive, but it will take time.

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.

The main argument of this article is that the HIPAA law has not lived up to its promise. In 1996 when HIPPA was formed, one of its promises was to make the healthcare administrative process easier than it currently was. This article argues against the HIPAA law claiming that the law has not made the healthcare administrative process easier, but it has made it much more extraneous, and extremely costly. This resource is labeled as an academic journal.  The point of this article is to argue against the HIPAA law and surface the fact that HIPAA could become a financial burden to the healthcare industry. Topics that are covered in this article are the challenge of standardization, healthcare claims or coordination of benefits, he Administrative Simplification Compliance Act, the promise of cost savings, and the status of HIPAA compliance. This source does not appear to be biased because it is factual; HIPAA has not simplified anything like it was claiming to do in 1996. Many people working for the healthcare industry fear that HIPAA will put us in to a financial downfall because of all the extraneous work needed to be done to protect HIPAA. The goal of this source is to state the issue that HIPAA did not keep its promise in simplifying the healthcare administrative process, and that it could potentially financially harm the healthcare industry. This article shows what HIPAA has said it was supposed to do to help make the healthcare administrative process easier, and how it has failed to do so. This is another source I can use to show nurses that HIPAA is not yet perfected, and how important it is to know the changes of HIPAA from the law of today and the law of 1996.

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.

The argument of this article is that HIPAA has affected research in a negative way, by limiting access to research, which in returns limits the education of nursing students when studying clinical research. This source is an academic journal. The point of this article is to acknowledge the fact that HIPAA has changed the way we teach healthcare to students, and how it has affected participant recruitment and retention when relating to clinical studies. This article points out how the HIPAA law has made researching more difficult, costly, and how one must attempt to go around this law in a legal way to avoid breaking the law. Topics that are covered in this article include preparatory research, initial contact of participants, prescreening potential participants, the consent process, long-term follow up patients, recruitment for future studies, and training of research staff.  This sourced is biased because the authors are looking at HIPAA in only one way, they do not state the positive aspects of HIPAA only why it is negative for their particular case. The goal of this source is to discuss how the HIPAA law has hindered learning because of limited access to certain documents, it has made learning the field of healthcare much more expensive, and an extensive amount of work must be done to avoid breaking this law. This is a good reference for my research because it gives me evidence of how HIPAA will affect clinicals, and how nurses must go about teaching to nursing recruits.

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.

The main argument of this article is that just because the HIPAA law takes an extensive amount of effort, and paperwork does not make it a negative law. This article brings up the point that there has been much talk about how HIPAA is negative because it requires extra effort from the medical staff, it is a burden, and it is too costly to hospitals, this article is to argue that HIPAA is positive, but extra work will need to be performed by researchers to gain access to certain sources. The genre of this source is academic journal. The point of this article is to inform people that the HIPAA law is not going anywhere, so people need to appreciate it, and learn to appreciate the rights of patients. The writer wants people to know that just because HIPAA make certain things more difficult does not mean it is not important. The writer acknowledges the fact that protected health information is very accessible, but the researcher will have to take extra precaution to protect the privacy of patients. Topics that are covered in this article include Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, HIPAA and the Common Rule, and working with HIPAA’s privacy and security requirements. This source does not appear to be biased considering the authors of this article hold doctorate degrees, and nursing degrees, so they work directly with the hospital, and HIPAA.  The goal of this source is to explain that the HIPAA law is positive, and that researchers should be willing to take extra precaution to protect the medical information of patients. This source helps my argument because it shows how someone must take an extensive route to gain the research they need because of HIPAA.

"MA: Hospital Employee Violates HIPAA: 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.

This is a court case of Jing Zhu v. General Hospital Corporation. Zhu was an office assistant at Massachusetts General Hospital, she is charged for the violation of HIP

aA, she released medical information to a patient’s mother assuming the mother already knew of her daughter’s medical condition. There are two different arguments for this article the first is that of the courts. The argument the court gave is that terminating Zhu from her position was necessary because of her violation of the HIPAA law. The editor’s argument was that Zhu should not have been terminated because it was not the patient reporting HIPAA violation, it was the mother and the mother is not in a position to complain about another person’s medical disclosure. This article is labeled as an academic journal. The point of this article is to describe the affects that violating HIPAA can have, you can be terminated from a hospital position, for making a simple mistake. The topics of this article are violation of HIPAA, the affect violating HIPAA can have, and the rights of the patient. I believe this source to be objective because the writer is giving the facts of the situation, stating the court’s view of the violation, and then finally stating his own personal opinion of the situation. This source is a great reference to my research because it gives me a case of how violating HIPAA can directly affect them. This shows that even a simple slip up can cause a nurse to lose her job. This gives me a reference of how important knowledge of HIPAA is to nurses.