Hand Hygiene
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Course Introduction
Patients have rights while using health care services. Previously, many patients and health providers believed that the patient had little control over procedures performed and the way that health care was delivered. This is no longer the case; patients are now more aware of their rights regarding how their care is handled and are willing to voice their feelings when these rights are violated.
Course Description
This course will educate students of patient Privacy, Confidentiality and HIPAA. Although patient confidentiality has been a standard of medical ethics for hundreds of years, but was patchy and incomplete, the federal law called HIPAA passed in 1996 has ensure one nationwide law to protect patient privacy. This law is to “mandate new security standards to protect an individual’s health information, while permitting the appropriate access and use of that information by health care providers, clearinghouses, and health plans.”
Course learning objective
After completing this course, students should be able to correctly define confidentiality, describe practices that promote confidentiality, and list the rights to which patients are entitled.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS):
Is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services responsible for administration of several key federal health care programs. Such as Medicare (the federal health insurance program for seniors, people with end-stage renal disease, and those with disabilities) and Medicaid (the federal needs-based program), CMS oversees the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), among other services.
Frequently used Terminology
- HIPAA: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 is a federal law that specifies the types of measures required to protect the security and privacy of personally identifiable health information.
- Protected health information (PHI): Is medical information that can be traced to, or identified with, a particular patient. PHI is information created or received by a health care organization.
- Patient confidentiality: Maintaining patient confidentiality means keeping information about a patient’s health care private. The information is shared only with those who need to know in order to perform their duties on behalf of the patient.
