Administrative Ethics- HIPAA

HCS/335- Health Care Ethics and Social Responsibility
Ruth Bundy
September 26, 2011

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA was introduced to the House of Representative in 1996. HIPAA was a huge piece of legislation that was intended to fix many aspects of health care and health insurance, and includes sections that ensure portability of health insurance, simplify the administration of health insurance coverage, and standardize electronic transactions between health care providers and insurance companies. This is also the law that sets up Medical Savings Accounts and requires insurers to cover patients with pre-existing conditions. The section of HIPAA that concerns …show more content…

That doctor is not complying with HIPAA and the guidelines set forth. That hospital or facility may be shut down or fined. HIPAA is important to us all and should be guarded for our protection. When do ethics play a role in HIPAA? The patient was recovering well from a heart transplant, when doctors discovered that the heart that was donated was infected by bacteria prior to surgery. When they tried to call the donor hospital the hospital said that due to HIPAA regulations the hospital was not able to release important information. The doctors were trying to determine which antibiotics to use for the patient’s heart. Some judgment must be used in order to sometimes translate what is meant when following HIPAA guidelines. HIPAA is designed and put in place for the protection of the patient and not used to discourage or put patients in harm. Even though HIPAA is sometimes confusing to understand, patient care should place always first above all. With any rules and regulations many times translating them into truth and right way does not always translate into ethically the right way. A grasp on the guidelines for which they are intended should pick through with fine tooth and comb so that situations like the one with the heart transplant, maybe avoided in the future. As a manager at a medical facility, a hospital, or a clinic should note that every manager should always have the HIPAA guidelines in the back of his or her minds at all