Confidentiality and privacy in health care is important for protecting patients, maintaining trust between doctors and patients, and for ensuring the best quality of care for patients. Patient confidentiality has been a standard of medical ethics for hundreds of years, but laws that ensure it were once patchy and incomplete.
The federal law called HIPAA was passed in 1996 to make sure that there would be one nationwide law to protect patient privacy. The law includes other provisions, including continuity of care, but for many individuals, the right to confidentiality is most important. There are certain rights that the law provides for that all people should be aware of so that they can advocate for privacy and for the best possible care.
HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, a law passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton. Other names for the law are the Kennedy-Kassebaum Act and the Kassebaum-Kennedy Act, for two of the leading sponsors when the law was a bill going through both houses of Congress. The law was enacted as medical records were beginning to be transferred from paper to electronic form.
The transition from analog to digital records for patients left open a window of opportunity for sensitive and very personal information to be misused. At the time that HIPAA became a federal law, medical caregivers were already bound by ethical standards to protect patient privacy, but laws were inadequate to guarantee that protection.
The law also set standards for using and handling electronic records in order to cut back on fraud and abuse and to make administration more streamlined. HIPAA is not just about security and protecting privacy, though. Another thing that the law guarantees is that individuals can continue to receive health insurance coverage when changing or losing a job or when adding a dependent. It improved upon the portability and continuity of health care coverage.
HIPAA includes five different titles that outline the rights and regulations allowed and imposed by the law. The titles address the issues of privacy, administration, continuity of coverage, and other important factors in the law.
Much of the responsibility for the law falls to medical and health care professionals, to protect personal information and to accommodate and ensure continuity in coverage of health insurance. However, it is also important for individuals to understand the law and what their rights are under the law. When you understand your health care rights, you can advocate for yourself and your loved ones. Here are some of the most important rights you have thanks to HIPAA:
It has long been an ethical standard for physicians and other health care professionals, including medical researchers, to protect the privacy of patients and to keep interactions with patients confidential. One of the most important reasons for ensuring this privacy and confidentiality is that it is essential for a patient to trust medical professionals. Trust between a patient and doctor is important because patients put their health and their lives in the hands of their doctors. They will not get the best care if there is no trust.
Patients who trust their health care professionals will not be sharing their personal information are more likely to be willing to open up and be honest about their symptoms and health habits. Doctors and other caregivers cannot do their jobs or provide the best care if they don’t get all the information from their patients.
In some instances, a person may be unwilling to get a diagnosis and treatment because of stigma and the fear that someone may find out what illness they have, including friends or an employer. Mental illnesses and infections like HIV are particularly stigmatized, and to break down that barrier it is important that patients know their doctors will not be sharing this very personal information.
Privacy and confidentiality are so important to individuals but are also vital to public health. Guaranteed privacy supports and encourages participation in public and community health initiatives and in important medical research. Keeping data about health private also allows government and other institutions to collect and study statistical information about public health, disease, injuries, disabilities, and other medical information.
When you know what your rights are and what you are entitled to under the law called HIPAA, you are better able to advocate for yourself or for a loved one who cannot do the same because of illness or age. HIPAA protects individuals and patients and ensures that you can get good quality health care while maintaining your privacy.