Medical Records and Your Privacy: Developing Federal Legislation to Protect Patient Privacy Rights

2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-474
Author(s):  
Sharon J. Hussong
Keyword(s):  
South Carolina ◽  
Medical History ◽  
Health Plan ◽  
Medical Records ◽  
Blood Test ◽  
Federal Legislation ◽  
Privacy Rights ◽  
Patient Privacy ◽  
Release Form

In 1997, Judi Selig, a secretary for a South Carolina machinery firm, probably did not anticipate her employer's extreme reaction to her medical history. When her employer discovered that Ms. Selig had been exposed to hepatitis several years before, it demanded that she undergo a blood test and sign a medical release form so that the doctors in the employer's health plan could access her records. When Ms. Selig consented to the test but refused to sign the release form, her employer punished her by suspending her for a week without pay. Ms. Selig quit the company mainly because it threatened her privacy.

Testing the health literacy of twenty Bangladeshi patients before and 5 months after they begin to access their GP electronic record

2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. bjgp18X697133
Author(s):  
Richard Fitton ◽  
Amir Hannan ◽  
Ingrid Brindle ◽  
Shafia Begum ◽  
Sarwar Shah
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Medical History ◽  
Medical Records ◽  
Practice Nurse ◽  
Electronic Record ◽  
Phone Calls ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Medical Histories ◽  
Memory Knowledge

BackgroundPatients with higher health literacy enjoy better health outcomes and are more compliant with treatment. Health literacy is a product of memory, reason and imagination. Patients who can access their records have potentially more memory (knowledge) and make less phone calls to and have less consultations with their GP, practice nurse, HCA and other professionals.AimThe study aims to measure the knowledge that twenty Bangladeshi patients with poor English have of their medical history before and after access to their electronic record.Method55% of patients at Thornley House have access to their medical records. A simple questionnaire was given to 20 Bangladeshi patients before and 5 months after access to their electronic record. The questionnaires recorded the patients’ knowledge of their medical histories. The scores of the completed before and after questionnaires were compared to see if record access had increased patients’ knowledge.ResultsFive patients completed before and after questionnaires. Each achieved a higher score after record access. The differences in scores for the five patients were 2, 5, 1, 10, and 1, respectively.ConclusionHealth literacy for patients is similar to medical literacy for doctors. It requires knowledge, skills and attitudes. We will see whether record access can increase knowledge. Further studies might measure whether that increased knowledge improves skills and attitudes.

The use of a Domain Ontology for the Management of Essential Hypertension (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Chavez ◽  
Vanessa Perez ◽  
Angélica Urrutia
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Essential Hypertension ◽  
Medical History ◽  
Medical Records ◽  
Medical Training ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Domain Ontology ◽  
Free Text ◽  
Snomed Ct ◽  
History Of

BACKGROUND : Currently, hypertension is one of the diseases with greater risk of mortality in the world. Particularly in Chile, 90% of the population with this disease has idiopathic or essential hypertension. Essential hypertension is characterized by high blood pressure rates and it´s cause is unknown, which means that every patient might requires a different treatment, depending on their history and symptoms. Different data, such as history, symptoms, exams, etc., are generated for each patient suffering from the disease. This data is presented in the patient’s medical record, in no order, making it difficult to search for relevant information. Therefore, there is a need for a common, unified vocabulary of the terms that adequately represent the diseased, making searching within the domain more effective. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to develop a domain ontology for essential hypertension , therefore arranging the more significant data within the domain as tool for medical training or to support physicians’ decision making will be provided. METHODS The terms used for the ontology were extracted from the medical history of de-identified medical records, of patients with essential hypertension. The Snomed-CT’ collection of medical terms, and clinical guidelines to control the disease were also used. Methontology was used for the design, classes definition and their hierarchy, as well as relationships between concepts and instances. Three criteria were used to validate the ontology, which also helped to measure its quality. Tests were run with a dataset to verify that the tool was created according to the requirements. RESULTS An ontology of 310 instances classified into 37 classes was developed. From these, 4 super classes and 30 relationships were obtained. In the dataset tests, 100% correct and coherent answers were obtained for quality tests (3). CONCLUSIONS The development of this ontology provides a tool for physicians, specialists, and students, among others, that can be incorporated into clinical systems to support decision making regarding essential hypertension. Nevertheless, more instances should be incorporated into the ontology by carrying out further searched in the medical history or free text sections of the medical records of patients with this disease.

Implications of HIPAA and Subsequent Regulations on Information Technology

2017 ◽  
pp. 71-98
Author(s):  
Payod Soni
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Health Plan ◽  
Medical Records ◽  
Healthcare Organizations ◽  
Complete Understanding ◽  
Privacy And Security ◽  
The Public ◽  
Considerable Depth ◽  
Made In

Abysmal state of policies governing the health plan providers lead to a huge discontent amongst the public in regards to their health plan besides privacy and security of their medical records. Anyone with access to the patient's medical records could potentially share it with parties like health plan providers or the employers. To address the privacy and the security of patient's medical records, Congress enacted HIPAA in 1996. Chapter starts with discussing the need for HIPAA. Subsequently, we discuss HIPAA at considerable depth. Significant additions and changes were made in subsequent acts and amendments due to pressing policy needs and to address various loopholes. The chapter provides a chronological recount of HIPAA since its introduction. Once the reader develops a complete understanding of HIPAA regulation, we shift our focus to the compliance to HIPAA. We delve deeper into implications of HIPAA on healthcare organizations and the information technology world.

Electronic Medical Records, HIPAA, and Patient Privacy

2011 ◽  
pp. 1795-1804
Author(s):  
Jingquan Li ◽  
Michael J. Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Medical Records ◽  
Medical Records ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Privacy Policy ◽  
Patient Privacy ◽  
Healthcare Organizations ◽  
Privacy And Security ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
Healthcare It ◽  
The University

The continued growth of healthcare information systems (HCIS) promises to improve quality of care, lower costs, and streamline the entire healthcare system. But the resulting dependence on electronic medical records (EMRs) has also kindled patient concern about who has access to sensitive medical records. Healthcare organizations are obliged to protect patient records under HIPAA. The purpose of this study is to develop a formal privacy policy to protect the privacy and security of EMRs. This article describes the impact of EMRs and HIPAA on patient privacy in healthcare. It proposes access control and audit log policies to safeguard patient privacy. To illustrate the best practices in the healthcare industry, this article presents the case of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The case demonstrates that it is critical for a healthcare organization to have a privacy policy.

scholarly journals Assessment of the Price Impact of the South Carolina Cucumber Marketing Order

1980 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-18
Author(s):  
Gary J. Wells ◽  
Jerold F. Pittman
Keyword(s):  
South Carolina ◽  
Price Impact ◽  
Price Formation ◽  
Federal Legislation ◽  
The South ◽  
Fresh Market ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Price Posting

In 1970 a marketing order, made possible by a 1968 state enabling act, was formed for South Carolina fresh market cucumbers. This legislation is similar to current federal legislation, but South Carolina has no federal marketing order for cucumbers. Order provisions that affect price formation are the subject of this article. Price posting and adoption of statewide USDA inspection requirements are the order provisions that yield the largest and most direct price impact (S.C. Cucumber Board.) The apparent goal of these provisions is higher and more stable prices.The objective of our research is to investigate the success of the South Carolina marketing order in achieving its goal of higher and more stable fresh market cucumber prices.

scholarly journals REKAM MEDIS: PENGGUNAAN INFORMASI MEDIS PASIEN DALAM PELAKSANAAN ASAS PERLINDUNGAN PUBLIK

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 399-423
Author(s):  
Yudi Yasmin Wijaya ◽  
Edy Suyanto ◽  
Fanny Tanuwijaya
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Medical Record ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Medical Records ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Medical Condition ◽  
Privacy Rights ◽  
Confidential Information ◽  
The Public

Medical records contain confidential information of patient’s medical condition and treatment given.  In the public interest or for the sake of law enforcement, the confidentiality of medical records may be breached.   Stake holders (patients, health workers and law enforcers) should take cognizance of what procedures and limitation exist when requesting the acquisition of medical records in the public interest. Using a juridical doctrinal method, the prevailing rules and regulation related to medical record and its breach of confidentiality shall be analysed.  One important finding is that there is a dire need to seek a balance between satisfying public interest and the protection of patient’s privacy rights.

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