BHA FPX 4008 Assessment 3 Collaborate on Quality: Issue Analysis and Leadership Plan

Issue Summary

At Vila Health, a significant incident (BHA FPX 4008 Assessment 3) involving a HIPAA violation occurred during the evening shift, involving a medication error between two patients with similar names and dates of birth. The next morning, patient B. Moore’s mother was at the facility’s main desk when she overheard the unit secretary and a nurse from another unit discussing the event. The nurse said she would study the EHR later to gather information regarding the incident. This occurrence was a blatant breach of HIPAA standards since the personnel communicated protected health information (PHI) publicly without patient authorization (HIPAA Journal, 2022).

HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, is a federal statute that prevents patients’ information from being shared without their permission. The HIPAA Privacy Rule establishes guidelines for how patients’ PHI should be managed, giving them the right to know and decide how their information is used or shared (Edemekong et al., 2024). In this instance, hospital employees violated HIPAA by discussing a patient’s situation in public and engaging professionals who were not directly accountable for the patient’s treatment (Tariq & Hackert, 2023). 

To avoid such accidents, numerous precautions must be adopted. First, all staff members should be retrained on HIPAA rules and standards to ensure they understand the requirements for patient privacy and confidentiality. Second, any talks about confidential patient care should take place in private and only between staff members who are actively involved in the patient’s care. Lastly, staff training should highlight that only direct care professionals have access to patient medical records.

 

Institute for Healthcare Improvement Triple Aim

The IHI Triple Aim framework is critical for developing a healthcare leadership strategy that improves system performance. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), a non-profit organization created in 1991, works to improve healthcare quality for both patients and professionals (Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 2024). The Triple Aim concept is built around three core principles: enhancing the patient experience, lowering per capita expenditures, and promoting population health.

Implementing the Triple Aim framework can considerably improve mistake detection and solution creation for future occurrences, resulting in better-coordinated care and a lower burden of sickness. This leads to a healthier population overall. Higher quality healthcare can lower costs, freeing up community funding for other critical expenditures (Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 2024). By concentrating on these three goals, healthcare companies may build a more efficient, effective, and sustainable healthcare system.

Regarding the incident at Vila Health, following the IHI Triple Aim will greatly improve patient care quality while lowering drug mistake costs. By enhancing the healthcare system to reduce mistakes and HIPAA breaches, the hospital can provide excellent treatment with fewer occurrences. The IHI standards stress HIPAA compliance by incorporating components that assist reduce breaches caused by incorrect management of patient information. This involves teaching personnel how to access patient files, how to avoid improper discussions about patient information, and how to properly destroy sensitive patient information.

Only direct care professionals should have access to a patient’s file, and doing so out of curiosity breaches both the patient’s rights and HIPAA requirements. Patient information should be communicated confidentially, either with the patient or with those directly involved in their treatment. Proper disposal of sensitive medical information is critical to avoiding HIPAA breaches and protecting patient data. It is critical to establish clear procedures for the correct disposal of protected health information (PHI) and make sure that all workers are aware of them. Regular training is recommended to reinforce these behaviors (Tariq & Hackert, 2023). These strategies will not only minimize errors and potential HIPAA breaches but will also lower per capita expenses while improving overall patient care quality. 

Culture

A safety culture is a framework in which a company prioritizes high standards, values, beliefs, and attitudes toward safety (Naji et al., 2021). The HIPAA infractions at Vila Health jeopardized patient safety, emphasizing the necessity for a strong safety culture. Maintaining a safety culture necessitates trust-based communication, effective preventative actions, mutual understanding, and shared beliefs about the value of safety (Naji et al., 2021). Organizations must learn from negative occurrences in order to avoid suc