Legal Issues Related to Health Care Informatics and Nursing Informatics

One of the most important current laws affecting health informatics is the Privacy Act of 1974. This law requires that federal agencies provide public notice of their records systems by publishing them in the Federal Register. It also requires written consent from subjects before a record can be released and provides a process by which subjects can access or change their records (Green & Thomas, 2008).

Other important regulatory rulings and organizations include The Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records regulations, which provide additional protections of privacy for patients in substance abuse treatment programs regulated by the federal government (Darvish et al., 2014). The second one includes the Institutional Review Board (IRB), which is established by various government health sciences bodies (federal and/or state) to protect the rights, welfare, and well-being of human research participants and patients. The third legal issue involves the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (the Joint Commission), which rules on the eligibility of hospitals and other organizations to participate in Medicare (Darvish et al., 2014).

The fourth issue involves the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which was enacted in 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to promote the adoption of health information technology, as well as to ensure compliance on the institutional level. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) strengthened the privacy protections of patients regarding the sharing of medical information, particularly as it relates to employment (Green & Thomas, 2008). Finally, The Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA), in 2012, strengthened the FDA’s ability to  speed patient access to digital records and improve the safety of drugs, medical devices, and biological products and the 21st Century Cures Act, which became law in December 2016, is designed to accelerate the development of medical technology and improve patient access to technological advances in medicine (Warm & Thomas, 2011).

Ethical Issues Related to Health Care Informatics and Nursing Informatics

AHIMA’s Code of Ethics explains that the “ethical obligations of the health information management (HIM) professional include the safeguarding of privacy and security of health information; disclosure of  health information; development, use, and maintenance of health information systems and health information; and ensuring the accessibility and integrity of health information.” It also gives seven purposes for the code of ethics: The promotion of high standards of health information management practice (Samadbeik et al., 2015). Similarly, the identification of core values of the health information management mission. Again, this is a summary of the broad ethical principles that reflect the core values. Establishment of ethical principles used to guide decisions and actions. Establishment of a framework for professional resolution of conflicts and ethical uncertainties (Green & Thomas, 2008). Providing ethical principles that allow the public to hold health information management professionals accountable. Providing opportunities for mentors to guide new practitioners in ethics education. The code also establishes standards for ethical coding and standards for clinical documentation improvement.

Evidence Based-Practice Strategies in the Protection of Health Information

Privacy and confidentiality in healthcare organizations have become increasingly important due to advanced technology integration in healthcare, but maintaining a working knowledge of current and projected security threats can be difficult (Green & Thomas, 2008). The ways of communication, as well as allotment of information, are ensured and then automated within the computerized healthcare information systems, which increases the risk of illegal transmission of protected healthcare confidential information. Healthcare organizations and healthcare workers have a legal obligation to keep information of the patients, staff, and attached persons safe.

The strategy of controlling access, identification of what degree of information is required, and allowing the user name and password (Warm & Thomas, 2011). User name and password, biometric identification techniques such as fingerprints, iris scanning, and face and voice recognition systems are the perfect ways to limit the access to important information of the patients and a working electronic signing process (Samadbeik et al., 2015). The password consists of needing that they will get altered at the set interval with the creation of the least number of features and limiting the reapplication of the password