Week 8 Assignment

Following significant expenditures in collecting information, understanding and comprehension of the worldwide public health situation have increased. Considering this, there is a massive disparity between what health workers know and everything they need to learn to enhance the wellness of the world’s people(Mattei, 2017). Regular and credible health data is a key basis for patient safety activity and the building of medical systems on a worldwide scale. It is important to understand how accreditation, licensing, patient privacy, and security work together in a healthcare setting.

Importance of Being Accredited by The Joint Commission

The benefits of receiving accreditation by the joint commission include; The commission has skilled medical experts that have been educated to give expert guidance and education services on-site throughout the assessment(Lam et al., 2018). The reviewers have extensive expertise reviewing disease control initiatives and can give an unbiased review of healthcare quality. The reviewers are prepared to offer professional advice and instruction on quality standards.

It is critical to understand which initiatives and procedures function and which do not. In this manner, one can concentrate on what needs to be changed yet check up on what succeeds to ensure that it continues to function in the future (Lam et al., 2018). When appropriate processes and systems are not in place, performance can be sluggish or incorrect, influencing what and when medical workers serve patients.

The certification program provides the basis for disease control structure. The certification contributes to a continually high standard by effectively integrating statistics improved performance. Thus, the advantage goes to the health care facilities accredited by the commission. Getting accreditation sends a strong message to the public about an institution’s commitment to providing high-quality services (Lam et al., 2018). This approval is recognized throughout the country as a common sign demonstrating an institution’s dedication to reaching specific quality standards.

Licensing and Accreditation

Accreditation is the process through which an impartial, professional group recognizes that a medical provider has fulfilled or exceeded their requirements (Lam et al., 2018). These groups are not associated with the state or federal authorities. Accreditation is vital for the same reasons that registration is. The original objective of accreditation is to assess a medical agency’s capacity tomeet preset professional guidelines developed by credible organizations in that sector.

            A governmental entity grants a license. A state and federal authority can be included in this. Licensure refers to obtaining the lawful freedom to exercise or operate independently. This does not imply that this one is superior to accreditation, but rather that they are just distinct(Lam et al., 2018). Institutions may be required to obtain a license to provide a certain service, like substance abuse therapy or inpatient services. Professionals and institutions must be licensed or risk consequences, such as agency termination or closure.

 Privacy, Confidentiality, and Security in the Healthcare Setting.

            The phrases confidentiality, privacy, and security have many similarities in current information technologies, and they have their definitions and important responsibilities to play in healthcare settings(Mattei, 2017). Privacy refers to the determination to keep an individual’s private affairs and interactions private. It is considered private if it is not intended for the general public. It is important to safeguard an individual’s personal health information from exposure, and the patient has the power to preserve their medical information private. It refers to the authorization to keep health data confidential to preserve patient safety and treatment continuation.

            Confidentiality includes the ability to restrict access to personal data and secure patient data against unauthorized damage, theft, or exposure(Mattei, 2017). Healthcare confidentiality is secured by technological and operational measures within a covered entity.   It entails the release and use of patient data.

            Security in healthcare settings concentrates on the security of computerized patient data analysis, access, acceptance, and preservation. Security in healthcare settings establishes policies and procedures for institutional and technological management of patient information(Mattei, 2017). Data security necessitates careful collaboration between both patients and individual medical workers. 

Importance of PHI and The Function of The HIPAA Privacy Rule

            Healthcare focuses on personal information about patients, such as birthdates, health conditions, and medical insurance applications. PHI describes a patient health history, covering illnesses, medications, and results(Runciman et al., 2017). The major importance of PHI is safeguarding privacy rights to defend persons’ rights. When such data is compromised, it could undermine self-esteem and inflict pain.

            Protects the confidentiality of patient information, such as health files, insurance details, and other sensitive information, by requiring protections. The Privacy Rule restricts which data is used and released to other entities without advance patient agreement. The HIPAA Privacy Rule is largely concerned with maintenance issues, prohibiting practitioners and associated professional colleagues from utilizing a patient’s PHI in a manner not stipulated upon with the client and restricting the data transmitted with the other organizations lacking prior consent (Runciman et al., 2017).

Importance of Patients Knowing Their Health Information is Safe

Maintaining a patient’s confidentiality can lead to more efficient interaction with the doctor, which is critical for providing quality treatment, independence, and avoiding financial damage, shame, and prejudice. In the absence of any privacy guarantee, patients could be hesitant to offer frank and thorough exposures of confidential data.

The confidentiality of patient information enables patients to change their conduct with various individuals to preserve and govern their varied social ties(Mattei, 2017). To create interpersonal interactions with everyone, the confidentiality of information is essential. A good example is that individuals can discuss different details with their employer than with their physicians. Keeping personal health issues private guarantees the patients that society does not evaluate them based on whether or not they have an ailment(Mattei, 2017). Ignorance can lead to erroneous beliefs about illnesses. Furthermore, their anxieties and unfavorable perceptions might hurt them.

 Importance of Ethics and Ethical Behavior in Healthcare

Healthcare policy is essential because health specialists must make sound judgments based on their opinions while conforming to legislation. Healthcare personnel is responsible for avoiding mistreatment, reducing damage, and encouraging better patients’ eyes. This responsibility of special care denotes munificence(Godbole, 2019). Health professionals must exhibit this by balancing advantages and risks to patients. Helping clients with what they seem unable to compete under their own, and giving medication in a fast and adequate way are all instances of beneficence.

Ethics ensures that health care providers treat their patients impartially. Justice is concerned with how people get treated whenever their interests conflict with others(Runciman et al., 2017). All patients should be equal in healthcare settings and receive equal treatment with no partiality. Ethics in healthcare ensures there is no biasness. For example, doctors cannot be ethical if they refuse to treat their patients; alternatively, medical practitioners should treat patients sympathetically. It is considered bloodshed if a medical practitioner refuses to provide their services.

Risk Management and Its Important in Healthcare.

            Risk management is used to keep significant defects from happening within an institution. It is critical in good risk management to evaluate and handle the hazards to an organization. Risk management can help a company avoid legal challenges, administrative troubles, disasters, and other problems. Healthcare risk assessment protects healthcare institutions from a variety of industry-specific threats. When they arise, they are dealt with by the institution.

Plans for managing risk can aid in damage limitation and lower patient potential health hazards. This is a crucial position in any healthcare institution! Because all health data must be kept secret, risk management helps preserve patient data and documentation the protection of health records(Mattei, 2017). These records must be stored securely!

Another significant advantage of having a risk management strategy is that it properly plans for disasters. While working in this field, one rarely knows once a crisis will strike. Natural disasters, data spills, and other incidents fall under this category. Epidemics are also a typical sort of crisis in the health profession. It is essential to get a strategy in place when these epidemics occur.

Conclusion

There is a generally held belief that health information is hazy, ambiguous, and occasionally inconsistent in today’s environment. The people’s demand for responsibility and proof-based decision making is growing, while the funders in the healthcare system have raised awareness about the importance of decent information. Health care institutions must safeguard patient data, maintain confidentiality, and manage the risks associated with data loss.

References

Godbole, P. (2019). Regulatory Requirements for Healthcare Globally. In Hospital Transformation (pp. 3–6). Springer.

Lam, M. B., Figueroa, J. F., Feyman, Y., Reimold, K. E., Orav, E. J., & Jha, A. K. (2018). Association between patient outcomes and accreditation in US hospitals: Observational study. Bmj, 363.

Mattei, T. A. (2017). Privacy, confidentiality, and security of health care information: Lessons from the recent Wannacry cyberattack. World Neurosurgery, 104, 972–974.

Runciman, B., Merry, A., & Walton, M. (2017). Safety and ethics in healthcare: A guide to getting it right. CRC Press.