A Sample Answer For the Assignment: NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 2: Protected Health Information (PHI): Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality Best Practices

Title: NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 2: Protected Health Information (PHI): Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality Best Practices

Social Media Best Practices	Share credible and appropriate informationDo not identify patientsEngage respectfully Use social media for health purposes only (Chen & Wang, 2021): create awareness, develop professional network, and provide health information.
Social Media Risks to Patient Information	Violating Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Under HIPAA, care providers are mandated to protect the disclosure of sensitive patient information (Tariq & Hackert, 2023). Regarding telehealth, such information includes discussions, screenshots, anecdotes, and participants. Unauthorized access to private informationIdentifying patients and their health conditions
What is Protected Health Information (PHI)?	The HIPAA Privacy Rule is established to protect individually identifiable health information (Tariq & Hackert, 2023). This information is held and shared electronically by multiple authorized users. In the health context, protected health information (PHI) denotes any private medical data that can identify individuals, including patient name, address, telephone number, and geographic data.
Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality Concerns	Privacy: this is primarily about protecting personal information and giving the patient exclusive rights to authorize its use. Sharing information without the patient’s consent breaches the privacy rule. Security: this involves using the appropriate safeguards to ensure unauthorized access to private health information (Keshta & Odeh, 2021). Secure technological systems are vital for secure telehealth implementation. Confidentiality: this involves a commitment to not disclosing protected health information. Sharing data that can identify the patient breaches the confidentiality principle. Interdisciplinary Collaboration Teams involved in telehealth and other approaches where information exchange occurs electronically are responsible for safeguarding sensitive electronic health information. Appropriate team-based practices include unique user identification, selective access, and strong authentication (Tariq & Hackert, 2023). The team should also not share access details with unauthorized users to ensure that practice aligns with privacy, security, and confidentiality essentials.
Evidence Relating to Social Media Usage and PHI	Evidence-Based Strategies to Prevent Breaches Related to Social Media Usage Social network analysis: analyze potential risks associated with a social platform and adopt appropriate security measures. Focus areas include communication, data privacy, and information synchronization (Al-Muhtadi et al., 2019). Data encryption: this helps to protect data sent across exposed networks (Keshta & Odeh, 2021). It ensures that information cannot be modified for non-health purposes. Social media literacy: improving individual competencies on social media usage reduces data-related risks (Cieślak et al., 2023). Therefore, nurses should embrace continuous learning on effective and safe social media use.

Protected Health Information: Interprofessional Staff Update on HIPAA And Appropriate Social Media Use in Health Care.

Confidentially Laws

            Protected health information (PHI) refers to private and confidential information that contains patient data. Such data comprise of patient’s medical history, demographics, test results, and insurance information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a federal law that was established to protect confidential and sensitive health care information for individual patients such that no other person can access the patient data without their consent. Consequently, the HIPAA security rule was established to safeguard and protect sensitive and confidential patient data stored in electronic format (Cohen et al., 2018). Such rules include the prohibition of leaving computer screens open containing patients’ information by healthcare workers when leaving the workstation. Healthcare workers are also prohibited from sharing social media posts that may comprise information regarding confidential patient data. Healthcare personnel who violate the PHI laws and regulations are liable to consequences such as fines, termination of duty or licenses, or even imprisonment. The fines for HIPAA violations range from $50,000 – $250,000.

Importance of Interdisciplinary Collaboration

            Interprofessional collaboration within the healthcare setting is mandatory for effective care outcomes. Patients will always visit more than one healthcare worker when seeking healthcare services. As such, their confidential information will be accessible to different healthcare personnel. All these professionals are required to observe HIPAA laws in protecting sensitive and confidential patient information. However, such sensitive information can best safeguard with the appropriate adoption of interdisciplinary collaboration. This way team members will be able to exhibit effective communication with a shared understanding of the mutual respect for patient information enhance better use of social media, without exposing patient information and proper use of computers containing patient information (Sittig, Belmont, & Singh, 2018). Staff members from different departments can also exhibit proper articulation of skills concerning protecting confidential patient health informatics. Faculties can also help in providing interdisciplinary opportunities, support, and feedback regarding the protection of the patient’s right to confidentiality and proper use of social media both in the healthcare setting and even at home (Billingsley, 2019). Lastly, interdisciplinary collaboration enhances the use of simulation-based training in line with real-world situations in protecting patient health information from unauthorized personnel.

Approaches to Mitigate Risks to Patients and Health Care Staff

            The use of social media is quite helpful in sharing the right information between members of different healthcare departments, but at the same time poses a big risk in violating the HIPAA laws. However, several approaches can be used to mitigate such risks and uphold the patient’s right to privacy. For instance, healthcare professionals are advised to avoid the use of social media while still in the hospital setting (Hilty et al., 2018). However, in cases where one must use social media to send protected patient information, health care staff are advised to review their privacy settings to be sure that the patient information is protected. Consequently, appropriate professional boundaries must be encouraged when one is involved in interacting with a patient on an online platform to ensure confidentiality and protection of patient-sensitive information. lastly, different healthcare departments are advised to adopt frequent staff training and education on better skills on the proper use of social media and the importance of observing the HIPAA regulation on protective patients’ sensitive electronic information, to avoid consequences imposed on those who violate such rules.

References

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Hilty, D. M., Zalpuri, I., Stubbe, D., Snowdy, C. E., Shoemaker, E. Z., Myint, M. T., Joshi, S. V., … SpringerLink (Online service). (2018). Social Media/Networking and Psychiatric Education: Competencies, Teaching Methods, and Implications. (Journal of technology in behavioral science.) https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-018-0061-7.

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Sittig, D. F., Belmont, E., & Singh, H. (March 01, 2018). Improving the safety of health information technology requires shared responsibility: It is time we all step up. Healthcare, 6, 1, 7-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hjdsi.2017.06.004

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Billingsley, L. (December 01, 2019). Cybersmart: Protect the Patient, Protect the Data. Journal of Radiology Nursing, 38, 4, 261-263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jradnu.2019.09.010

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Cohen, I. G., & Mello, M. M. (January 01, 2018). HIPAA and Protecting Health Information in the 21st Century. Jama, 320, 3, 231-232. doi:10.1001/JAMA.2018.5630

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Prepare a 2-page interprofessional staff update on HIPAA and appropriate social media use in health care.

Introduction

As you begin to consider the assessment, it would be an excellent choice to complete the Breach of Protected Health Information (PHI) activity. The activity will support your success with the assessment by creating the opportunity for you to test your knowledge of potential privacy, security, and confidentiality violations of protected health information. The activity is not graded and counts towards course engagement.

Health professionals today are increasingly accountable for the use of protected health information (PHI). Various government and regulatory agencies promote and support privacy and security through a variety of activities. Examples include:

• Meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR).
• Provision of EHR incentive programs through Medicare and Medicaid.
• Enforcement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rules.
• Release of educational resources and tools to help providers and hospitals address privacy, security, and confidentiality risks in their practices.

Technological advances, such as the use of social media platforms and applications for patient progress tracking and communication, have provided more access to health information and improved communication between care providers and patients.

At the same time, advances such as these have resulted in more risk for protecting PHI. Nurses typically receive annual training on protecting patient information in their everyday practice. This training usually emphasizes privacy, security, and confidentiality best practices such as:

• Keeping passwords secure.
• Logging out of public computers.
• Sharing patient information only with those directly providing care or who have been granted permission to receive this information.

Today, one of the major risks associated with privacy and confidentiality of patient identity and data relates to social media. Many nurses and other health care providers place themselves at risk when they use social media or other electronic communication systems inappropriately. For example, a Texas nurse was recently terminated for posting patient vaccination information on Facebook. In another case, a New York nurse was terminated for posting an insensitive emergency department photo on her Instagram account.

Health care providers today must develop their skills in mitigating risks to their patients and themselves related to patient information. At the same time, they need to be able distinguish between effective and ineffective uses of social media in health care.

Sample Answer for NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 2: Protected Health Information (PHI): Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality Best Practices Included

This assessment will require you to develop a staff update for the interprofessional team to encourage team members to protect the privacy, confidentiality, and security of patient information.

Preparation

To successfully prepare to complete this assessment, complete the following:

• Review the infographics on protecting PHI provided in the resources for this assessment, or find other infographics to review. These infographics serve as examples of how to succinctly summarize evidence-based information.
  • Analyze these infographics and distill them into five or six principles of what makes them effective. As you design your interprofessional staff update, apply these principles. Note: In a staff update, you will not have all the images and graphics that an infographic might contain. Instead, focus your analysis on what makes the messaging effective.
• Select from any of the following options, or a combination of options, the focus of your interprofessional staff update:
  • Social media best practices.
  • What not to do: social media.
  • Social media risks to patient information.
  • Steps to take if a breach occurs.
• Conduct independent research on the topic you have selected in addition to reviewing the suggested resources for this assessment. This information will serve as the source(s) of the information contained in your interprofessional staff update. Consult the BSN Program Library Research Guide for help in identifying scholarly and/or authoritative sources.

Instructions

In this assessment, assume you are a nurse in an acute care, community, school, nursing home, or other health care setting. Before your shift begins, you scroll through Facebook and notice that a coworker has posted a photo of herself and a patient on Facebook. The post states, “I am so happy Jane is feeling better. She is just the best patient I’ve ever had, and I am excited that she is on the road to recovery.”

You have recently completed your annual continuing education requirements at work and realize this is a breach of your organization’s social media policy. Your organization requires employees to immediately report such breaches to the privacy officer to ensure the post is removed immediately and that the nurse responsible receives appropriate corrective action.

You follow appropriate organizational protocols and report the breach to the privacy officer. The privacy officer takes swift action to remove the post. Due to the severity of the breach, the organization terminates the nurse.

Based on this incident’s severity, your organization has established a task force with two main goals:

• Educate staff on HIPAA and appropriate social media use in health care.
• Prevent confidentiality, security, and privacy breaches.

The task force has been charged with creating a series of interprofessional staff updates on the following topics:

• Social media best practices.
• What not to do: Social media.
• Social media risks to patient information.
• Steps to take if a breach occurs.

You are asked to select one or more of the topics and create the content for a staff update containing a maximum of two content pages. This assessment is not a traditional essay. It is a staff educational update about PHI. Consider creating a flyer, pamphlet, or one PowerPoint slide (not an entire presentation). Remember it should not be more than two pages (excluding a title and a reference page).

The task force has asked team members assigned to the topics to include the following content in their updates in addition to content on their selected topics:

• What is protected health information (PHI)?
  • Be sure to include essential HIPAA information.
• What are privacy, security, and confidentiality?
  • Define and provide examples of privacy, security, and confidentiality concerns related to the use of technology in health care.
  • Explain the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information.
• What evidence relating to social media usage and PHI do interprofessional team members need to be aware of? For example:
  • How many nurses have been terminated for inappropriate social media use in the United States?
  • What types of sanctions have health care organizations imposed on interdisciplinary team members who have violated social media policies?
  • What have been the financial penalties assessed against health care organizations for inappropriate social media use?
  • What evidence-based strategies have health care organizations employed to prevent or reduce confidentiality, privacy, and security breaches, particularly related to social media usage?

Notes

• Your staff update is limited to two double-spaced content pages. Be selective about the content you choose to include in your update so you can meet the page length requirement. Include need-to-know information. Omit nice-to-know information.
• Many times people do not read staff updates, do not read them carefully, or do not read them to the end. Ensure your staff update piques staff members’ interest, highlights key points, and is easy to read. Avoid overcrowding the update with too much content.
• Also, supply a separate reference page that includes two or three peer-reviewed and one or two non-peer-reviewed resources (for a total of 3–5 resources) to support the staff update content.

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Ensure the staff update is free from errors that detract from the overall message.
• Submission length: Maximum of two double-spaced content pages.
• Font and font size: Use Times New Roman, 12-point.
• Citations and references: Provide a separate reference page that includes 2–3 current, peer-reviewed and 1–2 current, non-peer-reviewed in-text citations and references (total of 3–5 resources) that support the staff update’s content. Current means no older than 5 years.
• APA format: Be sure your citations and references adhere to APA format. Consult the Evidence and APA page for an APA refresher.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 1: Describe nurses’ and the interdisciplinary team’s role in informatics with a focus on electronic health information and patient care technology to support decision making.
  • Describe the security, privacy, and confidentially laws related to protecting sensitive electronic health information that govern the interdisciplinary team.
  • Explain the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information.
• Competency 2: Implement evidence-based strategies to effectively manage protected health information.
  • Identify evidence-based approaches to mitigate risks to patients and health care staff related to sensitive electronic health information.
  • Develop a professional, effective staff update that educates interprofessional team members about protecting the security, privacy, and confidentiality of patient data, particularly as it pertains to social media usage.
• Competency 5: Apply professional, scholarly communication to facilitate use of health information and patient care technologies.
  • Follow APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references.
  • Create a clear, concise, well-organized, and professional staff update that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

SAMPLE 2

PHI (Protected Health Information)

A patient’s Protected Health Information (PHI) includes any information that can be located in their medical records and be used to identify them in some way, such as their name, age, or ailment. Other examples of PHI include information that can be used to contact them or provide them with treatment. Information that can be used to contact a patient or give medical treatment to a patient is another type of protected health information (PHI). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, more commonly referred to as HIPAA, is a piece of legislation that was enacted in April 2003 with the intention of protecting healthcare professionals, patients, and health insurance companies. HIPAA is more commonly referred to by its acronym, which stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The acronym HIPAA is also frequently shortened to “HIPAA” (William C. Shiel Jr., 2018).

 

Privacy, security, and confidentially

During the course of providing treatment for a patient, you should never, under any circumstances, reveal any information about that patient to anyone other than the interdisciplinary team that is responsible for providing care for that patient. This rule applies even if you learn something about a patient in the course of providing treatment for that patient. A patient’s protected health information (PHI) could be compromised in a variety of ways, some of which are included in the list of potential scenarios that are provided below: revealing patient information to a coworker or acquaintance who is not involved in the patient’s care; sending a provider a message via text that includes medical information; publishing about patients on social media; sending a message through text that contains medical information to a provider. It is possible that a patient’s privacy has been violated if their medical history is disclosed in any way, regardless of whether the disclosure was intentional or accidental. This is the case regardless of whether or not the information was exposed on purpose or by mistake.

Social media Do’s and Don’ts:

The use of social media in the field of medicine is associated with a number of challenges, in addition to the potential advantages that may be acquired by doing so, which are discussed further below. Education, relationships with physicians and nurse practitioners, nurses supporting other coworkers who work at the same place of employment, and providing family members and other relatives of patients with up-to-date current information are some of the benefits that can result from using social media. Other potential advantages include the possibility of fostering professional growth.

When using social media, you must remember to always keep a professional demeanor, offer information that is always accurate, and adhere to the standards set forth by HIPAA. Always consider your post before publishing it, and be aware of the social media policies at your place of employment. Also, avoid posting from your place of employment, refrain from defaming the nursing profession, and avoid including patient names, images, or anecdotes. (Ek, 2018).

Potential Consequences

When using social media improperly results in a HIPAA violation, the state board of nursing may be notified. According to the Nation Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. (NCSBN), 2018 disciplinary proceedings, the loss of a nursing license, and fines of up to $50,000 may result from a HIPAA violation. Over the years, several nurses have been fired for violating HIPAA on social media.

Prevention

Healthcare institutions have various measures in place to help them avoid paying any costs resulting from employees violating a patient’s confidentiality, security, or privacy. One method is to offer staff yearly or more frequently updated HIPAA education classes. Warn the personnel not to open spam emails because doing so could seriously compromise the facility’s security. Another technique to safeguard a patient’s PHI is to always shred any documents containing medical information, such as prescriptions, and to never throw anything out or leave a computer with patient data unattended or unlocked (Borten, 2016).

 

 

References

Borten, K. (2016, August 19). The Role of Nurses in HIPAA Compliance, Healthcare Security HealthITSecurity. https://healthitsecurity.com/news/the-role-of-nurses-in-hipaa- compliance-healthcare-security.

Ek, J. (2018, May 17). Social Media Dos And Don’ts For Nurses – Blog. Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation™. https://engage.healthynursehealthynation.org/blogs/8/1507.

If you are interested in the role of social media in health care, explore how an online Master of Public Health degree can help you gain the knowledge and skills needed to be a trusted authority in the health care field. Ohio University. (2020, August 11). https://onlinemasters.ohio.edu/blog/social-media-in-healthcare/.

Nation Council of State Board of Nursing, Inc. (2018) A Nurse’s Guide to the Use of Social Media [PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.ncsbn.org/NCSBN_SocialMedia.pdf

William C. Shiel Jr., M. D. (2018, December 21). Definition of HIPAA. MedicineNet. https://www.medicinenet.com/hipaa/definition.htm#:~:text=HIPAA%3A%20Acronym

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Protected Health Information (PHI): Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality Best Practices Scoring Guide

Criteria	Non-performance	Basic	Proficient	Distinguished
Describe the security, privacy, and confidentially laws related to protecting sensitive electronic health information that govern the interdisciplinary team.	Does not describe the security, privacy, and confidentially laws related to protecting sensitive electronic health information that govern the interdisciplinary team.	Attempts to identify the security, privacy, and confidentially laws related to protecting sensitive electronic health information that govern the interdisciplinary team.	Describes the security, privacy, and confidentially laws related to protecting sensitive electronic health information that govern the interdisciplinary team.	Provides a comprehensive and insightful summary of confidentially laws related to protecting sensitive electronic health information that govern the interdisciplinary team.
Explain the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information.	Does not explain the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information.	Explains interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information, but the explanation lacks detail or is missing critical information.	Explains the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information.	Explains in detail, and with professional insight, the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information.
Identify evidence-based approaches to mitigate risks to patients and health care staff related to sensitive electronic health information.	Does not identify evidence-based approaches to mitigate risks to patients and health care staff related to sensitive electronic health information.	Attempts to identify evidence-based approaches to mitigate risks to patients and health care staff related to sensitive electronic health information; however, omissions and errors exist.	Identifies evidence-based approaches to mitigate risks to patients and health care staff related to sensitive electronic health information.	Identifies multiple appropriate and well-researched evidence-based approaches to mitigate risks to patients and health care staff related to sensitive electronic health information.
Develop a professional, effective staff update that educates interprofessional team members about protecting the security, privacy, and confidentiality of patient data, particularly as it pertains to social media usage.	Does not develop a professional, effective staff update that educates interprofessional team members about protecting the security, privacy, and confidentiality of patient data, particularly as it pertains to social media usage.	Attempts to develop a staff update that educates interprofessional team members about protecting the security, privacy, and confidentiality of patient data, particularly as it pertains to social media usage.	Develops a professional, effective staff update that educates interprofessional team members about protecting the security, privacy, and confidentiality of patient data, particularly as it pertains to social media usage.	Develops a comprehensive, professional, and effective staff update that educates interprofessional team members about protecting the security, privacy, and confidentiality of patient data, particularly as it pertains to social media usage.
Follow APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references.	Does not follow APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references.	Partially adheres to APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references. Formatting inhibits effective communication or detracts from good scholarship.	Follows APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references. Academic citations and references are largely error-free.	Follows flawless APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references.
Create a clear, concise, well-organized, and professional staff update that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Does not create a clear, concise, well-organized, and professional staff update that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Creates a staff update that contains errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling that distract from good scholarship. Staff update is more than two pages of content.	Creates a clear, concise, well-organized, and professional staff update that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Creates a clear, concise, well-organized, and professional staff update that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Adheres to all applicable disciplinary and scholarly writing standards.