Security of Healthcare Records: HIT and Patient Information Privacy

HIT and Patient Information Privacy
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HIT and Patient Information Privacy
One of the most important roles of nurses is the protection of patient privacy and confidentiality. In the cycle of the flow of health information, nurses occupy a central position since they are the first individuals to access patients’ information. As stipulated by HIPAA, it is an obligation for any healthcare facility to protect patients’ interests. As a requirement by the ARRA, almost all the US health centers had adopted the electronic means of record medical dissemination and storage by 2015 (Nation Nurse United Organization, 2011). The role of HIT in safeguarding information confidentiality has been made difficult by data displacement during the conversion to digital records from paperwork and also due to the existence of a breach of patient data. The transition from paperwork filling to electronic data has been the greatest source of privacy violations (Erickson, 2013). On the other hand, the handling of digital data in mobile handsets has increased the chances of hackers accessing patient information. The presence of patient information in digital format has increased the capability of hackers concealing sensitive data of patients, leading to identity theft whose consequences include loss of personal reputation, credits, and medical finances. The legal tribulations that ar...