Breach of Patient Confidentiality at Health PEI

Breach of Patient Confidentiality at Health PEI
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Breach of Patient Confidentiality at Health PEI
Protecting patient confidentiality is paramount. Patient data is more sensitive than other types of data because it contains private information. According to Tegegne et al. (2022), protecting patient confidentiality is necessary because it affects the trust between patients and healthcare providers and can threaten patient safety. A breach of confidentiality causes patients to lose trust and confidence in their healthcare providers, which is detrimental to patients’ health. Although most healthcare providers have sufficient knowledge and a positive attitude toward patient confidentiality (Tegegne et al., 2022), cases of breach of patient confidentiality are still common. Patients whose health data has been illegally disclosed to a third party have a right to take action. One common action involves suing the healthcare provider for the breach of confidentiality (Canadian Nurses Protective Society (CNPS), 2021). This paper explores a Canadian lawsuit involving a breach of patient confidentiality.
The Case
The case involves Health PEI, which has been sued by one of its patients for unauthorized disclosure of patient data to a third party (Higgins, 2022). Health PEI is a healthcare agency responsible for providing publicly funded healthcare services to the citizens of Prince Edward Island (PEI) province. The affected patient filed a lawsuit against Health PEI, claiming that when he was hospitalized for COVID-19, an employee disclosed his health information to a blogger. The blogger then posted the information on social media, making it available to the public. The patient sought legal action on March 3, 2022, almost a year after the breach, because no one was held responsible for the breach after investigations were complete (Health PEI Lawsuit, n.d.). It is essential to ensure that someone is held responsible because healthcare workers have a legal and professional responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of patient data.
The Issue
The blogger posted details of a patient that had been admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for COVID-19 and offered some specific information about the patient. The post revealed the sexual orientation of the patient, his age, and his HIV status (Health PEI Lawsuit, n.d.). The blogger shared a screenshot of the message he had received from, allegedly, an employee working at the hospital during the patient's hospitalization. Therefore, since a healthcare worker shared the information, it represented a breach of confidence because the patient’s medical information was shared with a third party without his consent. The patient's age, combined with his HIV status, was personally identifiable information that should be protected. In addition, the patient was the only patient admitted to the hospital with COVID-19, and as such, it was easy for the...