Breaching of Privacy of a Patient

• Outline the first three things/steps you will do as you begin your investigation. For example, will you begin by doing some research about the disease? Or would you begin by interviewing Sara? Would you interview someone at the agency? If so, who? Or would you do something else? Please explain your rationale.

Congratulations! You have been hired as Assistant Manager of a Home Health Care Agency. The agency offers a wide range of skilled medical services such as nursing care, physical therapy, occupational therapy from qualified medical professionals. The agency also provides home health aide services including assistance with activities of daily living, such as bathing and eating.
Your supervisor told you that she recently received a call from an advocate whom an employee consulted via the Employee Assistance Program because the employee felt that she had been treated unfairly after contracting an illness. She explained that a few months ago, one of your agency’s home health aides, Sara, became ill. Sara had been coughing for approximately six weeks, lost weight without trying, had no appetite, was having difficulty sleeping, and had an intermittent fever. She became concerned and went to see a healthcare professional who diagnosed her with active tuberculosis (TB).
Sara missed a lot of time from work while completing treatment for TB. Her physician cleared her to return to work after she was no longer contagious. Upon returning to work, Sara felt isolated because her boss and co-workers refused to spend time with her. She heard that someone from the agency’s Human Resources Department told her co-workers her diagnosis. The stressful circumstances at work became even worse when another home health aide started to display the same symptoms Sara had.
Your supervisor has asked you to review the entire situation and how it was handled by the agency. Each module includes information about epidemiology, health statistics, public health, health communication and advocacy, health literacy, healthcare delivery systems, the Affordable Care Act, ethical considerations, human resources management, legal aspects, cultural and global perspectives, and financial considerations for the organization.
Your methodology over the next few weeks will be to arrange interviews with the relevant individuals, departments, and agencies, in addition to researching professional and scholarly sources, educational videos, and news articles. You will evaluate the information you gather throughout the course of your investigation in order to determine the best course of action. Ultimately, the information will be used to formulate policies and create an employee education presentation.