NR360 Smartphone And Social Media Use In Healthcare

SMARTPHONE AND SOCIAL MEDIA USE IN HEALTHCARE ByInstitution
Smartphone and Social Media Use in Healthcare
Integrity and ethics are important values that characterize the nursing and medical profession. The high level of confidentiality expected between patients and the health care practitioners (HCPs) is immense. Social media and the use of smart phones provide important tools for enhancing services given to customers but can cause grievous consequences when not handled properly. This study examines a case study of a nurse who shared photographs of a popular patient with her best friend, leading to great violations of HIPAA standards. The study provides the legal frameworks guiding the use of smartphones in hospitals, the scenario ending for the case study and the pros and cons of using smartphones and social media in the hospital setting.
HIPAA, Legal, & Regulatory Discussion
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act acknowledge the importance of using smartphones in health care: for informational purposes only. The Act allows the usage of smartphone as an improved way to access the Electronic Health Register (EHR), a means of accepting patient information such as through iBlueButton, improving communication with patients, and reminding patients of their medical appointments (Greene, 2013). However, the mobile application should provide diagnostic tools, a protected access to emails, provide secure access to container, texting, iBlueButton data and allow for remote wiping in case of a lost device.
In the use of smartphones in the hospital settings, HIPAA demands HCPs to disable their smartphones whenever they are at work. In case of the need to take photos, there must be ample security to the protected health information (PHI) before adding them to the records (Greene, 2013). The HIPAA also prohibits HCPs from texting while at work. In case of the need to text, there must be established security that safeguards the activity and there must be good reason for the application of texting. Another HIPAA rule regarding the use of smartphones is that it does not permit HCPs to place the PHI on their smartphones. Special circumstances must exist for that to happen such as assured security for remote access to PHI vaults and ease of accessing PHI vault from remote locations. Therefore, HCPs must secure the privacy of their clients as misuse of these devices leads to massive violations of HIPAA standards.
The use of smartphones and social media in the hospital should be under the guidance of the senior authority in the hospital. They should provide the procedures for the use of the smartphones in the hospital settings for the benefits of health care provision. Compromising the data of patients and security breaches can be detrimental to provision of trusted care to patients (Neese, 2016). A single breach can render the PHI insecure and open to theft. The Food and Drug Agency supports the use of smartphones in the health care industry for the improvisation of patient condition and supplementation of health care. There must be regulation of the devices and their use to access EHR to ensure no breach of patient’s secure data (FDA, 2015).
Scenario Ending and Recommendations
Of the provided scenario ending,...