Question 49 - CIPP-US discussion

SCENARIO

Please use the following to answer the next QUESTION:

Declan has just started a job as a nursing assistant in a radiology department at Woodland Hospital. He has also started a program to become a registered nurse.

Before taking this career path, Declan was vaguely familiar with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). He now knows that he must help ensure the security of his patients' Protected Health Information (PHI). Therefore, he is thinking carefully about privacy issues.

On the morning of his first day, Declan noticed that the newly hired receptionist handed each patient a HIPAA privacy notice. He wondered if it was necessary to give these privacy notices to returning patients, and if the radiology department could reduce paper waste through a system of one-time distribution.

He was also curious about the hospital's use of a billing company. He questioned whether the hospital was doing all it could to protect the privacy of its patients if the billing company had details about patients' care.

On his first day Declan became familiar with all areas of the hospital's large radiology department. As he was organizing equipment left in the halfway, he overheard a conversation between two hospital administrators. He was surprised to hear that a portable hard drive containing non-encrypted patient information was missing. The administrators expressed relief that the hospital would be able to avoid liability. Declan was surprised, and wondered whether the hospital had plans to properly report what had happened.

Despite Declan's concern about this issue, he was amazed by the hospital's effort to integrate Electronic Health Records (EHRs) into the everyday care of patients. He thought about the potential for streamlining care even more if they were accessible to all medical facilities nationwide.

Declan had many positive interactions with patients. At the end of his first day, he spoke to one patient, John, whose father had just been diagnosed with a degenerative muscular disease. John was about to get blood work done, and he feared that the blood work could reveal a genetic predisposition to the disease that could affect his ability to obtain insurance coverage. Declan told John that he did not think that was possible, but the patient was wheeled away before he could explain why. John plans to ask a colleague about this.

In one month, Declan has a paper due for one his classes on a health topic of his choice. By then, he will have had many interactions with patients he can use as examples. He will be pleased to give credit to John by name for inspiring him to think more carefully about genetic testing.

Although Declan's day ended with many Questions, he was pleased about his new position.

What is the most likely way that Declan might directly violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)?