HIPAA Act of 1996 :: Health, Health Information

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 made it illegal to gain access to person-to-person medical information for any reasons other than health tutelage delivery, operations, and reimbursements (Shi & Singh, 2008, p. 166). HIPAA legislation mandated strict controls on the transfer of personally identifiable health data mingled with two entities, provisions for disclosure of protected information, and criminal penalties for violation (Clayton 2001). HIPAA also has privacy requirements that govern disclosure of patient protected health information (PHI) located in the medical record by physicians, nurses, and other health premeditation providers (Buck, 2011). Always remember conversations about a patients health care or treatment is a violation of HIPAA. All PHI is included in the privacy requirements for example the patients past, present or future animal(prenominal) or mental health or condition the provision of health care to the individual, o r the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to the individual, and that identifies the individual or for which there is a reasonable basis to believe it can be used to identify the individual (Buck, 2011). Other identifiable health information would be the patients name, address, birth date and Social Security Number (Keomouangchanh, 2011). (Word count 197)There has been some ethical issues surrounding the emergence and use of technology, that would consist of some advancements, such as when in vitro fertilization is applied in medical practice and leads to the production of spare embryos, the moral disbelief is what to do with these embryos (Shi & Singh, 2008, p. 182). As for ethical dilemmas that comes into play with gene mapping of humans, genetic cloning, stem cell research, and others areas of growing interest to scientist (Shi & Singh, 2008, p. 182). Life support technology raises monstrous ethical issues, especially in medical decisions regardin g continuation or cessation of mechanical support, particularly when a patient exists in a permanent vegetive state (Shi & Singh, 2008, p. 182). Health care budgets are limited throughout this world, making it hard for advancements yet even harder to develop the advancements with restraints. Which brings us back to the social, ethical, and legal constraints, commonplace and private insurers face the problem deciding whether or not to cover novel treatments 188. Similarly what was mentioned before the decisions about new reproductive techniques such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection in vitro fertilization (ICSIIVF), new molecular genetics predictive tests for hereditary breast cancer, and the newer drugs such as sildenafil (Viagra) for sexual dysfunction (Giacomini, 2005).