Final answer:
HIPAA is a regulation ensuring the privacy and continuity of healthcare by mandating strict confidentiality of patient records. GINA complements this protection against genetic discrimination. Privacy of electronic health records remains a vital concern in policy-making to balance treatment costs, patient quality of life, and privacy risks.
Step-by-step explanation:
Among the government regulations that help ensure the continuity and privacy of healthcare, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) stands out.
Passed into law in 1996, HIPAA sets standards for the protection of patient information, requiring healthcare providers and other related businesses to maintain strict confidentiality of patient records. It serves as a critical safeguard against the non-consensual release of identifiable health information.
Another crucial legislation in the realm of genetics is the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) of 2008, which specifically prohibits genetic discrimination by health insurance companies and employers.
Both HIPAA and GINA address the potential ethical, legal, and social issues associated with the use of medical information, including genetic data from projects like the Human Genome Project (HGP).
Regarding the sharing of digital health records, ensuring the privacy of electronic health records is a concern. Policies developed must balance the costs of treatments and diagnoses, patient quality of life, and risks to individual privacy.
Questions such as how to ensure data security, patients' rights in accessing their records, and the functional details of how healthcare providers share records all need to be carefully considered.