Final answer:
HIPAA protects patient health information, allowing disclosure of PHI only for specific reasons such as treatment, payment, and healthcare operations, with strong regulations in place to ensure patient privacy is maintained. Additional laws like GINA provide protections against genetic discrimination. Balancing privacy with public health needs is a key aspect of policy development regarding electronic health records.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted in 1996 primarily to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient's consent or knowledge. HIPAA allows the use or disclosure of Protected Health Information (PHI) for several reasons, such as treatment, payment, and healthcare operations, which include improving healthcare quality, reducing healthcare costs, and managing healthcare processes efficiently. It also makes provisions for public health activities, victims of abuse or neglect, and law enforcement purposes under specific conditions.
Under HIPAA, it is generally prohibited to reveal a patient's PHI, such as a diagnosis or treatment, to third parties without the patient's consent. This includes contacting a patient's sexual partners regarding the patient's diagnosis, which would potentially violate the patient's privacy rights. Furthermore, legislation like the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) complements HIPAA by preventing genetic discrimination by insurers and employers.
While developing policies concerning the privacy of electronic health records, it is essential to balance treatment costs, patient quality of life, and the privacy risks posed to individuals. In certain extenuating circumstances, such as when there are risks to public health, HIPAA does permit some exceptions to the privacy rule, but such disclosures are highly regulated to protect patient privacy.