Health Care Ethics: Confidentiality and Privacy

“HA 570 Health Care Ethics” 1
“HA570 Health Care Ethics”
“Unit 4 Assignment”
Name of the Student
Student ID
Name of the University

“HA 570 Health Care Ethics” 2
1. Summary of the story
Twyla Roberts works as a “therapist” for “Marion Home Care Agency” and operates
from home looking after elderly patients and using the online patient care information
system. She was entrusted with the treatment of Mary Lewis for safety evaluation and for
physical therapy to restore the function of her right hand. Mary Lewis had a fall due to
push by her husband during a heated exchange with her husband who was suffering from
mental illness. This information was not disclosed to the hospital authorities but was
narrated to Twyla with a request to keep confidential. Instead of responding positively to
Mary’s request, Twyla was more interested on respite care and getting more assistance
for her husband. Twyla was in a dilemma as she should have stooped Mary disclosing
confidential information about her husband but once the confidentiality is lost, Twyla
might have to repent in future if the statement of Mary is not recorded.
2. The varying perspective of the parties involved.
The first party in this story is Twyla Roberts, who is a therapist for the “Marion
Homecare Agency” who provides treatment of patients from home. She uses an online
information system on patient care to know the history of the patient and after treatment,
updates records in the system.
The second party is Mary Lewis, the patient who came to Twyla Roberts for physical
therapy to restore the strength of her right hand. She was discharged from the hospital
and was referred by a social worker to Twyla Roberts for a therapy.
The third party is Mary Lewis’s husband who was suffering from middle stage Dementia,
.He was frequently get agitated. He pushed her wife during heated exchange resulting in a
fall and damage of the right hand of Mary Lewis.

“HA 570 Health Care Ethics” 3
The fourth party is Michael White, a social worker who referred Mary to Twyla Roberts.
He was concerned to know the developments of Mary Lewis’s home therapy.
3. Ethical standards relating to the scenario.
From the story, we can establish that the ethical objective of finding a caring response
needs that Twyla should address both traditional and contemporary dimensions of
confidentiality, and the private confidentiality shared by the patient (Hewitt, 2010). She
should understand the meaning of confidentiality and its appropriate limit and use. She
also should be aware of privacy and challenges of maintenance of confidentiality in a
computerized environment (Lafky & Horan, 2011). The basic principles of healthcare
and the ethical dictum of ethical health codes are confidentiality. Confidentiality is the
practice of maintaining the information of the patient with harmful, shameful or
embarrassing contents within appropriate boundaries ("Book discusses privacy, the
confidentiality of health care information", 2009). To this ethical practice, the right to
privacy gives necessary legal standing (MARMOR, 2015).
4. The regulations and connected laws.
AMA code of ethics relating to privacy and confidentiality is:
The privacy of patients includes elements that include personal space (“physical
privacy”), private information (“informative privacy”), private decisions that include
religious and religious affiliations (“decisive privacy”), and private interactions with
members of family and other associated people (“associated privacy”). Doctors should try
as far as possible to safeguard the privacy of patients in all environments ("OPINIONS
ON PRIVACY, CONFIDENTIALITY & MEDICAL RECORDS," 2016) and should: