Maintaining Patient Privacy: Confidentiality in Mobile Device Usage

This report addresses the critical importance of patient privacy and confidentiality in healthcare, particularly in light of increasing mobile device usage. It identifies issues related to privacy breaches, such as sharing patient information via unapproved channels like text messages and Google Calendar, as highlighted in a cardiac cath lab scenario. The report outlines strategies organizations employ to safeguard patient information, including user authentication, encryption, and security programs. It further discusses the use of mobile devices for patient care, emphasizing the need for secure communication methods and adherence to organizational policies. Personal strategies for protecting patient health information, such as remote wiping and firewalls, are analyzed, along with alternative methods like maintaining physical control of devices and ensuring secure Wi-Fi usage. The report underscores the legal and ethical obligations of healthcare providers to maintain patient privacy and confidentiality to foster trust and avoid potential lawsuits. Desklib provides a platform for students to access this and other solved assignments.

Running Head: PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY OF PATIENT INFORMATION 1
Privacy & Confidentiality of Patient Information
(Student’s Name)
(Institutional Affiliations)

PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY OF PATIENT INFORMATION 2
Privacy & Confidentiality of Patient Information
Privacy and confidentiality of patient information is an integral component of medical
Codes of Ethics (Forrester & Griffiths, 2011). In all cases, patients have the fundamental right to
have information about them kept private. Essentially, keeping these rights with respect to the
personal information of the patients forms part of our legal and ethical obligations as providers
of health care. In essence, patient privacy and confidentiality is the most critical pillar of
medicine whose purpose is to help retain a strong bond of trust between the patients and the
caregivers (Jayawardena, 2013). These patients’ rights are not to be breached. Breaching of these
rights results in disastrous consequences that may include a lawsuit. The law provides that,
whenever an employee breaches confidentiality rights of the patient either the employer or the
patient can sue the employee, in this case the doctor, and successful suits will attract monetary
compensation to the patient for damages (Forrester & Griffiths, 2011). In the wake of technology
including mobile technology, cases of breach of patient confidentiality and privacy have been out
of control. In many healthcare facilities, caregivers have become fond of sharing patient
information on the phone through texts and without taking into consideration the rights of
confidentiality conferred to the patents by the law. In other cases, patient scheduling is done on
Google Calendar. These increase the chances of patient information leaking out to the
unauthorized persons, something that is against the medical Code of Ethics. This is explicit in
the scenario of the cardiac cath lab where Jennifer works.
Issues Related To Patient Privacy and Confidentiality in the Scenario
There are a number of issues related to the patient confidentiality and privacy in the cath
lab scenario as presented. The first case of patient confidentiality and privacy is evident in the

PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY OF PATIENT INFORMATION 3
actions of Tim while in the holding area. Tim breaches the right of patient privacy and
confidentiality by taking the photos of the holding area and posting the photos on Facebook. This
was not appropriate since the photos contained private information about the patient, including
their initials, the doctor as well their initials. Since Facebook is a social media platform with a
huge following and wide coverage, unauthorized persons would gain access to this critical
information. Essentially, this is breach of patient privacy and confidentiality right. The other case
with issues related to patient privacy and confidentiality is exemplified in the patient scheduling
and the way techs and nurses share information with doctors through text messages using mobile
phones not approved by Compliance Officer. For example, as regards patient scheduling, Google
Calendar is used which can be porous to the public.
Strategies My Organization Uses To Safeguard Patient Information From The Use Of
Mobile Devices.
In a bid to safeguard patient information from the use of mobile devices, my organization
utilizes a range of strategies. These strategies include:
i. User authentication controls. The organization has set up passcodes that lock the
mobile devices to keep the data out of reach of prying eyes.
ii. Encryptions. The organization has made sure that the data transmitted through the
mobile devices in the facility is encrypted so that unauthorized persons cannot access
it.
iii. Security programs. The mobile devices used have internet security software installed
on them to prevent infiltration of malware and harmful apps that would comprise the
protected data.

PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY OF PATIENT INFORMATION 4
Use of Mobile Devices for Patient Care in Your Organization
In my organization, mobile devices, particularly mobile phones are used in sharing
information regarding the patient across departments and units, thanks to its convenience. The
organization has mobile phones that are approved by the Information Technology which are
specifically used to transmit patient information among the caregivers through text messages.
The nurses usually write down patient information in coded language and shared with the doctors
for prompt response and address. The policy guiding this mode of transmission of data provides
only certified mobile devices can be used for this purpose and that after the text is sent, the
sender moves the message to an encrypted file on the device.
Personal Strategies Used To Protect Patient Health Information
My personal strategies for protecting patient health information on mobile devices are (i)
installing remote wiping; this enables me wipe data from the mobile device remotely (ii)
Installing and enabling a firewall: this protects the mobile device from unauthorized connections
by intercepting outgoing and incoming attempts as well as blocking permits based on the set of
rules. These strategies work in my settings because the information about the patients is kept
private and confidential.
Alternate methods to insure patient privacy and confidentiality is maintained
The alternate methods that can be used to ensure patient privacy and confidentiality is
maintained include maintaining physical control of the mobile devices, ensuring there is enough
security when sending or receiving health information over public Wi-Fi networks and ensuring
the security software on the device is up to date (Cucoranu et al., 2013).

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References
Cucoranu, I., Parwani, A., West, A., Romero-Lauro, Gonzalo, Nauman, … Liron.
(2013). Privacy and security of patient data in the pathology laboratory. Medknow
Publications & Media Pvt Ltd.
Forrester, K., & Griffiths, D. (2011). Privacy and confidentiality of patient
information. Essentials of Law for Medical Practitioners, 65-83. doi:10.1016/b978-0-
7295-3914-2.10004-9
Jayawardena, A. S. (2013). A systematic literature review of Security, Privacy and
Confidentiality of patient information in Electronic Health Information Systems. Sri
Lanka Journal of Bio-Medical Informatics, 4(2), 25. doi:10.4038/sljbmi.v4i2.5740