HIPAA

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Health practitioners have an obligation of ensuring that they maintain doctor-patient confidentiality. The law is under the Physician-Patient Privilege concept. It protects the communication that takes place between the physician and the patient. Lack of confidentiality of the health physician does not the only amount to an illegal act but also to unethical behavior.
ANALYSIS OF THE CASE
Issues in the case
The hospital employee releasing the confidential information in the Facebook case has access to the databases of the organization. As a medical practitioner, he owes the woman a moral obligation and a legal duty to protect and guards her confidential information (Abram 1). According to his/her argument, the photo of the medical listings together with the comments he posted was just hypothetical and did not represent a specific person. However, those people who saw the post reacted to it indicating that the act is not ethical and should never reoccur. The scenario indicates that, regardless of the intentions of the employee, the woman ended up being defamed and shamed. The first issue, in this case, therefore, is the physician-patient privilege case in which the employee of the hospital has violated. The second issue relates to recruitment process conducted by the staffing agencies (Abram 1).
The party at fault
Staffing agency’s main role is to ensure that employees who are employed by the organization have both educational qualification and interpersonal skills.

If an employee fails to deliver as expected, the staffing agency is to blame. Secondly, the hospital has an obligation of training their employees on the best hospital practices. Therefore, the hospital is at fault as well. Finally, as a health practitioner, the employee is required to follow good moral standards and conduct his job ethically (Abram 1). He violates the set codes of conduct making him the main cause of the problem.
Reduction of potential violation
One of the most crucial ways to avoid the violation of patients’ confidentiality is recruiting the right stuff for the job. Further, the hospital should regularly train the employees on the importance of following policies and rules regarding patient’s privacy (Abram 1). Finally, the hospital administration should incorporate a system that protects data and avails it only to those who are authorized.
Potential collective action
The employee is involved in gross misconduct. It is therefore prudent to dismiss him and further ensure that he does not cause the same mistake. He should never be allowed to work in any provident facility (Abram 1).
Works cited
Abram, Susan. ” The Hospital employees make fun of a patient’s and her medical condition.” Los Angeles Daily News (2011)