Patients Rights and Access to Medical Records Essay

Patients Rights and Access to Medical Records The confidentiality of patient visits and medical records are essential in providing the highest quality of health care. Under penalty of law, a patients medical records or any other information regarding the patient may only be released with his or her authorization. Exceptions to this are certain cases specified by law for example, health care providers are required to report certain communicable diseases such as measles. Many organizations and laws have been developed to maintain patients rights of confidentiality and access to their medical record. Guided by the principle that confidentiality is essential in developing strong trust between patients and healthcare providers, the†¦show more content†¦The first principle is that with very few exceptions, health care information about a consumer should be disclosed for health purposes only. The information should be easy to use for those purposes, and very difficult to use otherwise. The second principle is that technical se curity safeguards be maintained for computerized data. Including audit trails that identify who accessed the data and the prosecution against anyone who used the records for illegal or improper purposes. The third principle is consumer access. The patient should have ability to access his or her records and know others that also have access to them. Patients should be aware of the laws, regulations, and policies that protect their information. The fourth policy is defined as accountability, which is of relation to security and consumer control. Fines and imprisonment are required to those who breach security of personal health information. The final policy is public responsibility. Legislation must be balanced between personal, private interests and national priorities of public health, research, and law enforcement. The excessive flow of information, without patient authorization, is essential to the immediate discovery and investigation in public health crisis. AHIMAs acknowledgem ent of these five principles are abroad outline of a sensible public policy that balances personal privacyShow MoreRelatedConfidentiality of Health Information Essays1639 Words   |  7 Pagesto save all documents, either in general documents or medical records. Now this medical field is using a computer to kept all medical records or other personnel info. Patients records may be maintained on databases, so that quick searches can be made. But, even if the computer is very important, the facility must remain always in control all the information they store in a computer. This is because to avoid individuals who do not have a right to the patients information. 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