Medical Law & Professional Ethics 2e Page 125 (143 of 310)

Chapter 7 Federal Statutes and Regulations That Impact Healthcare 125 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. require covered entities to adhere to administrative, physical, and tech- nical safeguards to protect e-PHI. As a healthcare professional, if you are working for a covered entity, you will be responsible for understanding and following all of these HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. Failure to conform to the HIPAA Privacy Rule could result in civil or criminal penalties. HIPAA violations can range from a single patient’s record being viewed by a healthcare worker without good reason to massive breaches of thousands of patients’ health records. Healthcare providers need to be aware of HIPAA at all times. Even something as seemingly harmless as leaving a fax on a desk or speaking about a patient in an elevator can be a violation of HIPAA. As patient information becomes easier to share across the contin- uum of healthcare, there is a greater responsibility to protect that infor- mation. Patients must be informed about practices for use and disclosure of their information. They must also give written consent to the use and disclosure of their information for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. HIPPA also gives patients the right to access and edit their health information. Speech-language pathologists (also referred to as speech pathologists) focus on disorders related to human communication and work with patients of all ages. These professionals help prevent, evaluate, diagnose, and treat communication and swallowing disorders. These disorders can be caused by stroke, emotional problems, brain injury, hearing loss, physical abnormality, developmental delay, and cerebral palsy. Speech pathologists diagnose and evaluate speech problems, such as fluency (stuttering), articulation, language comprehension, and voice disorders. These professionals design and carry out comprehensive treatment plans. Speech pathologists work closely with teachers, physicians, psychologists, social workers, rehabilitation counselors, and other members of interdisciplinary teams. They do not work directly under medical supervision, meaning they have a great deal of autonomy. A master’s degree, along with a supervised clinical program for graduate students, is typically required to become a speech pathologist. In these clinical programs, supervised work provides the opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience with patients and clients who have speech or communication problems. Speech pathologists are typically required by employers to obtain the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Certificate of Clinical Competence. To earn this certificate, one must complete a master’s degree and a supervised clinical fellowship as well as pass a national examination. If college teaching is the goal, then a doctorate degree is usually needed. A doctorate degree is also typically required to conduct research in this field or have a private practice. Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com Career Corner

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Chapter 7 Federal Statutes and Regulations That Impact Healthcare 125 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. require covered entities to adhere to administrative, physical, and tech- nical safeguards to protect e-PHI. As a healthcare professional, if you are working for a covered entity, you will be responsible for understanding and following all of these HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. Failure to conform to the HIPAA Privacy Rule could result in civil or criminal penalties. HIPAA violations can range from a single patient’s record being viewed by a healthcare worker without good reason to massive breaches of thousands of patients’ health records. Healthcare providers need to be aware of HIPAA at all times. Even something as seemingly harmless as leaving a fax on a desk or speaking about a patient in an elevator can be a violation of HIPAA. As patient information becomes easier to share across the contin- uum of healthcare, there is a greater responsibility to protect that infor- mation. Patients must be informed about practices for use and disclosure of their information. They must also give written consent to the use and disclosure of their information for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. HIPPA also gives patients the right to access and edit their health information. Speech-language pathologists (also referred to as speech pathologists) focus on disorders related to human communication and work with patients of all ages. These professionals help prevent, evaluate, diagnose, and treat communication and swallowing disorders. These disorders can be caused by stroke, emotional problems, brain injury, hearing loss, physical abnormality, developmental delay, and cerebral palsy. Speech pathologists diagnose and evaluate speech problems, such as fluency (stuttering), articulation, language comprehension, and voice disorders. These professionals design and carry out comprehensive treatment plans. Speech pathologists work closely with teachers, physicians, psychologists, social workers, rehabilitation counselors, and other members of interdisciplinary teams. They do not work directly under medical supervision, meaning they have a great deal of autonomy. A master’s degree, along with a supervised clinical program for graduate students, is typically required to become a speech pathologist. In these clinical programs, supervised work provides the opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience with patients and clients who have speech or communication problems. Speech pathologists are typically required by employers to obtain the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Certificate of Clinical Competence. To earn this certificate, one must complete a master’s degree and a supervised clinical fellowship as well as pass a national examination. If college teaching is the goal, then a doctorate degree is usually needed. A doctorate degree is also typically required to conduct research in this field or have a private practice. Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com Career Corner

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Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc 124 Unit 2 The Healthcare Environment • receive a notice that informs them of how their health information may be used and shared • decide if they want to give permission before their health information can be used or shared for certain purposes (such as marketing) • obtain a report that explains when and why their health information was shared for certain purposes The Privacy Rule sets limits on who can look at and receive health information. Patient information can be shared to ensure treatment and care coordination, to pay doctors and hospitals for healthcare services, to protect the public’s health (if a patient has a contagious disease, for example), and to make required reports to the police (such as reporting gunshot wounds). Health information cannot be used or shared without obtaining the patient’s written permission unless this law allows it. For example, without patient authorization, providers generally cannot give patient information to employers, use or share information for marketing or advertising purposes, or share private notes about a patient’s healthcare. The Security Rule is related to electronic protected health informa- tion (e-PHI). This rule ensures confidentiality of all e-PHI that the cov- ered entity receives, maintains, and transmits. The standards in this rule HIPAA Regulations and Covered Entities Entities that must follow the HIPAA regulations are referred to as covered entities. The Privacy Rule and Security Rule apply only to covered entities, which include the following. A Healthcare Provider A Health Plan A Healthcare Clearinghouse a provider of services who conducts certain business electronically, such as electronically billing health insurance companies Examples: • chiropractors • clinics • dentists • doctors • hospitals • nursing homes • pharmacies • psychologists with certain exceptions, an individual or group plan that provides or pays the cost of medical care includes many types of organizations and government programs Examples: • health insurance companies • health maintenance organizations (HMOs) • government programs that pay for healthcare (military and veteran health plans, Medicare, Medicaid) entities that process nonstandard health inf ormation they receive from another entity into a standard format (st andard electronic format or data content), or vice versa Example: • billing service that processes or facilitates the processing of data from one format into a standardized billing format Source: US Department of Health & Human Services Figure 7.5 Covered entities must follow HIPAA’s Privacy Rule and Security Rule.

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Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc 126 Unit 2 The Healthcare Environment The Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), enacted in 1990, prohibits discrimination based on a person’s disability. To be considered disabled and protected under the ADA, an individual must have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits his or her life activities. These activities include walking, talking, seeing, and learning. The ADA does not specifically name all of the covered impairments, but common examples of disabilities include using a wheelchair, needing to utilize assistive devices such as canes and walkers, blindness, deafness, a learn- ing disability, and some mental illnesses. Four key sections of the ADA that relate to healthcare are described in Figure 7.6. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications, and governmental activities also establishes requirements for telecommunications relay services Source: US Department of Justice Figure 7.6 Titles I-IV of the ADA secure specific healthcare-related rights for people who have disabilities. Healthcare-Related Sections of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title I Equal Employment Opportunities This title is designed to eliminate barriers that would deny qualified individuals with disabilities access to the same employment opportuni- ties and benefits available to those without disabilities. Employers must reasonably accommodate the disabilities of qualified applicants or employees, unless an undue hardship would result. This title prohibits discrimination in recruitment, hiring, promotions, training, pay, social activities, and other privileges of employment. It restricts questions that can be asked about an applicant’s disability before a job offer is made. Title II Public Services This title prohibits discrimination based on disability by public entities. It requires that state and local governments give people with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from all of their programs, services, and activities by providing equal access. This includes access to services and activities such as public education, recreation, healthcare, voting places, social services, courts, and town meetings. Title III Nondiscrimination by Public Accommodations and in Commercial Facilities This title mandates accessibility in all types of businesses that serve or are open to the public, including medical off ices and facilities. It also includes places such as hotels, zoos, restaurants, funeral homes, recreation facilities, movie theaters, daycare centers, con- vention centers, and health clubs. Title IV Telecommunications This title addresses telephone and television access for people with hearing and speech disabilities. It requires common carriers (telephone companies) to establish int erstate and intrastate tele- communications relay services (TRS) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. TRS enables callers with hearing and speech disabilities who use text telephones (TTYs or TDDs), and callers who use voice telephones, to communicate with each other through a third party communications assistant. Title IV also requires closed captioning of federally funded public service announcements.

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