Introduction
Breaches that expose the health details of just a patient or two are increasing rapidly. Health providers are required to notify the Office of Civil Rights within 60 days of breaches affecting at least 500 people and also must share details with the media and contact those potentially affected. Note this wall has been dubbed the “Wall of Shame.” U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, Breach Portal (Links to an external site.) What is HHS’ Wall of Shame? (Links to an external site.)
Tasks
Write a 2-3 page paper (minimum two full pages, not including cover page and reference page) on a current event involving violations of medical privacy using current breaches and the Breach Portal. Lookup any of the current breaches (…within the past 6 months and see if you can find any news on one of these breaches. You might be surprised how many breaches occur in Arkansas, Some examples of places to look are HIPAA Journal (Links to an external site.), Health IT Security (Links to an external site.), and Netsec News (Links to an external site.) among others ). Typed written submissions are expected to be of quality in expression, grammar, and logic. The paper should be double spaced with 12-point font size, check spelling and grammar. Students must cite all references.
You can also use the Grammarly program (Links to an external site.) as a free app that can help you identify and correct some of the basic spelling, grammar, and word usage errors in your writing.
Using Purdue’s Online Writing Lab Purdue Online Writing Lab (Links to an external site.) as a tool, type your paper in proper APA General Format.
Some questions to address in your paper…
How many individuals were affected by the breach?
Type of breach: (hacking, theft, unauthorized access, etc)
Type of Protected Health Information involved in the Breach (clinical, demographic, financial, other, etc)
Brief description of the breach:
What safeguards were in place prior to breach if noted?
What actions were taken in response to the breach (adopted encryption technologies, changed password/strengthened password requirements etc)
Should this warning system be used on all employees with regards to accessing information, including doctors, nurses, administration?
Was media notice required?