Nursing Informatics in Health Care
Introduction
Health Informatics experts are managed by federal, state, and local laws and a code of ethics developed by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). According to the Global Journal of Health Science, in 2001, the American Nurse Association (ANA) presented Nursing Informatics as a field that combines nursing with the computer as well as information science to serve as data management and skills and knowledge within the nursing profession. Since this particular field is apparently new and evolves faster, thanks to the fast-moving technological advances, keeping up with the legal and ethical issues can be problematic. Health employees and consultants, health policymakers, and medical researchers are some of the few expert individuals influenced by shifting laws and ethical practices. Hire our assignment writing services if your assignment is devastating you.
Every aspect of the health informatics field is influenced in certain ways by ethical and legal concerns. The issues importantly come down to finding a way to balance the desire to protect the security of patient information with the potential for appropriate healthcare and results linked with higher interoperability and enhanced ability to share records among healthcare institutions.
Legal Issues Related to Health Care Informatics and Nursing Informatics
One of the most important current laws affecting health informatics is the Privacy Act of 1974. This law requires that federal agencies provide public notice of their records systems by publishing them in the Federal Register. It also requires written consent from subjects before a record can be released and provides a process by which subjects can access or change their records (Green & Thomas, 2008).
Other important regulatory rulings and organizations include The Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records regulations, which provide additional protections of privacy for patients in substance abuse treatment programs regulated by the federal government (Darvish et al., 2014). The second one includes the Institutional Review Board (IRB), which is established by various government health sciences bodies (federal and/or state) to protect the rights, welfare, and well-being of human research participants and patients. The third legal issue involves the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (the Joint Commission), which rules on the eligibility of hospitals and other organizations to participate in Medicare (Darvish et al., 2014).
The fourth issue involves the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which was enacted in 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to promote the adoption of health information technology, as well as to ensure compliance on the institutional level. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) strengthened the privacy protections of patients regarding the sharing of medical information, particularly as it relates to employment (Green & Thomas, 2008). Finally, The Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA), in 2012, strengthened the FDA’s ability to speed patient access to digital records and improve the safety of drugs, medical devices, and biological products and the 21st Century Cures Act, which became law in December 2016, is designed to accelerate the development of medical technology and improve patient access to technological advances in medicine (Warm & Thomas, 2011).
Ethical Issues Related to Health Care Informatics and Nursing Informatics
AHIMA’s Code of Ethics explains that the “ethical obligations of the health information management (HIM) professional include the safeguarding of privacy and security of health information; disclosure of health information; development, use, and maintenance of health information systems and health information; and ensuring the accessibility and integrity of health information.” It also gives seven purposes for the code of ethics: The promotion of high standards of health information management practice (Samadbeik et al., 2015). Similarly, the identification of core values of the health information management mission. Again, this is a summary of the broad ethical principles that reflect the core values. Establishment of ethical principles used to guide decisions and actions. Establishment of a framework for professional resolution of conflicts and ethical uncertainties (Green & Thomas, 2008). Providing ethical principles that allow the public to hold health information management professionals accountable. Providing opportunities for mentors to guide new practitioners in ethics education. The code also establishes standards for ethical coding and standards for clinical documentation improvement.
Evidence Based-Practice Strategies in the Protection of Health Information
Privacy and confidentiality in healthcare organizations have become increasingly important due to advanced technology integration in healthcare, but maintaining a working knowledge of current and projected security threats can be difficult (Green & Thomas, 2008). The ways of communication, as well as allotment of information, are ensured and then automated within the computerized healthcare information systems, which increases the risk of illegal transmission of protected healthcare confidential information. Healthcare organizations and healthcare workers have a legal obligation to keep information of the patients, staff, and attached persons safe.
The strategy of controlling access, identification of what degree of information is required, and allowing the user name and password (Warm & Thomas, 2011). User name and password, biometric identification techniques such as fingerprints, iris scanning, and face and voice recognition systems are the perfect ways to limit the access to important information of the patients and a working electronic signing process (Samadbeik et al., 2015). The password consists of needing that they will get altered at the set interval with the creation of the least number of features and limiting the reapplication of the passwords.
In conclusion, health informatics professionals are managed by various federal, state, and local laws and codes of ethics which help in achieving patients’ privacy. Healthcare and nursing informatics require healthcare interdisciplinary such as nurses, pharmacists, clinicians, information technologists, and nursing informatics to collaborate to protect patient information privacy and confidentiality. The knowledge and guidelines of the security system should be provided through the education, consultation, and function of staff, and nursing informatics is suggested to determine appropriate tactics for enhancing E-nursing documentation in association with the various health stakeholders.
References
Darvish, A., Bahramnezhad, F., Keyhanian, S., &Navidhamidi, M. (2014). The role of nursing informatics on promoting quality of health care and the need for appropriate education. Global journal of health science, 6(6), 11–18. https://doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v6n6p11
Green, S. D., & Thomas, J. D. (2008). Interdisciplinary collaboration and the electronic medical record. Pediatric Nursing, 34(3), 225-7, 240. http://library.capella.edu/login?qurl=https %3A%2F%2Fsearch.proquest.com%2Fdocview%2F199535032%3Faccountid %3D27965
Samadbeik, M., Gorzin, Z., Khoshkam, M., &Roudbari, M. (2015). Managing the security of nursing data in the electronic health record. Acta informatica medica : AIM : journal of the Society for Medical Informatics of Bosnia & Herzegovina : casopisDrustva za medicinskuinformatikuBiH, 23(1), 39–43. https://doi.org/10.5455/aim.2015.23.39-43
Warm, D., & Thomas, B. (2011). A review of the effectiveness of the clinical informaticist role. Nursing Standard (through 2013), 25(44), 35-38. http://library.capella.edu/login? qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.proquest.com%2Fdocview%2F879335777%3Faccou
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Question
Nurses at the baccalaureate level in all practice areas are involved in nursing informatics through interaction with information management and patient care technologies. Nurses must not only demonstrate knowledge of and skills in health information and patient care technologies but also how to use these tools at the bedside and organizational levels. Moreover, nurses need to recognize how information gathered from various health information sources can impact decision-making at the national and state regulatory levels.
Preparation
To successfully prepare for this assessment, you will need to complete these preparatory activities:
Review assessment resources and activities.
Conduct independent research on the nursing knowledge and skills necessary to interact with health information and patient care technology.
Focus your research on current resources available through peer-reviewed articles, professional websites, government websites, professional blogs, wikis, job boards, and so on.
Consult the BSN Program Library Research Guide for help in identifying scholarly and authoritative sources.