Cari’s post is especially valuable for understanding the intricacies of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) implementation. The discussion clearly explains how HIPAA impacts the social workers’ use of Electronic Medical Records (EMR), outlining the concerns related to patient data accessibility. Indeed, when performing their work responsibilities and interacting with personal information, social workers must consider the ethical principles that guide their actions, as well as rely on HIPAA recommendations (Myers, 2009). Furthermore, it is true that social workers should also implement supplementary practices to protect sensitive knowledge according to the HIPAA guidelines.
However, given that electronic data is handled differently than paper data, it is essential to evaluate how HIPAA rules can be applied to digital data management. As such, it is imperative for the medical workers to remain aware of the practices that can compromise EMR information, for example, the copy and paste feature (Harman et al., 2012). From this perspective, social workers must not only be knowledgeable of protection practices described by Cari but should also be proficient in everyday data handling.
The discussion posted by Tomycina is also beneficial for understanding the details of the HIPAA application. Tomycina excellently highlights the advantages and potential threats of EMR utilization in patient record management, offering a more personal approach to the issue. Nevertheless, incorporating academic information to support these claims could be highly beneficial for the work. For instance, after my colleague notes that, at some agencies, social workers might have access to their personal health information, including information from relevant sources could help substantiate this knowledge.
A vital insight connected to the application of HIPAA to EMRs is the social worker’s ability to review their EMR records. Although such practices may occur, they are prohibited by HIPPA, arguing that social workers should request access to such data rather than view it themselves (Harman et al., 2012). In this regard, the majority of hospitals conduct audit trails as a security measure against uncertified access to sensitive knowledge (Harman et al., 2012). From this perspective, it is crucial for the social workers to follow the established procedures and fully comply with the accessibility guidelines to protect patient information.
References
Harman, L., Flite, C., & Bond, K. (2012). Electronic health records: Privacy, confidentiality, and security. Virtual Mentor, 14(9), 712-719.
Myers, R. (2009). The fundamentals of HIPAA. Privacy, security and electronic data transfer in clinical settings: What we need to know. Clinical Social Work Association.