Abstract

Smartphones and social media have become part and parcel of most professions today. In healthcare, this technology has shown to be quite helpful in the interaction between doctors or nurses and patients. Some patients can confidently share some of their information when they are not talking to a medical practitioner face to face, and smartphones have facilitated the process. However, misuse of smartphones and social media can lead to dire consequences both on the medical practitioner and the patient. Some rules need to be incorporated into the nursing guidelines to prevent this from happening. Also, the healthcare facilities should take the initiative to educate the medical practitioners on the impacts that the smartphones and social media could cause. This paper will discuss the effects of this technology and what can be done to mitigate the negative impact. The discussion will be based on a case study scenario where a nurse makes a naïve decision and sends some private information to his friend via the social media.

Keywords: healthcare ethics, HIPAA, social media

Technology and Patient’s Privacy

Introduction

Technology is an excellent addition to the healthcare industry. It enhances medical care services by making it easier to access patient’s data and promotes the involvement of the patients in decision-making processes that concern their health. However, technology also has its drawbacks in healthcare. The biggest concern that comes into one’s mind when technology is mentioned in the healthcare sector is the patient’s privacy (Tovino, 2016). The ethics of nursing and any other medical-related profession is the privacy of the patients. The personal data accessed by the nurses and physicians should remain confidential to ensure the safety of the patient. It also makes sure that the patient’s dignity is not impacted. Social media, if not used with a great deal of wisdom, could end up reducing the safety of the patient’s information. The purpose of this paper is to explain the disadvantages of social media in the healthcare industry and how these effects could be prevented. The explanation will refer to a scenario where a nurse naively releases a patient’s photos to one of her friends and is approached by a gossip paper company to give them the pictures at a price.

Discussion of the Scenario

As a nurse, I am guided and restricted by the law about the patient’s safety. The safety, in this case, refers to the patient’s health condition and their private information. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was put in place to protect the security and privacy of the patient’s data (Tovino, 2016). The information protected by this Act is the protected health information or PHI, which is the information that can be identified as private. Such data include age, address, phone number, previous and present health information, and the payment for the health services.

In the scenario presented, I – as the nurse – take a picture of the patient’s body and private data. This move is against the provisions of the Act because as I do that, I do not respect the privacy of the singer and sending the photos to one of my friends is risking the safety of the patient. The Act is directly related to this scenario because the data in question is sent through electronic transmission and it directly impacts the security and privacy of the client.

I am approached by a gossip paper company, the Gossip Gazette, and their main aim is to make this information available to the public, and the organization can make a fortune out of it. Since such news is quite hard to come by, the company offers me $20,000, which is quite a right amount of money considering my financial state. HIPAA allows the medical practitioners who are working on the health of the patient to access their private data. However, the same law does not permit disclosure of such data to other people without the authorization of the owner or the next of kin (Tovino, 2016). As such, I am prevented by HIPAA from disclosing the information I have to the Gossip Gazette regardless of the prize money. Moreover, selling one’s health privacy to a stranger is against the basic ethics of nursing.

Implications of selling the Patient’s Privacy

The Gossip Gazette approach just means that they want me to sell them the information I have, which is entirely confidential. An error in judgment led me to disclose some of the data to my friend who saw a financial opportunity in the process. The implications of the decisions I make at this stage are very crucial not only in my career but also the safety of the patient. Despite him being a famous musician, some things should remain confidential for their physical security and the protection of his privacy.

One of the implications is that once the data is made available to the public, the security of the patient remains in the hands of a stranger. Since the information that I am supposed to sell include; the home address and cellphone number, the patient, could be at risk because there are many dangerous people out there. It is important to note that although the public knows the addresses of many people, not everyone appreciates making their private lives known to the world because of various reasons. Another impact that could come as a result of making such information public is the destruction of one’s dignity. Once this value is destroyed, one’s self-esteem may be lowered to the levels which could have severe repercussions for the health of the one involved (Adib-Hajbaghery&Aghajani, 2015). There are some cases where such people ended up committing suicide because they could not handle how the public viewed them.

Rules regarding smartphones and social media should be incorporated into the laws guiding the healthcare practitioners To mitigate the issues that come about due to such scenarios. This rules should state when and how smartphones  can be used by practitioners during working hours. The medical practitioners should also be taught of the same to enhance their decision-making process because some skills are usually learned along the way.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Smartphones

Smartphones and social media enhance communication among medical practitioners and between them and the patients. The interaction among the medics helps them to exchange ideas that could further improve their experience in the industry. This technology also helps the physicians follow up the progress of a patient’s treatment strictly (Mendelson& Wolf, 2017). Having a regular communication system with the patients makes it possible for the doctors or nurses to know more about the medical situation.

The disadvantage of this technology, however, is that the patient’s privacy is sometimes in jeopardy because some internet platforms are not safe. Also, a misjudgment by one of the medical practitioners could lead to loss of protection of the patient’s privacy. Another disadvantage is that it could distract a medical practitioner when he or she is dealing with a medical problem. Such distractions could negatively affect the treatment decisions made by the doctor.

The primary professional principle that come with the use of this technology is confidentiality (Mendelson & Wolf, 2017). The privacy of the patient should always be prioritized regardless of the situation unless the patient or their next of kin authorizes the process. Also, the nursing ethics state that one should not make a decision that could end up hurting the patient in one way or another.

Conclusion

Technology can be quite an essential factor in the healthcare industry, but its misuse could also lead to severe problems. Disclosing this information to a stranger or a friend without the patient’s conscience could impact his or her security. Laws are guiding the transmission of this data over the internet and are stated under the HIPAA. Therefore, reflecting the mistakes in this scenario and possible outcomes, it is important always to let the excitement influence the final decision.

Reference

Adib-Hajbaghery, M., &Aghajani, M. (2015). Patients dignity in nursing. Nurs Midwifery Stud, 4(1), e22809.

Mendelson, D., & Wolf, G. (2017). Health Privacy and Confidentiality.

Tovino, S. A. (2016). Complying with the HIPAA Privacy Rule: Problems and Perspectives.

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