1-1 Discussion: Vulnerabilities in the Flow of Information
Question
this discussion, you will identify potential vulnerabilities in the flow of information that potentially lead to noncompliance with HIPAA regulations.
To begin, introduce yourself to your classmates and instructor. Briefly discuss your background, describe your professional goals, explain what you hope to gain from this course, and share what you enjoy doing in your free time.
Then, reflect on a real-life work experience in a healthcare setting in which you had direct or indirect involvement with possible vulnerabilities or gaps of noncompliance with HIPAA in relation to the flow of protected information within the organization. If you have not worked in a healthcare setting, reflect on an article from a current event source. In your initial post, complete the following:
- Provide two examples of vulnerabilities or gaps of noncompliance with HIPAA that might exist in a healthcare organization.
- What are the vulnerabilities and why might they exist?
- How do they lead to the potential of noncompliance with HIPAA?
In response to your peers, consider their initial posts and provide best practices for how these vulnerabilities might be addressed.
To complete this assignment, review the Discussion Rubric.
Answers
Hello all! Good to be back in class with all of you. My name is .., and I work as an HIM Technician for a large hospital in my state. My professional goals are a bit scattered at the moment, as I’m still deciding whether or not to transition into IT, or perhaps take the skills I’ve learned elsewhere and go into a more medical software type field.
As far as any vulnerabilities or gaps are concerned, I haven’t had to deal with much regarding that, as my employer is generally quite good about dealing with those situations. The situations I’ve dealt with personally involved some minor breaches in protocol, but nothing of great severity.
The two examples I’d give are related to the accidental releasing of information to unauthorized parties, and the overall underlying issues surrounding dealing with the family members of deceased patients. Vulnerabilities like these exist because it can sometimes be difficult to identify who the authorized parties are, though a series of either communication issues, language barriers, etc. Noncompliance in situations such as these is an issue as it represents incidences of breaches which are very serious and need to be dealt with accordingly.
