1-2 Worksheet: risks and practice determining potential areas of noncompliance with HIPAA privacy and security regulations

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Question:Risk Assessments

In this worksheet, you will rank risks and practice determining potential areas of noncompliance with HIPAA privacy and security regulations.

Submit your assignment here. Make sure you’ve included all the required elements by reviewing the guidelines and rubric.

1-1 Discussion: Vulnerabilities in the Flow of Information

 

Answer

Risk Assessment Vulnerability Name Threat Source Departments Impacted Noncompliance Likelihood of Occurrence Impact Severity Risk Level Recommended Best Practice
Unencrypted data Malware, ransomware, phishing The HIM department

IT

 HIPAA requires that all data be encrypted when it is at rest (being at rest means being under storage on a disk or drive) High Medium High Use AES 256-bit encryption, which has been cited as a very strong and robust standard for encryption that is availed to computer users commercially

Ensure all the plain text passwords are in cipher text form; encrypt the plain text with keys
Security logging failure Low instances of logging and monitoring the systems HIM and IT department The healthcare facility is supposed to collect information, handle the information closely and regulate the manner of handling this information. High Medium Medium The medical facility needs to audit its logs frequently and properly; there is a need to compile, store and assess the logs
Sharing of PHI information The hard drives of the company were stolen by outsiders IT Department The question of non-compliance comes from the violation of the privacy rule; the identifiers of patients reach players who are not concerned with the health of the patient. Patient information needs to be kept within the facility and be used by those who are in charge of the health of the patient Low Medium Medium Requires setting up physical security in which to place the hard drives and prevent them from getting into the hands of external personal
               
               

Modified from HIMSS Security Risk Assessment Guide/Data Collection Matrix with permission of HIMSS.

 

Highest Priority Vulnerability

 

The highest priority vulnerability to address for compliance with HIPAA

 

The highest priority vulnerability is the use of unencrypted data concerning patients in storage drives. The data stolen may end up in the hands of those who may want to cause actual harm to the patients identified by stolen information. For instance, those that took information regarding patients from BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (BCBST) used the information for activities other than promoting the health of the patient. if this information finds its way into the hands of an individual who does not care about the well-being of the listed individuals, they may cause more damage than using the information for marketing.

 

Use your risk assessment to justify why this is the highest priority:

There are three risks present in the scenario. From the risks that are present, the stolen unencrypted data presented the highest risk priority and impact severity considering that not much is known concerning the possible use of the data stolen from the facility

1-1 Discussion: Vulnerabilities in the Flow of Information

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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.

For this project, you should select a topic and then identify four different historians who wrote about this topic from at least three different decades.

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This final project is intended for you to bring all you have learned in the course and apply it to a single topic. This is not a group project and should be completed on your own.

For this project, you should select a topic and then identify four different historians who wrote about this topic from at least three different decades. You will then read at least one chapter from an author’s book or journal article (e.g., Journal of American History) and compare and contrast the authors and how they engaged in the craft of history.

For an overview of the requirements of the final submission due next week, review WK5 Final Comparison Essay Final Submission.

Week 4 Requirements:

  • Select a topic for your essay project from the following list.
    • The English-American Colonial Era (1609-1776). You do not need to cover the entire period or all of the colonies. Focus on one colony (e.g., Virginia) or one area (e.g., New England, Mid-Atlantic, etc.) in your analysis.
    • American Revolution (1775-1783). Feel free to use American and British historians, but you are not required to use historians from both countries.
    • World War I (1914-1919). Focus on only one nation’s experience and one nation’s historians.
    • Antebellum Social/Moral Reform or Philanthropy (1776-1865).
    • U.S. Economic History (1760-2000). Use articles or books from historians, not economists.
    • American Christianity/American Religion (1609-2000). Use historians and not theologians or popular materials written by journalists.
    • U.S. Racial/Ethnic History (1900-2000). Focus on twentieth century history and not on work that deals with civil rights/race/ethnicity before 1900.
    • Any topic pre-approved by your professor. Permission via email must be specifically given in writing before the end this week.
  • Submit your selected topic with a rationale for your selection. Include the following:
    • Name the selected topic.
    • Why you chose this topic.
    • A few facts you already know of this topic.
    • Questions you have as you begin your study of this topic.

All written assignments in the history major should be formatted using Chicago Style. For assistance with Chicago Style, please refer exclusively to The Trailblazer Handbook and your professor.

identify four different historians who wrote about this topic from at least three different decades.

This week you will watch some videos which will allow you to watch 4 demonstrations of important basic counseling skills and watch 1 demonstration of what not to do when one is counseling another. From these demonstrations, you will see how others use these basic skills and you will critique the demonstrations.

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This week you will watch some videos which will allow you to watch 4 demonstrations of important basic counseling skills and watch 1 demonstration of what not to do when one is counseling another.  From these demonstrations, you will see how others use these basic skills and you will critique the demonstrations.
If you go on to a master’s program in some kind of counseling setting, you will have an opportunity to actually practice these skills.  In addition, you can use some, if not all, of these in building personal relationships – not for counseling purposes, but just to let another person know you are listening and understanding what he/she is telling you.

  • Watch the 5 PowerPoint presentations found in the Resources.  Be aware that at times the narration indicates a role play that the student will be doing; however, this is no longer required, but knowledge and understanding of the skills will be required in order to write the paper.
  • Watch the videos in the order that they are listed.
  • Present a 2.5-page paper in which you will answer the questions below.
  • A good paper will include evidence that you have watched all of the videos.  The answer to each question should include at least 2 examples from 2 different videos.
  • In addition to the text, you must include information from at least 2 academic, peer-reviewed journal articles as you assess the importance of these skills.  Academic, peer-reviewed journal articles are available by accessing the GCU library, click on databases, then click on Pro-Quest.  ARTICLES FROM THE WEB ARE NOT COUNTED AS ACADEMIC ARTICLES.

PLEASE ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN YOUR PAPER

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  • Describe the setting in which the counseling took place – was it conducive to a feeling of openness?  If so, how; if not, why not?
  • Was confidentiality described in such a way that you believe it helped the client feel comfortable and safe?  If so, how; if not, why not?
  • Were there any other ethical concerns that you noticed in any of the videos?  Indicate any that you found.
  • Assess the effectiveness of questions, both open and closed.
  • Give some examples of encouraging words and/or behavior.  How did this affect the client?
  • How effective were the times of summarizing/paraphrasing on the client?
  • Empathy is important in counseling – what examples did you see?
  • Did you see any examples of giving advice?
  • Some questions concerning how you would respond to the following:

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  • What would you do if the client’s problem conflicted with your values, e.g., wanting to divorce his/her spouse for non-biblical reasons or if the person was gay?
  • These are secular role plays.  Choose 2 of the videos and indicate what you, as a Christian counselor, would include in the process.

Click on “THREE: Role Play Critique Paper” above to submit your assignment.

engage in discussion on how de-institutionalization has been a good decision and how has it proven to be a challenge for treatment of the mentally ill. Quoting or paraphrasing from any source in discussion posts requires APA format by including an in-text citation and listing the reference at the end of the post.

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The discovery of various psychotropic medications in the 1950s was a major milestone in the treatment of mental illness.  It meant hope for those who had been in treatment for several years, both in-patient and outpatient.  To find out that some mental illnesses may have a biological cause rather than the Freudian belief of some unconscious difficulty/trauma provided an alternate explanation for those who were finding little or no relief in therapy.  In addition, hundreds of people were released from mental institutions with the idea that local community mental health agencies would take over whatever treatment was still needed for them.
Go to the OER Website: https://www.oercommons.org/authoring/46663-abnormal-psychology/view

Search online for the “effect of deinstitutionalization on treatment of mentally ill in America.”

Consider the effect of de-institutionalization on treatment for the mentally ill.

Prepare to engage in discussion on how de-institutionalization has been a good decision and how has it proven to be a challenge for treatment of the mentally ill.
Quoting or paraphrasing from any source in discussion posts requires APA format by including an in-text citation and listing the reference at the end of the post.

For this assignment, you have a choice in how you will analyze the concept of the definition of abnormal behavior.

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For this assignment, you have a choice in how you will analyze the concept of the definition of abnormal behavior.  There is a wide range of opinions on how to define abnormal behavior.  This is the reason the professional psychological community now uses the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V).  Choose one of the following options and write a 2-page paper.                       Bridley and Daffin (2013) identify 4 concepts that people use to decide whether behavior is “abnormal” or “normal.”  The question of what behavior is normal and what is abnormal defines the basis of what we will be studying, and the answers do not always make it clear as to what is the correct answer.  Often, we define abnormal behavior as that which deviates from what we ourselves consider to be normal.  However, our definition of “normal” may not agree with what others believe it to be.

  • Go to: https://opentext.wsu.edu/abnormal-psych/front-matter/table-of-contents/Consider how the four concepts listed in this section help one to discern whether behavior is normal or abnormal.
  • Prepare a 2-page paper summarizing each of the concepts in your own words.  Ensure the following points are thoroughly addressed:
    • A summary of each concept in your own words
    • The challenges of each concept if used to define behaviors as normal or abnormal
    • Give an example of deviant behavior that would be considered abnormal and an example of deviant behavior that is usually not considered to be abnormal (not examples in the text)
    • Support your writing with at least two academic sources.

identify four different historians who wrote about this topic from at least three different decades.

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This final project is intended for you to bring all you have learned in the course and apply it to a single topic.

  • For this project, select a topic and then identify four different historians who wrote about this topic from at least three different decades.
  • You will then read at least one chapter from an author’s book or journal article (e.g., Journal of American History) and compare and contrast the authors and how they engaged in the craft of history.

Essay Project Requirements:

  • Write a 3-page essay including the following:
    • A thesis paragraph toward the beginning of the paper.
    • A brief biography of each author (no more than one paragraph for each author)
    • Compare/contrast their writing styles.
    • Analyze of their sources.
    • Analyze their effectiveness.
    • A discussion of how the authors conform to the ideals set forth by Evans and Gaddis.
    • Conduct and include additional research beyond your textbooks and include in the essay.

Use this checklist to guide your writing:

  • THESIS – Easily identifiable, plausible, sophisticated, insightful, vividly clear.
  • STRUCTURE – Paragraphs within the body of the essay are logical and appropriate for the thesis. Excellent transitions from point to point.
  • EVIDENCE – Information from course texts are used to buttress every point with at least one example. Examples support the thesis and are appropriate for the paragraph.
  • ANALYSIS – Clearly relates evidence to thesis. Analysis is fresh and poses new ways to look at the material. Ideas flow logically and the argument is reasonable and sound. Counter-arguments are acknowledged and, where possible, refuted.
  • MECHANICS – Sentence structure, grammar, and diction are excellent. Uses correct use of punctuation and there are minimal spelling errors.

All written assignments in the history major should be formatted using Chicago Style. For assistance with Chicago Style, please refer exclusively to The Trailblazer Handbook and your professor.

Distinguish between major depressive disorder (unipolar) and bipolar depression.

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Along with anxiety, depression has become one of the most common mental disorders and is co-morbid with several other disorders.  Most of us can remember a time(s) when we felt sadness and helplessness.  Sometimes this was related to a specific event (e.g., death or other loss of some kind), but after a time, we were able to come out of the depressed feelings and continue our lives.  We are not talking about that kind of depression, but rather a feeling that consumes a person for a considerable length of time and can render that person unable to handle many of the challenges of life.  Sometimes, the person may fluctuate between extreme happiness and excitement (mania) and extreme depression.  This is known as bipolar depression.
Depression can be very frustrating for not only the person, but for those around him/her.  People tend to feel very helpless when it comes to helping the person who is depressed.  Sometimes others just tell the person to “get out of it” or “read your Bible/pray more.”  As indicated earlier, this can often cause the person to feel worse or feel as if he/she is not being a good Christian.  However, depression is often biologically based, caused by the misfiring of neurotransmitters.  Instead of advice, this would indicate the need for medical care and possible medications.
Again, it is vital that the student read all of the information on mood disorders found in the readings, as those who will be in the business of people helping will most assuredly have clients who suffer from this disorder.

Support your work with scholarly academic resources, textbooks, or other sources provided.  Use of APA format is required.

FIVE: Anxiety Disorders Paper

FIVE: Anxiety Disorders Paper

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Anxiety is one of the most common mental disorders in America today, along with depression.  In fact, as indicated previously, these two disorders are often suffered together (this is called co-morbidity).  There are several kinds of anxiety disorders:  Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD); Phobias (of which there are hundreds); Social Anxiety Disorder; Panic Disorder; and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.  In your work in the future as a mental health worker, you will come across all of these at one time or another, so it is essential that you read this chapter carefully in order to be able to differentiate between the various disorders.  It is important to remember that there is a difference between fear and anxiety.  Fear usually is related to some kind of danger and this helps us to remove ourselves from the threat.

Ensure that you use the Paper Writing rubric to guide your efforts and support your work with scholarly academic resources using APA format.

Ethical Organization

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Utilizing the resources provided in this unit, your own experiences, and trusted internet sources, consider an example of an ethical organization and answer the following questions:

  1. What is the nature of the organization?
  2. What activity or practice leads you to consider that organization ethical?
  3. What ethical theory or principle did you apply to determine if it was ethical?