How does HIPAA and ethical considerations affect the data management process?

HIPAA is a federal law that governs how protected health information (PHI) is collected, stored, shared, and accessed. It rewuires that organizations take strict measures to safeguard patient data. First, it limits access to PHI to only those with a “need to know.” Patients have the right to access, amend, and get a copy of their health records. Secondly,  it requires physical, technical, and administrative safeguards to protect electronic PHI (ePHI). Includes encryption, access controls, and audit trails. It also mandates timely notification to affected individuals and HHS when a data breach occurs. According to HIPAA, only the minimum necessary information should be disclosed when using or sharing PHI.

What steps did you take in data collection to ensure that patient information was secure and confidential?

Ehical principles guide how healthcare professionals handle sensitive information—especially when laws may not cover every scenario. To ensure that patient data is safe and secure, I would observe the ethical principles. For instance, the principle of confidentiality, which focuses on respecting the trust patients place in providers by protecting their private health information. Also, the principle of autonomy, which ensures that patients have the right to know how their data is used and to give informed consent. Besides, the principles of beneficence & nonmaleficence could play a role in ensuring that patient information is secure and confidential. They ensure that data should is used to benefit the patient and never used in a way that causes harm. Furthermore, the principle of Justice, which ensures that data is managed fairly, without discrimination or bias in how it’s collected, used, or shared.

Ethically, even if a law allows sharing anonymized data for research, a provider may still choose to get explicit consent from patients to maintain trust and transparency. APA