The issue of privacy in healthcare is one that crops up and occupies centerstage every now and again, typically every time there is a violation that results in a large legal settlement or payout that captures newsreader attention. However some fundamental issues merit discussion in this regard.
1. Privacy is independent of technology use – it is a state of mind and habit. As an entity providing remote healthcare services we are beholden to our clients to remain compliant at all times to the HIPAA. We realize though that physical security is of equal importance to electronic.
2. It needs to be regulated in the same manner as all healthcare does. Regulation is important as it defines the measures that need to be constantly taken to ensure that there is maximum protection of patient health information as a discipline.
3. Massive punitive damages that tend to be seen in this space are related to the fact that violations tend to represent the tip of the iceberg. Also the violation of individual patient confidentiality has repercussions that extend from that of mental distress to the individual aggrieved party to major financial repercussions to a larger entity, as in the hypothetical case of the CEO of a large corporation whose positive test result revealing a terminal condition is accidentally released in a public forum.