HIPAA is a privacy rule that is set up to protect a patient's person health information. This personal health information coverage gives a patient a number of rights on how their medical records are kept and who has the right to view them. The HIPAA privacy rule has a number od safeguards for the covered entitles to ensure that confidentiality and integrity of any electronic health information. The HIPAA rule only applies to covered entities. If the person, agencies, or organization can meetr what is considered a covered entity, they must observe with the rulea and requirements to protect the privacy and security of health information and must provide individuals with certain rights with respect to their health information. If an enity is not a covered entity, it does not have to comply with the Privacy Rule or the Security Rule. An entity would be classified into three categores. A health care provider is considered an entity if they transmit patient information in electronic form that is connected with a transaction. A physician, clinic, dentist, psychologist, chiropractor, pharmacy, hospitals, and a nursing home would be considered a health care provider. Another category would be a healh plan. Health insurance companies, HMO's, private company health plans which include those that are self-insured, and government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and the military and verterans health care programs. These health care programs are paid by the U.S. Government. The final category is health care clearing house which includes entities that process nonstandard health information they receive from another entity into a standard electronic format or data content, or vice versa. The HIPAA Rule has not come with its detractors. The Hasting Center Report, a journal that includes articles on ethical issues health care and life science, suggest the HIPAA is often termed as a privacy rule. It is not. HIPAA is a disclosure regulation, and it has effectively dismantled the longstanding mortal and legal tradition of patient confidebtiality. By permitting broad and easy dissemination of patients, medical ethics, and the effectiveness of medcial care. The impact of HIPAA has brought on new ways to find patients information. The World Wide Web is not a safe harbor for information that is transmitted. It is hidden with hackers who are exploiting patient's medical records. Along with the hackers, there is the large amount of paper work that is involved and burden physicians and their staff. With this increaased paper work there has been, there have been an increasing amount of companies and for hire consultants who allegedly can help care professionals find their waythrough the HIPAA maze of paper work and help organizations adhere to the provision. There has beenincidents where physician's offices are requiring patients to pick up test results and not send them to them to the patient electronically. There have been incidents were the physician's office are requiring pstirntd to pick up tesr results a physcian to submit written request on their letterhead. It seems that physcians maybe too cautious. One ethical factor that comes into play regarding HIPAA would be the exchange of information from one health care facility to another or one health care professional to another. An example would be, there is a patient who has a condition where if they were to receive ferility treatments, it could harm a fetus. The physician and the health care facility don't know abou her current condition but her former physician and health care facility does. The current physician have the right to inform the other physician the other physician have the right to inform the other physician. The belief of what is on the best interest of the patient would come into play. The facility
