Policy Analysis
Organizational policy alignment and adherence to laws and regulations are critical for overall corporate compliance and to decrease organizational risks (patient falls, medication errors, cyber hacks and PHI data breaches, infection control, et cetera). In this assignment, you will select, evaluate, and update one health care provider's policy related to a significant regulatory risk to the health care organization.
If you do not work in the industry or do not have access to a health care policy, use the Hahnemann Falls PolicyLinks to an external site. to complete this assignment, following these instructions:
As you can see, this policy was written in 2012. Now, imagine you are a health care administrator working at the health care organization where this policy originates from.
Analyze the policy, taking into consideration the changes in HIPAA and PHI since 2012.
Evaluate what information and where that information would need to be updated for a current revision of this document.
Locate the areas where you would update or add information to this 2012 version. Propose revisions that are based on current identified standards and/or new guidelines that you have researched in the text or identified in other high-quality sources (that is, journals, government websites, and the like).
Analyze the significance of the selected policy updates as it relates to potential litigation. (Why did the policy need updating? What threats do these changes help avoid?)
Sample Solution
The Hahnemann Falls Policy is a document that outlines the procedures for reporting and investigating falls at the Hahnemann Falls Health Care Center. The policy was written in 2012, and it is based on the standards and guidelines that were in place at that time.Full Answer Section
hanges in HIPAA and PHI since 2012 Since 2012, there have been a number of changes to HIPAA and PHI regulations. These changes include:- The implementation of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which expanded the scope of HIPAA regulations and increased the penalties for non-compliance.
- The development of new standards for electronic health records (EHRs), which require healthcare organizations to implement more secure systems for storing and transmitting PHI.
- The rise of mobile health (mHealth) technologies, which create new challenges for protecting PHI.
- The policy should be updated to include the new standards for EHRs.
- The policy should be updated to address the specific challenges of protecting PHI in mHealth applications.
- The policy should be updated to include the new penalties for non-compliance with HIPAA regulations.