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Introduction
Records are very important in every administrative work. In medical services, record plays an important role in health service provision. Medical records entail an orderly documentation of medical information and history of a patient. Medical records comprises of physical and electronic record about individual’s medical information. Medical records are sensitive; information about an individual’s health information ought to be protected. Health Insurance and Portability Act (HIPAA) 1996 was passed with an aim of protecting privacy of medical records. The act provides guideline on how medical health information may be shared. HIPAA allow each state to define laws that give guidelines to health providers and other institutions holding individuals’ medical information on how they can share the information. The case involving Mrs. Anderson and daughter, Sandra is an example of challenges faced in keeping medical records.
Overview
Sandra is diagnosed as pregnant. She reveals to the physician that she had been impregnated by her stepfather. Since Sandra is 15 years old, she is regarded by law as a minor. The mother, as a parent has responsibility to her. The act by the stepfather leads to child abuse. The legal and ethical issues raised in the case involves keeping medical record and playing the role of mandated reported in the case.
Mandated Reporter
Mandated reporters are individuals that are mandated by law to report cases of abuse to children or incapacitated adults. Any person with information about abuse of a child qualifies as a mandated reporter. Medical provider, dentist practitioners, and clergy that have information on an abuse qualify as mandated reporters (Roach, W, 2003, p 63). In this case, the physician to whom Sandra reveals the information about her case qualifies as mandated reporter. The mother, Mrs. Anderson also qualifies as a mandated reporter after she received information about the abuse. Mandated reporter have legal obligation to report the information they have to the relevant authorities. Failure to reports the case can result to legal consequences. In this case, Mrs. Anderson have legal obligation to report the case to the necessary authorities regardless of her relation with the perpetrator.
The law offers legal immunity to any mandated reporter who reveals information to the authorities within stipulated time and in good faith. The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act requires that a mandated reported reports the case of abuse to the authorities immediately (Roach, W, 2003, p67). Failure to report or conspiracy to hind evidence may lead to legal consequences. Mrs. Anderson has responsibility to report the case to authorities. Failure to report or her conspiracy to hind evidence for family unity may lead to her prosecution.
Access to Sandra’s Medical Records
As parent to Sandra, Mrs Anderson has legal right to medical records of her child. However, her right to access Sandra’s medical record is limited by the fact that the case involved reproductive care information (Health Insurance Portable and Accountability Act, 2006, par 7-8). To receive medical record of her daughter, Mrs Anderson is required by Connecticut to make a formal application for the record within one month. However, the health provider has right to deny Mrs. Anderson access to health records of her daughter. In this case, Sandra has right to access reproductive health care without the consent of her mother. She is also entitled to privacy of information revealed to health provider (Health Insurance Portable and Accountability Act, 2006, par 5-6). However, information revealed to the physicians may be revealed to a third party when the information is necessary for health care provision to her. HPAA also provides that the medial information may be revealed when needed for legal issues.
Mrs. Anderson has no right to change Sandra’s medical records. According to Connecticut law, parents do not always have the right to receive and amend medical records of their children (Pritts, J. Kudszus, N. & Health Policy Institute Georgetown University, 2006, par 7). If the medical service provider belies that a parent is abusing a child or want to access the record for malicious reasons, then access to medical record can be denied.
Solution
Cases such as that involving Mrs. Anderson and her daughter can be avoided through a health record policy (Roach, W, 2003, p77). The health institution ought to prepare and implement its health records policy to provide guidance to its health workers on how to deals with health record privacy issues. HPAA and Connecticut law provides framework through which the policy could be prepared. Sandra’s case involves an insider to the health institution. To avoid cases where insiders changes or colludes with other individual to changes records of their relatives, the institution should adopt a distributed electronic health record that provide distributed mechanism for changing records.
Conclusion
Privacy is very important to medical health records. Sensitivity of health information calls for a lot of care when keeping and revealing the records. In Mrs. Anderson and Sandra’s case, the physician qualifies as a mandated reporter to sex abuse against Sandra. The physician has legal obligation to report the case to the authorities; failure to report can lead to legal consequences. Although, Mrs. Anderson, in normal circumstances, has legal right to her daughter’s health records, in this case the health institution can deny her the right. However, Mrs. Anderson has no right to alter the records.
Reference List
Health Insurance Portable and Accountability Act (2006). Health Insurance Portable and Accountability Act. Web.
Pritts, J. Kudszus, N. & Health Policy Institute Georgetown University. (2006). Your Medical Record Rights In Connecticut. The National of Medicine. Web.
Roach, W. (2003). Medical records and the law. New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
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