Introduction
Healthcare policy is the term used to refer to the system of laws, rules, and regulations that govern how healthcare services are provided in a given region. The government usually manages the implementation of health policy and delivery systems. In addition to providing guidelines for operating hospitals and other healthcare establishments, these policies should include details about how patients can access treatment or care. Healthcare policy concerns issues such as the availability of health services, the quality of care, patient choice in accessing care, outcomes measurement, and accountability. Health policy development is concerned with creating a system that works effectively. Therefore, the paper focuses on how data privacy and IT security health policy relate to Florida’s nursing or healthcare sector.
Analysis
The data privacy and IT security health policy on nursing in Florida is a complete and comprehensive health policy. It provides clear guidance to nurses and nursing students on protecting their information and ensuring that it is appropriately stored, used, and shared (Salvage & White, 2019). The policy describes the steps taken by the nursing school to protect the information; it outlines the responsibilities of each party involved in this process; it states what types of information may be collected, stored, and shared; it guides how to handle incidents where someone’s privacy has been breached, and it describes what happens when someone asks for access to this information.
Application of the Policy
The application of Data privacy and IT security Health Policy in nursing into clinical practice ensures that the health information collected and maintained by the nursing staff can be used safely and securely. Usually, this policy will also ensure that all patient’s rights are protected when involved in any healthcare setting. In Florida, Data privacy and IT security are major public health issues (Zhu et al., 2019). The state has seen an increase in cyber-attacks and data breaches, with healthcare organizations being some of the hardest hit. Data privacy is an ethical issue involving protecting personal information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, and modification. A breach can occur when this information is stolen or exposed to unauthorized individuals. Therefore, the nursing profession has an ethical obligation to safeguard personal details to protect patients’ confidentiality. The nursing profession also has a legal obligation to maintain patient information confidentiality, which can be enforced by reporting breaches to the police or other authorities who have power over them.
The application of Data privacy and IT security into clinical practice is a complex subject that encompasses many aspects of health care and patient care. For example, the main reason nurses use electronic medical records in Florida is to ensure that patients receive the correct medication at the correct dosage. However, this can be achieved by monitoring a patient’s blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature. Another advantage of using an electronic medical record is that it allows nurses to see whether or not a patient has been taking their medication on time. If they do not take their medication regularly or at all, then this could lead to complications in the long term, such as an overdose which may cause them to become very ill or even die. Electronic medical records also help nurses monitor patients’ physical well-being by recording any changes in their weight or height, which can give them insight into whether or not they are getting enough nutrition through food intake.
Florida is one of the most health-conscious states in the United States. However, like any other state, Florida hospitals are susceptible to data breaches. In order to prevent this, nurses in Florida use electronic medical records in a clinical setting. Electronic medical records (EMRs) are important for care delivery and patient safety. They allow nurses to share real-time treatment information with other healthcare providers to provide better patient care (Alagar et al., 2018). With the help of EMRs, nurses can capture all relevant information about a patient’s condition from different sources, such as lab results, test results, and X-rays; and then make sure that each piece of information is entered properly into the EMR system before it is sent out to another person who needs it. Nurses must stay vigilant while using these tools because there are numerous ways hackers can get their hands on them without anyone noticing until it is too late. By sharing their EMRs with other health professionals, nurses can ensure that patients receive high-quality care by providing them with all of the necessary information about their illness or injury at once instead of having it spread out over several visits or phone calls between different doctors and nurses across multiple offices.
Nurses in Florida use EMRs to reduce the potential for error when recording patient information, which could increase the chance of misdiagnosis or medication errors. Electronic medical records allow nurses to easily track patients’ progress over time, allowing them to provide better treatment for each patient based on their unique needs (Jensen et al., 2021). Nurses can also access patient histories from previous visits and make notes about each visit, so they do not have to repeat this information repeatedly during future visits. Hence, this helps reduce the likelihood that patients will experience confusion or distress when receiving care at different facilities or hospitals, which is particularly important given that Florida has over fifty hospitals within its borders.
In Florida, data privacy and IT security policy are important to medical practice because they can be used to improve patient care and the safety of the healthcare industry. The policy aims to protect patient data, which includes personally identifiable information (PII). This data can include a patient’s name, address, phone number, and medical history. The policy also aims to protect the identity of patients during clinical trials and research (Benton et al., 2020). The policy states that doctors should not share PII with anyone who does not have a legitimate reason for being given access to it. They must also ensure that any information about their patients is kept confidential. Finally, the policy also aims to prevent unauthorized access to records or files containing PII from outside sources, such as hackers or other organizations seeking to use this information against its owner.
Recommendations
The first recommendation is to have well-defined data privacy and IT security strategy. This strategy should be developed by the health organization’s management team based on its mission, vision, and strategic goals. It should also include a detailed description of how employees are expected to comply with state and federal laws protecting personal information from unauthorized access.
Another recommendation is for health organizations to maintain a comprehensive inventory of all protected information systems and databases so that they can be reviewed periodically for compliance with regulatory requirements (Alagar et al., 2018). The inventory should also include details about how sensitive data is being stored and protected from accidental loss or disclosure; how sensitive data is being managed; what kind of training has been provided for personnel who use or manage sensitive data; whether there are policies prohibiting employee use of personal devices while performing work duties related to protected information systems; what types of safeguards are in place to prevent unauthorized access.
The following recommendations are for use by all staff and nurses in Florida. Ongoing training on properly handling electronic medical records is required for all staff members. Usually, this includes training for managers, doctors, nurses, etc. All employees must be trained to recognize fake medical records that steal personal information from patients’ files. All computers used by employees must be password protected with a minimum of eight characters worth of letters and numbers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this policy aims to inform Florida nurses how they can mitigate these risks while remaining compliant with state laws regarding privacy and security. Nurses should be aware that every state has laws governing the privacy and security of medical records. In Florida, nurses must be aware of these laws when using EMRs to ensure that they act following them while protecting patient privacy. While there are many laws governing how patients or providers access health information, there are few laws governing how it can be shared outside those individuals who need it for medical purposes.
References
Alagar, V., Alsaig, A., Ormandjiva, O., & Wan, K. (2018, August). Context-based security and privacy for healthcare IoT. In 2018 IEEE International Conference on Smart Internet of Things (SmartIoT) (pp. 122-128). IEEE.DOI: 10.1109/SmartIoT.2018.00-14
Benton, D. C., Watkins, M. J., Beasley, C. J., Ferguson, S. L., & Holloway, A. (2020). Evidence‐based policy: nursing now and the importance of research synthesis. International Nursing Review, 67(1), 52–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12572
Jensen, Magnus T., et al. “ESC working group on e-cardiology position paper: Use of commercially available wearable technology for heart rate and activity tracking in primary and secondary cardiovascular prevention—in collaboration with the European Heart Rhythm Association, European Association of Preventive Cardiology, Association of Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professionals, Patient Forum, and the Digital Health Committee.” European Heart Journal-Digital Health 2.1 (2021): 49–59. https://doi.org/10.1093/ehjdh/ztab011
Salvage, J., & White, J. (2019). Nursing leadership and health policy: everybody’s business. International nursing review, 66(2), 147–150. https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12523
Zhu, R., Han, S., Su, Y., Zhang, C., Yu, Q., & Duan, Z. (2019). The application of big data and the development of nursing science: a discussion paper. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 6(2), 229–234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2019.03.001
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