Stephanie is a human-services policy analyst who works with the state-run psychiatric hospital system. Her job is to facilitate discharges of patients to the community by coordinating with local mental-health centers and providers of care to make sure that the patient has adequate and immediate post-discharge care. Stephanie received a call from a parole officer of a 25-year-old undocumented-immigrant patient named Kevin, who was in the hospital. The parole officer indicated that Kevin violated parole by abusing illegal substances prior to the admission to the state hospital. The parole officer asked questions about Kevin's diagnoses, where he was being discharged to, and the staff involved in his care while hospitalized. You have been asked to determine if Stephanie can legally and ethically answer these questions and provide confidential health information about Kevin to the parole officer.

 

For this milestone, you will submit a draft of the introduction, including all critical elements listed below. Review the Ethical Standards for Human Services Professionals. (https://www.nationalhumanservices.org/ethical-standards-for-hs-professionals) Analyze the codes of ethics that relate to the release of health information and how they correlate with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. Include the major legal concerns that have arisen by allowing the release of health information. Review hospital-specific legal and ethical considerations when releasing confidential patient information to other providers of care upon discharge from a hospital. Conduct an analysis of the challenges faced by agencies holding health information experience and how these issues are commonly resolved. Review strategies used by other large health and human services agencies to prevent legal suits being brought against them.

 

1. Introduction: The National Organization for Human Services (NOHS) Ethical Standards and Legal Considerations in Human Services Practices Review and analyze the codes of ethics and legal considerations within the human services field.
   1. What NOHS ethical standards relate to the release of health information in the human services field? Include your rationale for how you determined which standard applies.
   2. What legal issues relate to the release of health information? Use citations to substantiate your claims.
   3. What are some of the ramifications for inappropriately releasing confidential information about a patient or client in a hospital setting?
   4. What challenges does an agency/hospital experience in relation to complying with laws and regulations?
   5. In a case where health records were to be released to a court, would you do to prepare for court? Include other issues that should be considered by agencies or hospitals to ensure compliance when releasing healthcare and other confidential information.