Question

LEGAL, AND ETHICAL ISSUES 256 HEALTHCARE PRIVACY, CONFIDENTIALITY, section 4 . CASE 4-39 American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Code of Ethics You have a learner in your department who has asked you how you as an HIM professional can exhibit ethical behavior. You tell the learner about the AHIMA Code of Ethics and walk her through each of the standards of the code. 1. Document how you as an HIM professional can comply with each standard. 2. Why is a code of ethics important? 3. What does the AHIMA Code of Ethics mean to you and your career?

Answer 1

1. HIM professionals should work by following the main three points :-

- act with integrity

- behave in a trustworthy manner

- promote high standards of practice

2. Code of ethics are important because they are principles which guide us between right and wrong . Following ethics is one of the rules and regulations in every Organization . Ethics concern an individual's moral judgements about right and wrong. Decisions taken within an organisation may be made by individuals or groups, but whoever makes them will be influenced by the culture of the company. Ethical behaviour and corporate social responsibility can bring significant benefits to a business.

3. AHIMA code of ethics :-

1. Advocate, uphold and defend the individual's right to privacy and the doctrine of confidentiality in the use and disclosure of information.

1.1 safeguard all confidential patient information to include, but not limited to, personal, health, financial, genetic, and outcome information.

1.2 Engage in social and political action that supports the protection of privacy and confidentiality, and be aware of the impact of the political arena on the health information issues for the healthcare industry.

1.3 Advocate for changes in policy and legislation to ensure protection of privacy and confidentiality, compliance, and other issues that surface as advocacy issues and facilitate informed participation by the public on these issues.

1.4 Protect the confidentiality of all information obtained in the course of professional service. Disclose only information that is directly relevant or necessary to achieve the purpose of disclosure. Release information only with valid authorization from a patient or a person legally authorized to consent on behalf of a patient or as authorized by federal or state regulations. The minimum necessary standard is essential when relating health information for disclosure activities.

1.5 Promote the obligation to respect privacy by respecting confidential information shared among colleagues, while responding to requests from the legal profession, the media, or other non-healthcare related individuals, during presentations or teaching and in situations that could cause harm to persons.

1.6 respond promptly and appropriately to patient requests to exercise their privacy rights. Answer truthfully all patients' questions concerning their rights to review and annotate their personal bio-medical data and seek to facilitate patients' legitimate right to exercise those rights.

2. Put service and the health and welfare of persons before self-interest and conduct themselves in the practice of the profession so as to bring honor to themselves, their peers, and to the health information management profession.

2.1 Act with integrity, behave in a trustworthy manner, elevate service to others above self-interest, and promote high standards of practice in every setting.

2.2 Be aware of the profession's mission, values, and ethical principles, and practice in a manner consistent with them by acting honestly and responsibly.

2.3 Anticipate, clarify, and avoid any conflict of interest, to all parties concerned, when dealing with consumers, consulting with competitors, in providing services requiring potentially conflicting roles, or serving the Association in a volunteer capacity. The conflicting roles or responsibilities must be clarified and appropriate action taken to minimize any conflict of interest.

2.4 Ensure that the working environment is consistent and encourages compliance with the AHIMA Code of Ethics, taking reasonable steps to eliminate any conditions in their organization that violate, interfere with, or discourage compliance with the code.

2.5 Take responsibility and credit, including authorship credit, only for work they actually perform or to which they contribute. Honestly acknowledge the work of and the contributions made by others verbally or written, such as in publication.

A Health information management professional SHALL NOT:

2.6 Permit one's private conduct to interfere with the ability to fulfill one's professional responsibilities.

2.7 Take unfair advantage of any professional relationship or exploit others to further one's own personal, religious, political, or business interests.

3. Preserve, protect, and secure personal health information in any form or medium and hold in the highest regard and contents of the records and other information of a confidential nature, taking into account the applicable statutes and regulations.

3.1 Safeguard the privacy and security of written and electronic health information and other sensitive information. Take reasonable steps to ensure that heath information is stored securely and that patients' data is not available to others who are not authorized to have access, Prevent inappropriate disclosure of individually identifiable information.

3.2 Take precautions to ensure and maintain the confidentiality of information transmitted, transferred, or disposed of in the event of termination, incapacitation, or death of a healthcare provider to other parties through the use of any media.

3.3 Inform recipients of the limitations and risks associated with providing services via electronic or social media.

4. Refuse to participate in or conceal unethical practices or procedures.

4.1 Act in a professional and ethical manner at all times.

4.2 Take adequate measures to discourage, prevent, expose, and correct the unethical conduct of colleagues. If needed. utilize the Professional Ethics Committee Policies and Procedures for potential ethics complaints.

4.3 Be knowledgeable about established policies and procedures for handling concerns about colleagues' unethical behavior. These include policies and procedures created by AHIMA, licensing and regulatory bodies, employers, supervisors, agencies, and other professional organizations.

4.4 Seek resolution if there is a belief that a colleague has acted unethically or if there is a belief of incompetence or impairment by discussing one's concerns with the colleague when feasible and when such discussion is likely to be productive.

4.5 Consult with a colleague when feasible and assist the colleague in taking remedial action when there is direct knowledge of a health information management colleague's incompetence or impairment.

4.6 Take action through appropriate formal channels, such as contacting an accreditation or regulatory body and/or the AHIMA Professional Ethics Committee if needed.

4.7 Cooperate with lawful authorities as appropriate.

A health information management professional SHALL NOT:

4.8 Participate in, condone, or be associated with dishonesty, fraud and abuse, or deception. A non-inclusive list of examples includes:

allowing patterns of optimizing or minimizing documentation and/or coding to impact payment

assigning codes without physician documentation

coding when documentation does not justify the diagnoses or procedures that have been billed.

miscoding to avoid conflict with others

engaging in negligent coding practices

hiding or ignoring review outcomes, such as performance data

failing to report licensure status for a physician through the appropriate channels.

recording inaccurate data for accreditation purposes

allowing inappropriate access to genetic, adoption, health, or behavioral health information

misusing sensitive information about a competitor

Violating the privacy of individuals

4.9 engage in any relationships with a patient where there is a risk of exploitation or potential harm to the patient.

5. Advance health information management knowledge and practice through continuing education, research, publications, and presentations.

5.1 Develop and enhance continually professional expertise, knowledge, and skills, Contribute to knowledge base of health information management and share one's knowledge related to practice, research , and ethics.

5.2 Base practice decisions on recognized knowledge, including empirically based knowledge related to health information management and health information management ethics.

5.3 Contribute time and professional expertise to activities that promote respect for value, integrity, and competence of the health information management profession. These activities may include teaching, research, consultation, service, legislative testimony, advocacy, presentations in the community, and participation in professional organizations.

5.4 Engage in evaluation and research that ensures the confidentiality of participants and of the data obtained from them by following guidelines developed for the participants consultation with appropriate institutional review boards.

5.5 Report evaluation and research findings accurately and take steps to correct any errors later found in published data using standard publication methods.

5.6 Design or conduct evaluation or research that is in conformance with applicable federal or state laws.

5.7 Take reasonable steps to provide or arrange for continuing education and staff development, addressing current knowledge and emerging developments related to health information management practices and ethics.

6. Recruit and mentor students, peers and colleagues to develop and strengthen professional workforce.

A health information management professional SHALL:

6.1 Provide directed practice opportunities for students.

6.2 Be a mentor for students, peers, and new health information management professionals to develop and strengthen skills.

6.3 Be responsible for setting clear, appropriate, and culturally sensitive boundaries for students, staff, peers, colleagues, and members within professional organizations.

6.4 Evaluate students' performance in a manner that is fair and respectful when functioning as educators or clinical internships supervisors.

6.5 Evaluate staff's performance in a manner that is fair and respectful when functioning in a supervisory capacity.

6.6 Serve an active role in developing HIM faculty or actively recruiting HIM professionals

A health information management professional SHALL NOT:

6.7 Engage in any relationship with a person where there is a risk of exploitation or potential harm to that other person.

7. represent the profession accurately to the public.

A health information management professional SHALL:

7.1 Be an advocate for the profession in all settings and participate in activities that promote and explain the mission, values, and principles of the profession to the public.

8. Preform honorably health information management association responsibilities, either appointed or elected, and preserve the confidentiality of any privileged information made known in any official capacity.

A health information management professional SHALL:

8.1 Preform responsibly all duties as assigned by the professional association operating with in the bylaws and policies and procedures of the association and any pertinent laws.

8.2 Uphold the decisions made by the association.

8.3 Speak on behalf of the health information management profession and association, only while serving in the role, accurately representing the official and authorized position of the association.

8.4 Disclose any real or perceived conflicts of interest.

8.5 Relinquish association information upon ending appointed or elected responsibility.

8.6 Resign from an association position if unable to preform the assigned responsibilities with competence.

8.7 Avoid leading the prestige of the association to advance or appear to advance the private interests of others by endorsing any product or service in return for remuneration. Avoid endorsing products or services of a third party, for-profit entity that competes with AHIMA products and services. Care should also be exercised in endorsing any other products and services.

9. State truthfully and accurately their credentials, professional education, and experiences.

A health information management professional SHALL:

9.1 Make clear distinctions between statements made and actions engaged in as a private individual and as a representative of the health information management profession, a professional health information association, or one's employer.

9.2 Claim and ensure that representation to patients, agencies, and the public of professional qualifications, credentials, education, competence, affiliations, services provided, training, certification, consultation received, supervised experience, and other relevant professional experience are accurate.

9.3 Claim only those relevant professional credentials actually possessed and correct any inaccuracies occurring regarding credentials.

9.4 Report only those continuing education units actually earned for the re certification cycle and correct any inaccuracies occurring regarding CEUs.

10. Facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration in situations supporting health information practice.

A health information management professional SHALL:

10.1 Participate in and contribute to decisions that affect the well-being of patients by drawing on the perspectives, values, and experiences of those involved in decisions related to patients.

10.2 Facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration in situations supporting health information practice.

10.3 Establish clearly professional and ethical obligations of the interdisciplinary team as a whole and of its individual members.

10.4 Foster trust among group members and adjust behavior in order to establish relationships with teams.