Current Ethical Issues in Healthcare Settings

Background

It has been discovered that a group of employees at Nice One Hospital are accessing the hospital's medical records and patients' credit card information and are selling it on the dark web. The information has been reported in the Washington Post and on CNN in the wake of this discovery. According to preliminary investigations and media reports, approximately 65% of the patients’ records have been leaked to the dark web, adversely exposing them to stigmatization, discrimination, and psychological, emotional, and financial harm. It is estimated that the affected patients have lost between $20 and $50 million. As a result of the internal unauthorized disclosure of patient information, there is a massive public outcry against the hospital and its administration, citing improper mechanisms in collecting, storing, and retrieving patients’ information and data. Besides, numerous campaigns have emerged pushing the Department of Health and Human Services, through their Office for Civil Rights (DHHSOCR), to suspend the hospital's operating license for failing to uphold the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

The hashtag #boycottniceonehospital has been trending on major social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, as people share their experiences following the exposé. Prominent human rights activists sponsor the trends. Accordingly, the number of visits has drastically reduced from a daily average of six hundred patients to barely forty. Moreover, as the levels of suspicion and claims of negligence increase, there is massive discontentment among workers in the medical and support departments. The presence of investigators and media practitioners in the hospital facilities aggravates the uneasiness. The hospital management has also been invited to record statements on the extent of exposure affecting patients’ data.

Scope and the Objectives

Based on the Nice One Hospital case, the primary objective of this paper is to explore strategies or ways to reduce data breaches in hospitals to protect patient health information. It explores how the leadership theory, decision-making model, strategy model theory, change organizational theory, and desired state of the corporate culture can be used to reduce cyber threats. The paper also explores the financial, social, and psychological implications of healthcare data breaches.

Specifically, the paper aims at addressing the following objectives:

• i.

  To determine the financial, social, and psychological implications of healthcare data breaches.

• ii.

  To evaluate strategies that can be used to reduce healthcare data breaches based on various theories and models.