Ethical conflicts in psychology.

Post by Day 4 an explanation of two ways technology might influence confidentiality. Then explain how technology might influence compliance with HIPAA or FERPA (whichever is most relevant to your specialization). Finally, describe an ethical situation involving technology and explain a strategy you might use to address this situation.

Be specific and include reference to the week’s Learning Resources in your response.

Required Resources

Readings

• Bersoff, D. (Ed.). (2008). Ethical conflicts in psychology (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
  • Chapter 3, “Learning Ethics” (pp. 117–157) (review for Case Study)
  • Chapter 4, “Confidentiality, Privilege, and Privacy” (p. 159–213)

• Fisher, C. B. (2017). Decoding the ethics code: A practical guide for psychologists (4th ed). California: Sage Publications, Inc.
  • Chapter 3, “The APA Ethics Code and Ethical Decision Making (pp. 31-53) (review for Case Study)
  • Chapter 7, “Standards on Privacy and Confidentiality” (pp. 172-202)
• Bersoff, D. N. (2008). HIPAA: Federal regulation of healthcare records. In D. Bersoff, (Ed.), Ethical conflicts in psychology (4th ed.).(pp. 543–545). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
• U.S. Department of Education. (n.d.). Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html
  
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (n. d.). Understanding health information privacy.Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/index.html

Media

• Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). HIPAA and patient’s rights. Baltimore, MD: Author.

  Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 5 minutes.

Answer preview

The HIPAA requires all health practitioners including psychologists to maintain confidentiality even when transmitting information or records using electronic means (Bersoff, 2008). However, technology might affect compliance with the HIPAA regulations like in the case where files are left in hospitals and the health insurance transactions. When the psychologist leaves the Protected Health Information (PHI) of the patient unencrypted, then, it interferes with the HIPAA compliance regulations. Also, when the professionals fail to use the Unique User Identifier (UUI) which monitors the use of PHI, it also affects compliance with HIPAA regulations. Still, shared logins and passwords as well as the use of scanners and printers that are not encrypted always leaves the information of clients at risk. Further, there are instances where an unauthorized person may end up seeing information when standing behind the computer monitor of an operator. Such incidences occur during emergencies and when individuals tend to follow up on the insurance covers, and this affects compliance with the HIPAA laws.

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