Patient Privacy Exposed: A Closer Look at HIPAA in the Context of a Pandemic

Abstract

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 is strict legislation executed to protect patient data and privacy. HIPAA has come to the forefront of conversation among healthcare and policy professionals as a result of the transition to recording patient data online and the commonality of noncompliance. However, in recent months, there has been a push for more leniency to allow for more comprehensive research to be conducted on COVID-19 despite the large number of privacy breaches and the compromise on the purpose of HIPAA. The pandemic, a seemingly temporary climate, demands research by scientists to track benefits of emergency-implemented strategies and physician-patient appointments to be held virtually; on the other hand, current HIPAA presents challenges by requiring anonymity and certain conditions to be met with regards to telehealth. By exploring recent modifications to HIPAA legislation made by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office for Civil Rights and its downfalls in maintaining confidentiality, this paper will focus on how HIPAA should redefine what privacy is to benefit both patients and researchers during the pandemic. This paper will also investigate how HIPAA should be implemented to protect patient privacy when treating COVID-19 patients and introduce considerations when redesigning HIPAA after examining the model employed by Taiwan and Singapore. This research will provide details on a better balance of HIPAA between privacy protection and publicizing data during emergency situations by breaking down each of the major waivers.