Case Scenario:
You are a HIM professional employed as the Director of Health Information and Registration at a health care facility in a small community. In the course of performing regular audits of access to the facility's EHR, you discover a pattern of usage by the VP/Chief Nursing Officer which you find disturbing, i.e., this individual has been accessing records of specific clients within the out-patient Addictions program. You decide to audit the previous six months' activity and discover that the VP/CNO has been accessing the same specific client records; because it is a small community, you recognize some of these clients as being family members of other facility employees.
You have always had a good professional relationship with the VP/CNO, and decide to discuss your concerns with her. She becomes very angry, and states that she has been doing audits of documentation by clinical staff in this particular area, that this is certainly within the scope of her position, and that she will continue with this practice as she sees fit. She also demands that you cease auditing any of her EHR accesses and states that if you do not, she will report this 'harassment' to the CEO and will have a letter of reprimand placed on your personnel file.
You remain unconvinced about the validity of her EHR accesses, given the nature of them, but you are also worried about the potential ramifications with regard to your continued employment.
What do you do?
Assignment:
Using the framework for ethical decision making, work through the seven questions to determine your best option in the given circumstances. (Questions 3 & 6 should be in table format).
Ensure that you define the ethical question, look at the known and unknown facts, and consider the values of all stakeholders in making your decision.