Introduction
In healthcare, leadership is essential to dealing with hospital dilemmas. Leaders must be able to make tough decisions, provide direction and support to their team, and navigate through challenging situations. They must be able to see the big picture, have a clear vision for the organization’s future, and build relationships and trust with their team members. This paper explores a dilemma scenario experienced by Tom and the actions he undertakes by identifying his responsibilities, patient rights, hospital protocols and leadership skills depicted.
Tom’s Responsibilities
What Tom should do in this situation is first to try and locate the missing files. Tom is responsible for ensuring that patient information is safeguarded from unauthorized hands, which could have happened to the files; locating the files and tracing the persons who might have seen them be a good starting step in safeguarding the patient data. Furthermore, Tom should reach out to his supervisor and explain the situation. Tom is answerable to his supervisor, as is the hospital protocol and his duty as a medical social worker (Manning & Curtis, 2022). He should be honest about what happened, take full responsibility for the misplaced files, and accept the mistake of taking copies of the files out of work, which is against hospital regulations.
Also, if his supervisor has questions, Tom should answer them truthfully. If Tom cannot locate the files, he should work with his supervisor to create a plan to protect the patient’s information. Besides, Tom should also take this opportunity to speak to his supervisor about how he feels overwhelmed by his caseload. He should explain that he is struggling to keep up with the volume of work and ask for help managing his caseload (Manning & Curtis, 2022). This conversation will be important in helping Tom feel supported in his role and ensuring that he can best serve the needs of his patients.
Patient Rights
As the leader in this situation, you will need to help Tom navigate his difficult moral dilemma. First and foremost, it is important to remind Tom that the safety and well-being of his patients is always the most important consideration. Thus, Tom must inform the two patients of the missing copies of their information and ensure that all necessary action is taken to retrieve and safeguard the data. Non-disclosure of this information from the affected patients would be considered an ethical violation of patient rights.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal law protecting patient health information’s privacy. Under HIPAA, patients can expect their medical information to be kept confidential and not shared without their permission (Thompson, 2020). Tom made a mistake by taking patient files home with him and leaving them where others could access them. While his intention was not to violate patient privacy, he has put himself and the hospital at risk of a HIPAA violation. Some of the patient rights that could potentially be violated in this scenario include the right to privacy, confidentiality, and the right to protect their personal and medical information. Despite Tom knowing that he had over 20 guests in his home, he didn’t take enough precautions to safeguard the patient files he had brought home. He put the patient data on his desk, which anyone presented at his brother’s farewell party would have openly accessed.
Hospital Protocol
According to the hospital’s protocol, Tom should have never taken the patient files home with him in the first place. It violates HIPAA laws to remove patient files from the hospital premises. Furthermore, it violates hospital protocol to allow unauthorized individuals access to patient files (Thompson, 2020). The hospital would report the lost or stolen files to the supervisor. The supervisor would then begin the process of trying to locate the files. If the files cannot be located, the hospital will begin the notification process for the patients whose information was lost or stolen. The notification process would include sending a letter to the patients explaining what happened and what steps they can take to protect themselves. The hospital would also provide the patients with a list of resources that they can use to help them deal with the situation.
Tom as a Leader
Tom is a good leader because he tries to navigate difficult situations in the best way possible. He is facing a high volume of work and is trying to find a way to manage it all. However, he made a mistake in taking the files home with him, and now he is panicking because he can’t find them. This shows that he is human and makes mistakes, but it also shows that he is willing to face his mistakes and try to find a solution. He is also trying to protect his patients’ information by notifying his leader of the situation to get guidance on what he should do in this case (Cragg & Spurgeon, 2018). He is also trying to protect his patients’ information by taking the right steps to meet the situation, which shows that he cares about them and their privacy.
Conclusion
Honesty is a good leadership cue that a person aspiring to become a leader should uphold, especially in the medical field. When clinical errors occur, the actions one takes determine if one can make a good leader or not. Also, asking for assistance from superiors upon an error indicates someone who can make a good leader. Tom has the potential to become a good leader but still has a lot to learn to sharpen his leadership skills.
References
Cragg, R., & Spurgeon, P. (2018). Competencies of a good leader. How to Succeed as a Leader, 33–40.
Manning, G., & Curtis, K. (2022). The Art of Leadership. McGraw Hill Education. Web.
Thompson, E. C. (2020). HIPAA Security Rule and Cybersecurity operations. Designing a HIPAA-Compliant Security Operations Center, 23–36.