That guidance comes from APA's " Record Keeping Guidelines" (2007), which highlight the many interactions that practitioners have with the health-care system and federal regulations, such as HIPAA.
While APA's Ethics Code provides ethical principles and standards for psychologists, it does not provide specific record-keeping guidelines. For practitioners, this means if they sign a business agreement with a business associate to store client records or materials in a cloud environment, the associate must meet HITECH requirements. In addition, business associates are expected to provide notifications of any breaches to the entities they cover and are subject to civil and criminal penalties for the misuse and/or loss of data. This law placed the burden of security on a business associate to meet security and privacy requirements. In 2009, The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) formalized business associate liability and offered stricter regulations for using client records. These regulations also apply to providers' business associates - practicing psychologists who operate with insurers must follow HIPAA's privacy and security rules and ensure that their business associates do so as well. The standards mandate that providers must take precautions to prevent a breach of data and that they conduct risk analyses. In 2003, the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) provided security standards for health-care providers, including psychologists, who transmit private health information. The law calls for health providers to "maintain reasonable and appropriate administrative, technical and physical safeguards" when using electronic health information (HIPAA, 1996). Among them is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (1996 HIPAA), which sought to increase the accessibility of medical records while maintaining confidentiality. agencies have sought to provide legislative frameworks for the proper handling of private information. In response to this revolution, over the years U.S. Metal file cabinets have evolved into encrypted digital containers. Today, communication with a client can occur via text and/or email. This pervasive accessibility affects both practitioners and clients. Since then, personal computers and smartphones have become ubiquitous and nearly 3 billion people have Internet access. In 1965, Intel Corporation co-founder Gordon Moore successfully predicted that circuit technology would double every two years and lead to exponential growth while reducing the size of everything. Recognize potential methods to mitigate risk and unintended breaches of client records. Clarify differences between government, corporate and individual threats to client privacy and confidentiality.ģ. Explain relevant guidelines and ethical standards affected by new technological threats.Ģ. Learning objectives: After completing this course participants will be able to:ġ.This article gives an overview of the current record-keeping and communication regulations and guidelines, looks at new threats to client data, discusses the ethical considerations psychologists face, and advocates for the foundation of best practices to prevent breaches of client data. As Edward Snowden showed the world in 2013, information on cloud storage centers is not secure (Gellman & Soltani, 2013 Greenwald, 2013). Unfortunately, with today's ever-evolving technology, such guidance may not be enough. To help prevent disclosures of patient information, APA offers specific guidance in its Ethics Code (APA, 2010) and its "Record Keeping Guidelines" (APA, 2007). Protecting clients' privacy is clearly one of psychologists' top ethical priorities. I can get your emails, passwords, phone records, credit cards.” “The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything. The APA Office of CE in Psychology retains responsibility for the program. The test fee is $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers. Upon successful completion of the test - a score of 75 percent or higher - you can immediately print your CE certificate. To earn CE credit, after you read this article, purchase the online exam. This feature will provide you with updates on critical developments in psychology, drawn from peer-reviewed literature and written by leading psychology experts. "CE Corner" is a continuing education article offered by the APA Office of CE in Psychology.