| Course | HCM-3080 Healthcare Legal and Ethical Considerations |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 9 |
| Paper type | Written assignment: medical records, reporting and privacy |
| Length | About 651 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | B.S. in Healthcare Management |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HCM 3080 Module 9
Two Requests for One Record: Law Enforcement Disclosure, a Curious Employee and the Privacy Officer's Response
Student Name
B.S. in Healthcare Management, Thomas Edison State University
HCM-3080: Healthcare Legal and Ethical Considerations
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Two Requests for One Record: Law Enforcement Disclosure, a Curious Employee and the Privacy Officer's Response
Late on a Saturday, a well-known local high school football coach was brought to the emergency department at Riverbend Community Hospital, this course's composite setting,, after a single-car crash. A state trooper arrived an hour later and asked the charge nurse for the coach's blood alcohol result. On Monday, an audit report showed that a nurse from another unit, who was not involved in his care, had opened his chart twice over the weekend. This paper analyzes both events under the HIPAA Privacy Rule and explains how the privacy officer should respond to each.
The Trooper's Request
The Privacy Rule generally prohibits disclosing protected health information without the patient's authorization, but it permits certain disclosures for law enforcement purposes when specific conditions are met. A covered entity may disclose information as required by law, or in compliance with a court order, a court-ordered warrant, a subpoena or summons issued by a judicial officer, a grand jury subpoena, or an administrative request that meets a three-part test: the information is relevant and material to a legitimate inquiry, the request is specific and limited in scope, and de-identified information could not reasonably be used (45 C.F.R. § 164.512).
The trooper's verbal request, without a warrant, court order or qualifying administrative process, did not meet those conditions for a laboratory result. The rule's provision allowing limited information to identify or locate a suspect does not help either, because it specifically excludes analysis of body fluids. The charge nurse correctly declined and referred the trooper to the hospital's privacy officer and legal counsel, who explained that the hospital would respond promptly to a warrant or other valid legal process. Under New Jersey practice, police seeking a blood alcohol result after a crash typically obtain a warrant or subpoena, and the hospital can then disclose what the process requires and no more.
The Curious Employee
The second event is simpler legally but harder for the organization. A workforce member who views a record without a work-related reason violates the minimum necessary principle and the hospital's access policy, regardless of whether the information was shared further. Under the Privacy Rule, a hospital must keep a sanction policy and actually use it when staff break privacy rules, to document the sanctions applied, and to mitigate, to the extent practicable, any harmful effect of a known violation (45 C.F.R. § 164.530).
The privacy officer should interview the nurse, confirm that the access had no work reason, and apply the sanction policy, which at Riverbend escalates from retraining and written warning to termination depending on intent and whether information was disclosed. The officer must also perform a risk assessment to decide whether the event is a breach requiring notification to the patient. The rule treats an employee's improper viewing as a breach unless the hospital can show it is unlikely the information was put at risk, considering factors such as what was viewed and whether it was further used or disclosed.
Why These Controls Matter
Insider snooping and improper disclosures are part of a larger problem. Liu et al. (2015) reviewed breaches reported to federal regulators between 2010 and 2013 and counted close to a thousand incidents involving about 29 million records, with a rising share involving electronic records. High-profile patients attract curious employees, so hospitals often place extra audit flags on such charts. At Riverbend, the privacy officer recommended automatic alerts for access to records of patients flagged as public figures, and short annual training using real, anonymized cases.
Conclusion
The two events show both sides of privacy law. The rule lets hospitals cooperate with police when proper process is used, and it requires hospitals to enforce limits on their own staff. In both cases, the privacy officer's job is to apply the rule exactly, document the decision and protect the patient's trust.
References
45 C.F.R. § 164.530 (2024). Administrative requirements. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-C/part-164/subpart-E/section-164.530
45 C.F.R. § 164.512 (2024). Uses and disclosures for which an authorization or opportunity to agree or object is not required. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-C/part-164/subpart-E/section-164.512
Liu, V., Musen, M. A., & Chou, T. (2015). Data breaches of protected health information in the United States. JAMA, 313(14), 1471-1473. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2015.2252
What the HCM 3080 Module 9 instructions ask for
Module 9 is Medical Records, Reporting, and Privacy. It is a likely home for one of the course's two-to-three-page written assignments, which the syllabus says should apply legal and ethical reasoning to dilemmas from actual practice. This term's directions are in the classroom. Privacy prompts often ask whether a particular disclosure is allowed, what a mandatory reporting law requires, or how a covered entity should respond after a violation. Work from the specific provision of the Privacy Rule, testing each condition against the facts, and add state reporting law where the scenario sets one. Regulations take APA legal citations, and the due date appears on your calendar.
How this HCM 3080 Module 9 example is built
Two requests for one patient's chart give the paper its structure: one from a state trooper at the bedside and one from a curious nurse on another unit. The first section quotes the conditions under which a covered entity may disclose information to police, tests a verbal request against them and explains why the identification exception excludes blood test results. The second section applies the rule's workforce sanction, documentation and mitigation duties and explains the presumption that unauthorized access is a breach until a risk assessment shows otherwise. A short section uses breach data to justify audit alerts on public figures' charts, and the conclusion contrasts the two sides of privacy law.
Where the marks sit in the HCM 3080 Module 9 rubric
Privacy papers earn their marks by naming the exact provision that permits or forbids each disclosure and by testing each of its conditions against the facts. Mentors also look for the organization's duties after a violation, including sanctions, mitigation and breach risk assessment, and for the difference between disclosures that are permitted and those that are required. Practical recommendations from the privacy officer's chair show administrative judgment. Data on breaches can support the case for controls. Exact regulation citations in APA legal style and an organized paper of about two to three pages complete the expectations. A paper that treats the trooper and the nurse with equal care, rather than focusing on one, usually scores higher.
HCM 3080 Module 9 help: mistakes that cost marks
Privacy assignments weaken when they say only that HIPAA protects patient information. Find the provision that governs the disclosure and test each condition. A related error is assuming police can obtain anything on request, or that hospitals can never share with police; the answer depends on the legal process used. Students also forget that a curious employee's look at a chart triggers sanctions and a breach assessment even if nothing was passed on. Cite the regulation section for each step and keep the paper near two or three pages. The desk can prepare your privacy assignment from the directions and scenario in your classroom. Ask whether a privacy officer could act on your conclusion without further research.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Thomas Edison State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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HCM 3080 Module 9 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HCM 3080 Module 9 sample paper?
The complete privacy written assignment is above, applying HIPAA's law enforcement and sanction rules to two requests for one record, with notes on each sheet.
Can a hospital give police a patient's blood alcohol result?
Only under conditions in the Privacy Rule, such as a court order, warrant, judicial subpoena or qualifying administrative request, or where another law requires it. A verbal request alone generally is not enough.
What can hospitals share to help police identify a suspect?
Limited information such as name, address, birth date, blood type, type of injury and physical description. Analysis of body fluids, DNA and dental records is excluded from this exception.
What happens when an employee looks at a record without a reason?
The hospital must apply its sanction policy, document it, mitigate any harm and assess whether the access is a breach requiring notification to the patient.
Is employee snooping a reportable breach?
Usually yes: improper access counts as a breach unless a documented risk assessment concludes the chance of compromise is low.