What is meant by a 'breach of confidentiality' in healthcare?

A breach of confidentiality in healthcare refers specifically to the unauthorized access or disclosure of sensitive health information. This reflects a failure to protect patient privacy and is a critical issue as it can lead to significant harm, including loss of trust between patients and healthcare providers, potential legal ramifications, and compromised patient care.

In the context of healthcare, confidentiality is deeply intertwined with ethical standards and legal regulations like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which mandates that patient information must be kept private and secure. When sensitive health information, such as diagnoses, medical history, or personal identifiers, is accessed or disclosed without proper authorization, it constitutes a breach of confidentiality.

Other options, while they may relate to healthcare or patient privacy in some manner, do not accurately define a breach of confidentiality. For instance, misplacing medical history could cause issues but does not necessarily involve unauthorized access. Changes to hospital visiting hours do not pertain to patient information and therefore do not deal with confidentiality at all. Lastly, while losing medical records in transit raises concerns regarding information security and integrity, it doesn’t specifically address the concept of confidentiality breach, unless those records are accessed or disclosed without consent during that process.