The public duties of the healthcare professional require a significant amount of reporting. Recent legislation, specifically HIPAA, requires that all patients' Protected Health Information be kept confidential. Consider a patient who has a highly contagious and dangerous disease, like meningitis. It appears that public safety may conflict with HIPAA requirements for patient confidentiality. Does protecting the public outweigh maintaining a patient's medical confidentiality? Why or why not? Explain your position.
