What is HIPAA protected information?

Asked by: Elizabeth Schamberger  |  Last update: August 5, 2023
Score: 4.4/5 (39 votes)

Health information such as diagnoses, treatment information, medical test results, and prescription information are considered protected health information under HIPAA, as are national identification numbers and demographic information such as birth dates, gender, ethnicity, and contact and emergency contact ...

What are the 3 rules of HIPAA?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) lays out three rules for protecting patient health information, namely:
  • The Privacy Rule.
  • The Security Rule.
  • The Breach Notification Rule.

What is considered PHI under HIPAA?

HIPAA defines PHI as data that relates to the past, present or future health of an individual; the provision of healthcare to an individual; or the payment for the provision of healthcare to an individual.

Which is not protected by HIPAA?

HIPAA does not apply to employment records, even when those records include medical information. This includes employment records a covered entity holds in its role as employer.

What are the four main rules of HIPAA?

The HIPAA Security Rule Standards and Implementation Specifications has four major sections, created to identify relevant security safeguards that help achieve compliance: 1) Physical; 2) Administrative; 3) Technical, and 4) Policies, Procedures, and Documentation Requirements.

The HIPAA Privacy Rule

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What are the 5 HIPAA standards?

HHS initiated 5 rules to enforce Administrative Simplification: (1) Privacy Rule, (2) Transactions and Code Sets Rule, (3) Security Rule, (4) Unique Identifiers Rule, and (5) Enforcement Rule.

What can you share under HIPAA?

Under HIPAA, your health care provider may share your information face-to-face, over the phone, or in writing. A health care provider or health plan may share relevant information if: You give your provider or plan permission to share the information. You are present and do not object to sharing the information.

What is not considered personal health information?

Examples of health data that is not considered PHI: Number of steps in a pedometer. Number of calories burned. Blood sugar readings w/out personally identifiable user information (PII) (such as an account or user name)

What is considered personal health information?

As a rule of thumb, any information relating to a person's health becomes PHI as soon as the individual can be identified. This means that electronic records, written records, lab results, x-rays, and bills make up PHI. A verbal conversation that includes any identifying information is also considered PHI.

Which is an example of protected health information?

Examples of PHI

Dates — Including birth, discharge, admittance, and death dates. Biometric identifiers — including finger and voice prints. Full face photographic images and any comparable images.

What are the 18 identifiers of PHI?

18 HIPAA Identifiers
  • Name.
  • Address (all geographic subdivisions smaller than state, including street address, city county, and zip code)
  • All elements (except years) of dates related to an individual (including birthdate, admission date, discharge date, date of death, and exact age if over 89)
  • Telephone numbers.
  • Fax number.

What are examples of a specific person's PHI?

PHI includes all information that could identify an individual such as date of birth and social security number. PHI includes an individual's past, present or future physical or mental health or condition and the provision of health care to the individual.

What is a deliberate violation of HIPAA?

An example of a deliberate violation is unnecessarily delaying the issuing of breach notification letters to patients and exceeding the maximum timeframe of 60 days following the discovery of a breach to issue notifications – A violation of the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule.

When can HIPAA be breached?

A breach is defined in HIPAA section 164.402, as highlighted in the HIPAA Survival Guide, as: “The acquisition, access, use, or disclosure of protected health information in a manner not permitted which compromises the security or privacy of the protected health information.”

Is saying a patient name a HIPAA violation?

It is not a HIPAA violation to email patient names per se, although patient names and other PHI should not be included in the subject lines of emails as the information could easily be viewed by unauthorized individuals.

What are the 4 most common HIPAA violations?

5 Most Common HIPAA Violations
  • The 5 Most Common HIPAA Violations.
  • HIPAA Violation 1: A Non-Encrypted Lost or Stolen Device. ...
  • HIPAA Violation 2: Lack of Employment Training. ...
  • HIPAA Violation 3: Database Breaches. ...
  • HIPAA Violation 4: Gossiping and Sharing PHI. ...
  • HIPAA Violation 5: Improper disposal of PHI.

What Cannot be shared HIPAA?

Your health information cannot be used or shared without your written permission unless this law allows it. For example, without your authorization, your provider generally cannot: Give your information to your employer. Use or share your information for marketing or advertising purposes or sell your information.

What types of records are not able to be accessed by the patient?

In addition, two categories of information are expressly excluded from the right of access: Psychotherapy notes, which are the personal notes of a mental health care provider documenting or analyzing the contents of a counseling session, that are maintained separate from the rest of the patient's medical record.

Which of the following is an example of someone violating HIPAA?

One of the most common HIPAA violations is a result of lost company devices. In 2017, Lifespan mentioned in a news release that someone broke into an employee vehicle and stole their work laptop. The device was not password-protected, and the personal information of over 20,000 patients wasn't encrypted.

Which type of information would not be subject to HIPAA rules?

Providers who do not send claims electronically are not subject to HIPAA rules. If a covered entity is below a certain minimum size, it is not required to appoint a privacy official. Clearinghouses are companies that process health information and transmit electronic transactions on behalf of providers.

Which of the following two are considered HIPAA penalties?

HIPAA violations are expensive. The penalties for noncompliance are based on the level of negligence and can range from $100 to $50,000 per violation (or per record), with a maximum penalty of $1.5 million per year for violations of an identical provision.

Which of the following is not an example of PHI?

What is not considered as PHI? Please note that not all personally identifiable information is considered PHI. For example, employment records of a covered entity that are not linked to medical records. Similarly, health data that is not shared with a covered entity or is personally identifiable doesn't count as PHI.

Is patient name alone considered PHI?

Names, addresses and phone numbers are NOT considered PHI, unless that information is listed with a medical condition, health care provision, payment data or something that states that they were seen at a particular clinic.

In which situation can PHI not be legally disclosed?

According to the Privacy Rule, a covered entity may not use or disclose protected health information, except either: (1) as the Privacy Rule permits or requires; or (2) as the individual who is the subject of the information (or the individual's personal representative) authorizes in writing.

What are the 5 patient identifiers?

Patient identifier options include:
  • Name.
  • Assigned identification number (e.g., medical record number)
  • Date of birth.
  • Phone number.
  • Social security number.
  • Address.
  • Photo.