Protected Health Information (PHI) Identifiers tasks
A list of 18 identifiers was created in 1996 by the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to represent protected health information (PHI). PHI is any information that can be used to identify an individual and that was created used or disclosed during a patient-physician encounter.
In contrast personal identifiers such as name and address are not considered to be PHI unless they are associated with or derived from a health-care service event. In addition health information by itself without the 18 identifiers is not considered to be PHI. For example a dataset that contains only patient vital signs or blood pressure readings would not be PHI. PHI data can be de-identified for use within research or other related projects.
Search the Internet for more information on PHI as can be found at the following Web sites:
Compliance Program for PHI De-Identification: www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/compliance/guidance/privacy/deident.html
HIPAA PHI: List of 18 Identifiers: cphs.berkeley.edu/hipaa/hipaa18.html
National Institutes of Health Health Services Research and the HIPAA Privacy Rule: privacyruleandresearch.nih.gov/healthservicesprivacy.asp
Also search the Internet for the principles and values of medical ethics as can be found at the Web
site American Medical Association Principles of Medical Ethics: www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/medical-ethics/code-medical-ethics/principles-medical-ethics.page
Research the laws and regulations that require care providers to override patient confidentiality and privacy rights such as is the case in New York for communicable diseases (for more information on this see the New York State Department of Health Web site: www.health.ny.gov/professionals/diseases/reporting/communicable/
Comment on each of the 18 types of PHI identifiers and consider their stratification based upon risk to the patient as a result of non-consensual disclosure:1.1. Names
1.2. Geographic information (including city state and zip code)
1.3. Elements of dates
1.4. Telephone numbers
1.5. Fax numbers
1.6. E-mail address
1.7. Social Security numbers
1.8. Medical record prescription numbers
1.9. Health plan beneficiary numbers
1.10. Account numbers
1.11. Certificate/license numbers
1.12. VIN serial numbers license plate numbers
1.13. Device identifiers serial numbers
1.14. Web URLs
1.15. IP addresses
1.16. Biometric identifiers (finger prints)
1.17. Full face comparable photo images
1.18. Unique identifying numbers
Discuss and explain the ramifications concerning unauthorized disclosure of a patients PHI.
Discuss and explain how the principles of medical ethics apply to unauthorized disclosure.
Describe and explain the measures that are commonly taken to assure both privacy and security concerning a patients PHI and their rationale.
Note: Do not write introduction & conclusion. Answer in your own words or paraphrase your work. You can research on the Internet or books/journals & you can add additional references.
