PHI is associated with patients (including research patients) and members of a health plan. The HIPAA Security Rule sets out the limits of protection for covered entities and their associates. This is the electronic version of health information and includes biometrics, photos, and images such as medical scans. There is also coverage in HIPAA for electronic PHI or ePHI. Even partial identifiers like initials cannot be disclosed and are deemed PHI.
If any of the identifiers are used in any disclosure, it will be deemed to be an identifying action.
#Phi stands for in healthcare full#
(A full list can be found on the California Department of Health Care Services website or below, following the sources). PHI has 18 of these identifiers including names, zip code, medical record numbers, IP address, Social Security Num ber, and so on. The key word here is “identify”: If a snippet of data or a data set associated with an interaction with a healthcare provider or associate can be used as an “identifier” to an individual, it is PHI. What Is Considered Protected Health Information Under HIPAA?Īny data that is created, collected or disclosed during interaction with healthcare services and that can be used to uniquely identify an individual is defined as Protected Health Information (PHI) under HIPAA. The Privacy Rule also specifies which organizations or “covered entities” come under the ruling that are required to implement the requirements of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. These data are referred to as Protected Health Information (PHI) and fall under the umbrella of “individually-identifiable health information,” “identifiable” being the operative word which we will talk more about later. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) has created a specific definition of health data that requires protection under the auspices of the Privacy Rule.
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