Certified Healthcare Technology Specialist (CHTS) Process Workflow & Information Management Redesign Practice Exam

HIPAA requires protection of information that could reasonably be used to identify the patient. Is this statement true or false?

1. True

2. False

3. Depends on the context

4. Only under certain circumstances

The correct answer is: True

The statement is true because the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was established to safeguard the privacy and security of individuals' health information. HIPAA mandates that any information that can be used to identify a patient, also known as identifiable health information, must be protected to ensure patient confidentiality. This includes data such as names, addresses, birth dates, social security numbers, and any other identifiers that could link health information to a specific individual. The overall intent of HIPAA is to protect patients' sensitive information from unauthorized access and disclosure, thereby fostering an environment of trust between patients and healthcare providers. Other options like stating the statement is false, contextual, or condition-based do not align with the clear requirements outlined in HIPAA, which uniformly stresses the safeguarding of identifiable health information regardless of the situation.