Treatment Protocols & Procedures Flashcards

Under HIPAA, which entity is primarily responsible for ensuring that treatment protocols involving PHI are documented and safeguarded?

Answer: The covered entity (e.g., hospital or clinic)

The covered entity—such as a hospital or clinic—bears primary responsibility under HIPAA for safeguarding PHI used in treatment protocols.

A nurse shares a patient's medication protocol with a specialist who is treating the same patient. Under HIPAA, this disclosure is:

Answer: Permitted as TPO (Treatment, Payment, Operations)

HIPAA explicitly permits disclosures for treatment purposes among providers involved in a patient's care without patient authorization.

Which of the following best describes a 'minimum necessary' violation in a treatment context?

Answer: A billing clerk accesses complete medical histories to verify one charge

Accessing more PHI than is required for the task at hand—such as full medical histories for a single billing inquiry—violates the minimum necessary standard.

A hospital's care coordination team shares a patient's treatment plan with a home health agency that will continue care post-discharge. This requires:

Answer: A Business Associate Agreement with the home health agency

When sharing PHI with a home health agency that provides services on behalf of the hospital, a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) is required.

Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, a patient requests restrictions on sharing their diabetes treatment protocol with their health plan. The covered entity must honor this restriction if:

Answer: The disclosure is to the plan and the patient pays out-of-pocket in full for the service

The HITECH Act requires covered entities to honor restriction requests when the patient pays out-of-pocket in full and the disclosure would only go to a health plan.

When a patient is unconscious and emergency treatment is required, HIPAA permits providers to:

Answer: Use professional judgment to disclose PHI necessary for emergency treatment

HIPAA allows providers to use professional judgment to disclose necessary PHI for emergency treatment when the patient cannot give consent.

A hospital implements a new protocol requiring providers to document PHI access in the EHR for each treatment encounter. This practice supports which HIPAA requirement?

Answer: Audit controls under the Security Rule

Logging PHI access within the EHR supports the HIPAA Security Rule's audit controls requirement, ensuring access is tracked and reviewable.