Question

A HIT employee is designing a database to research the number of patient injuries occurring in a healthcare organization. Which action is required by the HIPAA safety rule?

1) Patient records are cleared of identifiable patient data
2) Patient records are stored securely during analysis
3) Patient records are seen only by specific persons
4) Patient records are written in code to hide patient identity

Answer 1

According to HIPAA, patient privacy rights must be protected when researching patient injuries, including de-identifying personal information from health records, securing them, controlling access, and potentially using codes to protect identities.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question relates to the actions required by the HIPAA Privacy Rule when designing a database for researching patient injuries in a healthcare organization. According to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), certain measures must be taken to protect patient privacy rights and safeguard health records. These include ensuring patient records are de-identified of any personal information that could breach privacy, securing patient records during analysis, allowing only authorized personnel to access patient records, and potentially using codes to protect identities. While all options may be considered to protect patient data, HIPAA primarily mandates that patient records are cleared of identifiable data and only seen by specific authorized persons.