Final answer:
Healthcare data sets primarily function to enable data sharing, standardize coding for medical procedures, and identify patient data elements, all while ensuring privacy protection under HIPAA. The ACA's measures, like using EMRs, seek to reduce administrative costs and protect patient privacy.
Step-by-step explanation:
The main functions of healthcare data sets include facilitating data sharing among healthcare providers, establishing standardized coding for medical procedures, and identifying the data elements for each patient. Policy development pertaining to healthcare data must consider questions that balance the costs of treatments and diagnoses, patient quality of life, and the risks to individual privacy. With the introduction of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), maintaining the privacy of electronic health records has been a significant concern, requiring healthcare providers and businesses that handle health information to maintain strict confidentiality of patient records.
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), regulations were introduced to control healthcare costs, such as a cap on the amount healthcare providers can spend on administrative costs and a shift towards using electronic medical records (EMRs). These measures aim to lower healthcare costs, improve efficiency, and maintain the privacy and security of patient information.