Final answer:
The 'minimum necessary standard' is the term used for the reasonable effort a health care provider must use to limit the disclosure of patient information, as required by HIPAA. It is designed to ensure that only the necessary amount of patient information is shared for a specific purpose, while maintaining patient confidentiality and adhering to the privacy rule.
Step-by-step explanation:
The reasonable effort that a health care provider uses to limit disclosure of patient information is referred to as the minimum necessary standard. This term specifically refers to one of the requirements under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which sets the standards for the protection of patient information. Health care providers and entities are required to take reasonable steps to ensure that they do not disclose more information than is necessary to achieve the intended purpose of the use or disclosure.
While privacy rule and confidentiality are also important concepts in the protection of patient information, the minimum necessary standard is the specific term that describes the efforts made to limit disclosure to the least amount of information necessary. The privacy rule is a component of HIPAA that provides federal protections for personal health information, and confidentiality refers to the broader concept of keeping patient information private.
Key Considerations in Patient Privacy:
- Legal implications and policies to balance treatment costs, patient quality of life, and privacy risks.
- Methods of sharing digital records while preserving patient's privacy.
- Ethical dilemmas involving patient consent and the right to privacy versus the right to know in cases of communicable diseases.