Final answer:
A HIPAA authorization is a document that grants permission for sharing protected health information, ensuring patient privacy under the guidelines of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
Step-by-step explanation:
A HIPAA authorization is a document that allows for the permissible use and disclosure of protected health information (PHI) for purposes beyond the original scope of consent under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Specifically, a HIPAA authorization is characteristic of B) Permission for sharing protected health information. It is not related to specifying medical treatments, an insurance claim form, or a patient's medical history directly but rather to the conditions under which a patient's health information can be distributed to entities that otherwise would not have access to it without the patient’s explicit consent.
Healthcare providers, insurance companies, and businesses that deal with health information must adhere to HIPAA rules to protect patient privacy. When developing policies that involve the sharing of health records, there are important questions that must be addressed such as the balancing of treatment costs, patient quality of life, and risks to individual privacy. Such precautions prevent the nonconsensual release of individually identifiable health information to entities not actively providing healthcare to a patient.