Understanding all about phi and everything

Providing benefits to society by improving health care and health research can lead to medical advancement. This note will let you know about many things related to what is phi. It will open your eyes to protected health information, and other related questions and queries congested in your mind will also be removed with answers. Under the health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA) implemented in 1996, the phi is the crucial information of the individually identifiable patient. The HIPAA covered entities and their business affiliates to protect the data which has been created, received, used, stored, or transmitted in the format of electronic devices. The following information will clear all your doubts about the phi.

Starting from defining what is phi

Under the implementation of HIPAA, the individually identifiable health-related data of a patient has been created, stored, used, transmitted, or maintained by the HIPAA-covered entities about the upkeep of health care, use in health care operations, or payment for health care services. The data such as medical test results, treatment information, prescription information, and diagnosis are deemed protected health information (phi) under the HIPAA. The demographic information like birth date, nationality, contact information, gender, emergency contact information, and national identification number also comes under the phi.

Considerable data under phi

Any information which is attached to the protected health information under the HIPAA is protected information. The following identities are the information depicted that is protected. If any of the following data is not included in the information, it is called a de-protected type.

Names, Social Security number, Medical record number, Health insurance, beneficiary number, Phone number, Email address, Fax number, the Vehicle identifier, License/certificate number, Account number, Device identifier, and serial numbers, Internet protocol, Full face photographic images, and any comparable images. Web uniform resource locators
Biometric identifiers, including retinal, voice, and fingerprint. Any additional unique identifying characteristic, number, or code. Dates directly related to an individual. All geographic identifiers sampler to the state, except for the primary three-digit zip code.

All the data, as mentioned earlier, is mandatory for the information to be protected.

There are two vital definitions that we should discuss in detail for accessing the complete understanding of what is phi. First, in HIPAA, business associates and covered entities are two names that we will define.

A business associate and covered entities

Business associate - has access to phi as a trader or subcontractor. Another more legalese definition of business associate is the entity with access to phi on behalf of covered entities. It means the person who has access and can perform the activity, including disclosure or use of phi on behalf of the covered entity. For example, a business associate can be documented storage services, provider of document transmission duties, data storage, opening.
And another interface built on behalf of covered entities allows the patient to share the data with the covered entity.

Covered entities - this can be anyone who provides operation, treatment, and payments in health care. For example, health plans, health clearinghouses, and health care providers are all covered entities according to the U.S's health and human services department.

What are health plans and health clearinghouses in covered entities?

Health plans - this includes insurance companies, Medicare, company health plans, HMO, and Medicaid.

Health clearinghouse - this was a little harder to specify at early. This clearinghouse collects the data from a healthcare entity, sets the data into the standard setup, and provides it to the other healthcare entities.

When you need to be HIPAA compliant and when not?

The process is pretty simple if your application store or device is storing, using, or transmitting the individual data to the covered entity, you are handling it with personal health information and need to be HIPAA compliant.

If you create applications or wearable devices that compile health information but don't share it with a covered entity, you are not dealing with the phi, and you don't need to be HIPAA compliant.

Know what to keep in mind while becoming HIPAA compliant

HIPAA security rules such as physical safeguards, technical safeguards, and administrative safeguards.
HIPAA enforcement rule, HIPAA privacy rule, and HIPAA breach notification rule.

These are the rules to be ensured before becoming HIPAA compliant. But, again, knowing all the points of complaint and process of HIPAA can make the thing easier for the individuals.

FAQs regarding protected health information

Until now, you know about what is phi, what data is considered in phi, and more. But some questions may arise in your mind, and it is my responsibility to answer them. The following frequently asked questions are also a mandatory part of this phi information. By knowing the doubt and clearing it is the vital function of gaining knowledge. So, after reading the following faq, Your all doubt will be cleared.

What is phi, PII, and IIHA

The first question that may arise is knowing the difference between these relevant words PII, PHI, and IIHA. So, the answer is, the PHI stands for the protected health information, the PII stands for the personally identifiable information (related to the outside of healthcare ). In contrast, the IIHA stands for (individually identifiable health information). PHI is the most commonly used abbreviation in HIPAA.

Determining reasonably anticipated threats

All the business associates and covered entities are needed to perform frequent risk estimation to identify a threat to the integrity of phi. If the threat is reasonably anticipated, the business associates and covered entities must take measures to protect against the threat.

Does the email with an unrevealed person's name be an identifier of phi?

It is very simple to find, there are many tools available on the internet, or by the use of several social media, you can find that person's info. But, even if you cannot find these tools, you can still have enough information about that individual with that email address.

So now all your doubts are clear, and you know what is phi and its importance. You have also got the considered elements for becoming HIPAA compliant. All the answers you got to your questions through the faq.

It's fairer to be careful than sorry when handling delicate protected health information.