PHI and Confidentiality Breach

1. Protected Health Information
Tiffany Poss
MHA 690: Health Care Capstone
Dr. Alexa Schmitt
July 19, 2018

2. What is Protected Health Information (PHI)
 Any type or form of information that can be linked to a particular patient
 Addresses
 Dates
 Social Security Numbers
 Names
 Contact Methods

3. Breach Risks
 End Users:
 the person who uses the product the most
 Failure to enforce critical security policies
 Back-End Users:
 users within the organization that works in developing and maintaining the software
 Human Error:
 Sharing passwords
 Incorrect data sharing practices (email, fax, or phone number)

4. Health Insurance Portability and
Acountability Act (HIPAA)
 1996
 Developed to establish confidentiality, security, and transmission policies surrounding PHI
 Set forth penalties for violating patient privacy

5. Prevent Breaches
 Do not share passwords
 Use multi-factor authentication
 Physically and technically protect PHI – require badge access and passwords

6. Penalties for Confidentiality Violations
 Violations of confidentiality and spread of PHI can result in disciplinary actions up to and
including termination of employment and legal action

7. Resources
 Agris, J. L., & Spandorfer, J. M. (2016). HIPAA Compliance and Training: A Perfect Storm for
Professionalism Educations?. The Journal of Law, Medicine, & Ethics: A Journal of the American
Society of Law, Medicine, & Ethics, 44(4), 652-656. doi: 10.1177/1073110516684812
 Knudson, J. (2018). The Human Errors Behind Data Breaches. For the Record (Great Valley
Publishing Company, INC.), 30(2), 24-27.
 Wolper, L. (2011). Health Care Administration: Managing Organized Delivery Systems (5th ed),
Retrived from https://content.ashford.edu/books/Wolper.3070.17.1