What Is Protected Health Information (PHI) & How Do I Protect It?

In a tech-driven era where a large trove of data is being stored and processed, healthcare professionals or companies have a huge stockpile of medical information. Patient related information is one of the key types of data. Contemporary healthcare organizations largely rely on electronic medical record (EMR) platforms to manage the wealth of patients’ medical histories and health information.

Here the responsibility falls on organizations to ensure a fully secured protected health information (PHI) system adhering to the HIPAA guidelines. A successful patient’s healthcare plan is dependent on protecting patient data first and the way goes through a reliable and consistent PHI system. If you want to unravel the depth of PHI knowing how individuals and organizations can secure it from falling into the wrong hands, don’t fret. It is exactly the details that make this article relevant to you.

What is PHI in Healthcare? | A Comprehensive Breakdown

The PHI acronym means Protected Health Information and is also pronounced as one of the entities of HIPAA compliance. This specific protocol mandates that PHI in the healthcare industry must be safeguarded. To put it simply, PHI data encompasses any valuable information that links an individual’s health condition to their identity.  It largely contains;

• Demographic information
• Physical and EHRs
• Medical histories
• Laboratory test results
• Mental health background
• Insurance details

Other data is based on what an expert gathers to identify an individual and determine a care program. The individual’s medical record is gathered, assembled, utilized or shared during the diagnosis or treatment process. This definition doesn’t end up here but extends to various other medical identifiers and diverse information that comprehends routine care and billing processes.

A better EHR solution is a sound way to gather all the valuable patient information, whereas proper security of PHI is an essential aspect of the healthcare sector. HIPAA 1996 provides federal safety for PHI. These regulations aim to keep patients’ PHI safe and concealed to view for all unauthorized individuals.

Explore the patient identifiers of HIPAA-guided PHI and also based on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) details. If healthcare data includes any of the following Personally Identifiable Information (PII), it qualifies as PHI.

• Names
• Phone numbers
• Geographic data other than the state name
• Healthcare service and birth dates
• Health plan beneficiary detail
• Important vehicle identifiers including license plates and SN
• Full-face images and comparable photographic images
• Security number of an individual
• Email ID details
• Account numbers
• Certificate/license numbers
• Unique MRN
• Device identifiers and SN
• FAX details
• Web and IP addresses
• IP addresses
• Biometric identifiers (i.e., finger scan, retinal scan)
• Any unique identifying code or digital number

PHI applies to health status information of all times. This data is managed by any covered entity—including a health organization, individual or agency.

For instance, the process of transferring, receiving, or saving PHI is available in an electronic record, such as a digital file or email format known as ePHI. All the HIPAA regulations still apply irrespective of the information hosting medium.

Interconnection Between PHI and HIPAA

There is a tight matrix between PHI and HIPAA regulations. The HIPAA privacy protocol provides federal-level protections for PHI that are held by Covered Entities (CEs). This rule encompasses all the privacy rights of patients over that information. Healthcare providers also get directions regarding how to safeguard PHI systems.

• The HIPAA security rule allows PHI to be expressed as a result of patient medical care.
• Implementation of strict regulations to maintain the integrity of se sensitive data while it’s being actively saved or otherwise operated.
• This rule administers comprehensive administrative safeguards, physical safeguards, and technical security measures.
• It ensures confidentiality, safety and integrity of PHI are being flawlessly maintained.
• Among several key measures that providers must take to ensure the integrity and smooth availability of PHI is an ultimate data encryption.
• Some of the essential safeguards for the encryption of PHI access include antivirus software, firewalls, intrusion detection systems and regular backups.
• Organizations should ensure access control to allow authorization for healthcare employees to perform their duties.
• Availability of policies and procedures for granting and anytime revoking access rights entirely based on job responsibilities.
• Employees need effective training and awareness on how to safely handle PHI, both in digital formats and hard copy.
• Compliance programs are also available on how to create strong passwords, how to do risk assessments, and report cyberattacks and data breaches promptly.

Protected Health Information | What is Out of Context?

Surprisingly many people count all the health details as PHI. All personal medical backgrounds and related information don’t fall in the category of PHI under HIPAA, some rare exceptions do exist.

• Precisely, PHI is determined based on who records the data.
• Mobile health trackers, like smart wearable devices or smartphone apps, can record data.
• The common identifiers include blood pressure reading or heart rate.
• If a healthcare provider records sensitive data or a health plan makes use of it, only then the information would be PHI.
• If a device manufacturer or health app developer is unable to show a proper business associate agreement with the HIPPA, the information gathered is not considered PHI.
• If the data is stripped of all the personal identifiers that can associate it to an individual, it can be anything but not PHI.
• As you remove the identifiers, the health-based information becomes de-identified data and no HIPAA rules are applied any longer.

How is Protected Health Information Utilized?

Medical professionals commonly harness the benefits of PHI through remote patient monitoring systems. It helps physicians keep track of the patient’s medical background to better examine the patient’s medical condition and deliver quality care. Let’s explore some more value-added utilities.

• Clinicians and research scientists use PHI to comprehend changing healthcare trends.
• Individuals can better leverage anonymized PHI to build value-based care programs for premium healthcare services.
• HIPAA and HITECH 2009 Act limit the insurers, business associates and types of PHI healthcare providers.
• These regulations also define the scope of data access to the healthcare professionals, like how they can proceed the information sharing to extend better patient engagement strategies while maintaining the privacy of every patient.

An Aerial Overview of PHI

The Electronic protected health information is nothing to be confused about. To put it straight, it is about any PHI that is generated, accumulated, transmitted, or received through electronic means. The above mentioned security protocol has specific features that express the sources involved in assessing ePHI.

Let’s unfold the media employed to store data, including:

• Internal hard drives of computers
• Use of magnetic tape
• Smartphones and PDAs
• External portable hard drives
• Portable storage devices, including USB drives, CDs, SD cards, and DVD

If you want to know the sources of transmitting data through wi-fi, DSL, Ethernet or cable network including:

• File transfers
• Email service

Protected Health Information Breach | What are Outcomes?

Despite helpful uses, there are various challenges in value-based healthcare that make PHI end up in the wrong hands. This section emphasizes all the potential ways and consequences of PHI leakage that seek your attention. Let’s get started.

• A lost or stolen device can be a key contributor to the leakage of stored PHI. Hackers continue lurking for this because it contains identifiable health details.
• Accidental disclosure of an employee’s PHI by someone at your organization without any approval.
• Insecure shredding of documents can also lead to a horrendous act of breach.
• The aforementioned data breach scenarios can end up in hefty penalties for HIPAA noncompliance. The fine can range from $100 to $50000 according to the negligence level.
• In case of severe violations, the result can be jail time for disseminating sensitive information. This requires a fully secure PHI.

How to Effectively Secure PHI?

The significance of PHI and why its security is no longer an option are loud and clear. Let’s understand the practical steps you can take to ensure the lasting security of PHI.

• Use uncrackable passwords and encryption methods for digital files.
• Carefully shred health-based confidential paper documents.
• Stay vigilant of phishing scams by being cautious of suspicious links before sharing sensitive data.
• Secure your devices with biometric authentication, up-to-date anti-virus software and firewalls.
• Ensure authorized sharing of personal health information on different platforms.
• Understand your data access and sharing rights of vulnerable health information under HIPAA protocols.
• Train your staff about handling sensitive information using the best security policies.

Employees’ Protected Health Information | How to Keep it Safe?

Consider a few critical ways to keep your staff PHI secure. Let’s explore the gist.

• Designate a privacy officer to implement physical safeguards.
• Provide a well-planned privacy rule requirements training program to all your employees.
• Adopt a written form of PHI patient health privacy procedures to avoid misunderstanding.
• Ensure password protection and advanced encryption for any electronic health records and hard drives to prevent hacking attacks.
• Put best practices in place to avoid setbacks when making staffing or health benefits decisions, advertising, or fundraising.

Understanding the significance of PHI and its safeguard measures inside and out can help you avoid hefty penalties for compliance violations. Implementing patient privacy and compliance regulations within the medicare industry comes with plenty of benefits. Partnering with the competitive and award-winning service providers can help health organizations comply with both state and federal laws every day.