Minimum Necessary Standard Flashcards

A hospital billing department receives a request for PHI from a health plan. Under the Minimum Necessary Standard, what should the hospital do?

Answer: Provide only the information reasonably necessary to fulfill the billing request

Covered entities must make reasonable efforts to limit disclosures to only the PHI needed for the specific purpose, such as billing.

Which of the following disclosures is EXEMPT from the Minimum Necessary Standard under HIPAA?

Answer: Disclosures to the patient themselves

Disclosures made directly to the individual who is the subject of the PHI are explicitly exempt from the Minimum Necessary Standard.

A covered entity's workforce member accesses PHI of a family member who is also a patient. This most likely violates which standard?

Answer: The Minimum Necessary Standard and workforce access controls

Accessing PHI beyond one's job role violates the Minimum Necessary Standard, which requires limiting access to those who need it for their work functions.

Under the Minimum Necessary Standard, how should a covered entity treat routine or recurring requests for PHI?

Answer: Entities may develop standard protocols identifying what PHI is typically needed for such requests

HIPAA allows covered entities to develop reasonable standard protocols for routine, recurring disclosures to avoid reviewing every individual request.

A research team requests a dataset with full patient identifiers for a study. The Privacy Officer determines that de-identified data would satisfy the research purpose. What should the covered entity do?

Answer: Provide only de-identified data since it meets the research need

If the research purpose can be accomplished with de-identified data, the Minimum Necessary Standard requires providing that lesser amount of information.

How does the Minimum Necessary Standard apply to a covered entity's own workforce members who use PHI in their daily work?

Answer: Access must be limited based on each member's role and what they need to do their job

Covered entities must implement policies and procedures limiting PHI access for workforce members to the minimum necessary for their specific job functions.

A covered entity receives a public health disclosure request from a state health department. Under Minimum Necessary, the entity should:

Answer: Rely on the public health authority's representation of what is needed for the activity

For public health disclosures permitted under HIPAA, covered entities may reasonably rely on the public health authority's representation of the minimum necessary information needed.