CoreFull access
Patient Privacy, Ethics, and Cultural Competence
Share only what care requires, protect dignity, and adapt to each patient's culture without assumptions.
The rule
HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, protects a patient's protected health information, called PHI. PHI is anything that links a person to their health: a name with a diagnosis, images, birth date, medical record number, even a photo of a requisition. Without the patient's authorization, use and share it for treatment, payment, and health care operations, and access only the minimum necessary for your job. Patients have the right to see their own records. A breach, such as images sent to the wrong person, must be reported through your facility's privacy process, not hidden.