HIPAA: Protect Patient Information Beyond the Chart

Article Overview

This article is a practical HIPAA privacy overview for healthcare compliance and coding-related staff, with emphasis on what qualifies as protected health information and how federal guidance during the COVID-19 public health emergency affected permissible disclosures. It covers broad categories of personal identifiers, the roles of covered entities and business associates, and general exception categories for disclosure under HHS Office for Civil Rights guidance. The piece is intended to help readers understand the scope of privacy obligations and the types of situations that prompted additional flexibility during the emergency period.