PHI: What is Protected Health Information?

Under HIPAA, you are responsible to protect Protected Health Information (PHI). But what exactly is PHI?

PHI is all “individually identifiable health information.”  Under the HIPAA privacy rule, providers are responsible for all PHI held or transmitted in any form (e.g. electronic, paper, oral).

Examples of PHI include:

•      • Patient’s name
•      • Images of the patient
•      • Date of birth
•      • Biometric information (fingerprint, retinal scan, voice)
•      • Oher identifying information
•      • Medical record number
•      • Social security number
•      • Account number
•      • Vehicle number (VIN, license plate)
•      • IP address
•      • Health Insurance ID
•      • Telephone number
•      • Fax number

Any information that can be used to identify the patient can be considered to be PHI. It is best to consider that all information you have on a patient to be PHI and treat it accordingly.

Have more questions regarding HIPAA? Schedule a meeting with TLD systems here or contact TLD Systems at info@tldsystems.com.