The Difference Between PII and PHI
- Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
- Protected Health Information (PHI)
- Protect sensitive data by ensuring compliance
What are best practices for protecting PII or Phi?
What are best practices for protecting PHI against public viewing?
- Locate printers, copiers, and fax machines in areas that minimize public viewing. ...
- Utilize computer privacy screens and/or screen savers when practicable. ...
- Locate whiteboards that may be used to display PHI in areas that minimize viewing by persons who do not need the information.
What is considered PII Phi?
Under the Privacy Rule, there are 18 identifiers that are considered PHI:
- Full names or last name and initial
- All geographical identifiers smaller than a state
- Dates (other than year) directly related to an individual such as birthday or treatment dates
- Phone Numbers including area code
- Fax Number (s)
- Email Address (es)
- Social Security Number
- Medical Record Numbers
- Health Insurance Beneficiary Numbers
- Bank Account Numbers
What is considered Phi under HIPAA?
Under HIPAA law, past and present health records and potential information regarding medical conditions or physical and mental health relevant to the provision of treatment or reimbursement for care are called PHI. PHI refers to any health information, such as physical records, electronic records, or spoken information.
What does Phi stand for in healthcare?
The PHI acronym stands for protected health information, also known as HIPAA data. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandates that PHI in healthcare must be safeguarded. As such healthcare organizations must be aware of what is considered PHI. What is PHI? You might be wondering about the PHI definition.
Is PHI a subset of PII?
Protected Health Information (PHI) is a subset or smaller grouping of PII and is defined as individually identifiable health information that is transmitted or maintained by electronic or any other form or medium, except as otherwise contained in employment records held by a HIPAA covered entity in its role as an ...
What is considered PII under HIPAA?
What Kinds of Information Constitute HIPAA PII? Personally identifiable information is data relating directly or indirectly to an individual, from which the identity of the individual can be determined. Examples of PII include patient names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, and bank account numbers.
What are the 3 types of PHI?
Protected Health Information, or PHI, is the personally identifiable health information that HIPAA regulates and protects....How to Become HIPAA CompliantTechnical Safeguards.Physical Safeguards.Administrative Safeguards.
Is SSN PHI or PII?
PII is personal identifiable information that can be used alone or with a combination of other data to uniquely identify an individual. Examples of PII include an individual's full name, birth date, SSN, bank account number, credit card number, email address or Internet Protocol (IP) address.
What are examples of PHI or PII?
Examples of PHI All geographical identifiers smaller than a state. Dates (other than year) directly related to an individual such as birthday or treatment dates. Phone Numbers including area code. Fax Number(s)
What are PII examples?
Personal identification numbers: social security number (SSN), passport number, driver's license number, taxpayer identification number, patient identification number, financial account number, or credit card number. Personal address information: street address, or email address. Personal telephone numbers.
What is not considered PHI?
Employee and education records: Any records concerning employee or student health, such as known allergies, blood type, or disabilities, are not considered PHI. Wearable devices: Data collected by wearable devices such as heart rate monitors or smartwatches is not PHI.
What is considered as PHI?
HIPAA defines PHI as data that relates to the past, present or future health of an individual; the provision of healthcare to an individual; or the payment for the provision of healthcare to an individual.
What are the 18 identifiers of PHI?
18 HIPAA IdentifiersName.Address (all geographic subdivisions smaller than state, including street address, city county, and zip code)All elements (except years) of dates related to an individual (including birthdate, admission date, discharge date, date of death, and exact age if over 89)Telephone numbers.Fax number.More items...
Is date of birth PII or PHI?
PII is a general term referring to ANY sensitive data used to identify, contact, or locate a specific individual. It is not a term specific to HIPAA regulations. This includes common identifiers such as full name, date of birth, street or email address, and biometric data.
Is last 4 considered PII?
A truncated SSN is the last four digits of an SSN. It is considered sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (PII), both stand-alone and when associated with any other identifiable information.
What is considered PII in healthcare?
Personal Identifiable Information (PII) is defined as data or other information which otherwise identifies, an individual or provides information about an individual in a way that is reasonably likely to enable identification of a specific person and make personal information about them known.
What is considered PII?
Further, PII is defined as information: (i) that directly identifies an individual (e.g., name, address, social security number or other identifying number or code, telephone number, email address, etc.) or (ii) by which an agency intends to identify specific individuals in conjunction with other data elements, i.e., ...
What is classed as PII data?
Personal data that 'relate to' an identifiable individual Information that identifies an individual, even without a name attached to it, may be personal data if you are processing it to learn something about that individual or if your processing of this information will have an impact on that individual.
What is not a PII?
Info such as business phone numbers and race, religion, gender, workplace, and job titles are typically not considered PII.
What is the difference between PHI and PII?
By legal definition, the difference between PII and PHI is that PHI is a subset of PII in which health-related information or medical records can be used to identify an individual. Under the HIPAA law, covered entities and business associates are required to adopt certain security regulations to protect PHI. In simpler terms, PHI is any individually identifiable healthcare information, created or received by health providers, health plan operators, or healthcare clearinghouses. PHI might contain the past, present, or future health condition, either in physical or mental terms. Generally, PHI can be used to identify a particular individual regarding data that is either stored or transmitted in any given form, including oral, written, or electronic.
What is PII in medical terms?
PII which is the acronym for personally identifiable information is any data that can be used to identify, contact, or locate an individual, either alone or combined with other easily accessible sources. It includes information, such as financial, medical, educational, or employment records – all of which can be linked to an individual. Types of information that can be used to identify an individual include name, fingerprints, email address, social security number, contact number, or other unique biometric data.
What is the law that protects PHI?
The federal law HIPAA mandates that organizations identify PII and PHI and handle them with the utmost confidentiality. Releasing these types of information without authorization could lead to severe repercussions for the organization responsible for safeguarding the information, as well as the individual whose information is compromised. Given the importance of PII and PHI, the HIPAA law dictates a more safe and efficient usage of this information. To keep this information safe, the first step is to understand the difference between PII and PHI, and how important it can be.
What is PHI in healthcare?
The term PII (Personally Identifiable Information) and PHI (Protected Health Information ) are often used interchangeably in healthcare but are also often a source of confusion for many organizations that are seeking to comply with HIPAA. But what is the difference between PII and PHI?
Why is HIPAA important?
This is why HIPAA compliance is crucial for your business. By implementing appropriate physical, technical, and administrative safeguards, you will be able to protect sensitive information from external as well as internal threats.
What type of information is used to identify an individual?
Types of information that can be used to identify an individual include name, fingerprints, email address, social security number, contact number, or other unique biometric data.
How to protect sensitive data?
Protect sensitive data by ensuring compliance. Even if under certain circumstances, PII is not considered sensitive, it does not mean it can be publicly disclosed. Whether it’s PII or PHI, protecting your customer’s information can not only benefit your business, but it will also help you avoid costly fines.
What is PHI in dental?
PHI is information that is created, transmitted, received, or maintained by a covered entity — your dental office — that is related to any of the following: 1 Past, present, or future health or condition of an individual 2 Provision of healthcare to an individual — what you did and what you may do 3 Past, present, or future payment for the provision of healthcare to an individual 4 Yes, ledger entries are PHI and considered part of the chart
What are the things that must be accompanied by PII?
These things must be accompanied by an identifier, or PII, like name, address, social security number, email address, or geographic subdivision smaller than a state — like county, parish, or town — as well as many others.
Is collecting and selling PII on a legal basis profitable?
In short, collecting and selling PII on a legal basis is a very profitable business.
Is a ledger PHI?
Past, present, or future payment for the provision of healthcare to an individual. Yes, ledger entries are PHI and considered part of the chart.
Do dental offices have both?
In a dental office, we have both and have to protect both with the same level of care.
How many elements of PHI can be removed?
Organizations can remove the PHI of PII by removing the 18 elements of PHI. Instructions from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services on how to do this properly can be found here.
Is a telephone number a PII?
PII can be directly or indirectly linked to a person’s identity. For example, a telephone number can identify a group of people, but a social security number can identify an individual. They are both PII but will have different consequences to the individual if they are obtained.
Is medical information PHI or PII?
The medical information can be both PII and PHI . Consider the protected health information as a subset of the personally identifiable information that specifically refers to the health information of the individual that is shared with HIPAA-covered entities. This type of data includes lab reports or medical records, and any of the individual’s past, present, or future physical and mental health. When financial information pertains to medical bills, it is also considered to be PHI.
What is PHI in healthcare?
PHI is information that can be used to identify an individual AND that relates to that individual’s past, present, or future physical or mental health care or health care payments.
What is PII in banking?
The definition of PII is personally identifiable information. This is information that, on its own or combined, can be used to identify, locate, or contact an individual. Some examples of PII are obviously sensitive: Social Security number, credit card number, driver’s license number, and account numbers.
How much is the fine for HIPAA violations?
For HIPAA violations, the civil penalties for the unintentional yet inappropriate release of PHI range from $100 to $50,000 per violation, with up to a maximum of $1.5 million in a year.
What is MDM software?
The issues with mobile devices can be handled by Mobile Device Management Software (MDM). As the name implies, MDM is for the administration of smart phones, tablets, and laptops. It runs an agent installed on the mobile device that connects to a server.
What is BYOD on smart phones?
On BYOD (bring your own device) smart phones, it can also separate the user’s personal apps from the secure company browser, secure company email, and the associated encrypted business data. Physical security best practices.
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What is the result of Virus Bulletin VBSpam?
Virus Bulletin VBSpam results highlight performance of N-able Mail Assure, which managed to block all the malware and phishing emails in its tests.
What is the difference between PHI and PII?
By legal definition, the difference between PII and PHI is that PHI is a subset of PII in which health-related information or medical records can be used to identify an individual. Under the HIPAA law, covered entities and business associates are required to adopt certain security regulations to protect PHI. In simpler terms, PHI is any individually identifiable healthcare information, created or received by health providers, health plan operators, or healthcare clearinghouses. PHI might contain the past, present, or future health condition, either in physical or mental terms. Generally, PHI can be used to identify a particular individual in regard to data that is either stored or transmitted in any given form, including oral, written, or electronic.
What is PHI in healthcare?
The term PII (Personally Identifiable Information) and PHI (Protected Health Information) are often used interchangeably in healthcare, but are also often a source of confusion for many organizations that are seeking to comply with HIPAA. But what is the difference between PII and PHI? This article
What is PII in medical terms?
PII which is the acronym for personally identifiable information is any data that can be used to identify, contact, or locate an individual, either alone or combined with other easily accessible sources. It includes information, such as financial, medical, educational, or employment records – all of which can be linked to an individual. Types of information that can be used to identify an individual include name, fingerprints, email address, social security number, contact number, or other unique biometric data.
What is the law that protects PHI?
The federal law HIPAA mandates that organizations identify PII and PHI and handle them with the utmost confidentiality. Releasing these types of information without authorization could lead to severe repercussions for the organization responsible for safeguarding the information, as well as the individual whose information is compromised. Given the importance of PII and PHI, the HIPAA law dictates more safe and efficient usage of this information. To keep this information safe, the first step is to understand the difference between PII and PHI, and how important it can be.
Is PHI a record of employment?
However, PHI does not refer to educational records nor employment records which are maintained by a covered entity as that entity’s role as an individual’s employer. Very similar to PII, PHI includes the following:
Can you use two pieces of information to compromise someone's identity?
Under certain circumstances, one or two pieces of information can be used together with other easily accessible information to compromise someone’s identity, even if the individual information itself is harmless.
Is PII sensitive to HIPAA?
Even if under certain circumstances, PII is not considered sensitive, it does not mean it can be publicly disclosed. Whether it’s PII or PHI, protecting your customer’s information can not only benefit your business, but it will also help you avoid costly fines. In the healthcare industry, leaving PHI unattended could mean a HIPAA violation and result in severe financial consequences. This is why HIPAA compliance is crucial for your business.
What is PHI in HIPAA?
Now that we’ve discussed what PHI is and how it is different from PII, it is important to talk about what to do to protect PHI according to the rules and regulations of HIPAA. The HIPAA Security Rule requires organizations to take proactive measures against threats to the sanctity of PHI. Organizations must implement administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the PHI under their care. However, aside from saying that safeguards must be implemented, the “how” is left to the discretion of the individual organization, which can be frustrating for the organization in question because when the cost of non-compliance can be so high, they don’t know what they need to do to be compliant.
What is the HIPAA security rule?
The HIPAA Security Rule requires organizations to take proactive measures against threats to the sanctity of PHI. Organizations must implement administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the PHI under their care.
What is PII in a computer?
PII can also include login IDs, digital images, IP addresses, social media posts and other digital forms of data.
What is PHI in healthcare?
Protected Health Information, or PHI, is any medical information that can potentially identify an individual, that was created, used or disclosed in the course of providing healthcare services, whether it was a diagnosis or treatment. PHI can include information about:
Why is it important to keep PII confidential?
When it comes to keeping PII secure and confidential, it is important to understand the extent of the risk and potential harm that could come to that information. That is why NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has created a 61-page document guide to keeping PII confidential.
What are the impact levels of PII?
The PII confidentiality impact levels are defined as low, medium and high and range by the “adverse effects” that would come to the individual whose information was lost. Adverse effects meaning the unwanted, negative consequences (physical, social or financial) that could come to the individual whose information it is or the organization who is responsible for the breach. More information about the definition of each impact level, the factors that determine risk and examples of each level can be found here .
What is accountable compliance?
Accountable exists to make HIPAA compliance as easy and straightforward for organizations of all shapes and sizes. We have created a framework that walks you through adopting necessary policies and procedures, training your employees, identifying risks within your organization and spending more of your time working on your important work. Plus, it’s free to take the first steps towards compliance with us today!
