PHI is an acronym used in healthcare privacy. What does it stand for?

• A. Personal Health Information
• B. Protected Health Information
• C. Private Health Information
• D. Public Health Information

Answer: (B)

PHI stands for protected health information, the term used in HIPAA to describe individually identifiable health information. It includes any data about a person’s health status, the care they have received, or payments for that care, when the information can identify the individual. PHI applies regardless of format—electronic, paper, or spoken—and covers both the health details and the identifiers that link that information to a person (such as name, address, date of birth, medical record number, etc.). This is why PHI requires privacy protections, access controls, and the minimum-necessary standard to limit disclosures. Other phrases aren’t the standard HIPAA term, and public health information typically refers to data released without identifying information.