GMA Comprehensive Practice Exam

Protecting patient information in routine clinic operations comes from combining safeguards for PHI, limiting disclosures to the minimum necessary, and upholding patients’ rights, all supported by clear practice policies, staff training, and a plan for breach notification. Safeguarding PHI means using administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to prevent unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. Limiting disclosures to the minimum necessary ensures staff only share the information needed to accomplish a task or provide care. Providing patients with access to their records and the ability to amend them preserves their control over personal health information. In addition, documented privacy policies and ongoing staff training establish consistent expectations and behaviors, and breach notification ensures that individuals and authorities are informed if a SAMPLEprivacy incident occurs. The other options ignore these essential protections—free sharing with all staff, no breach notifications, or marketing disclosures without proper safeguards—so they don’t align with how PHI must be handled under HIPAA.