In our earlier article we understood the purpose of PHIPAA and the enactment sets out the rules that custodians and health care managers are required to follow. The meaning of custodian is understood under the PHIPAA, now in this article we will walk towards the meaning of health care which is defined under section 1 of the act and few other important aspects of this piece of legislation.
Health Care means any- observation, examination, assessment, care, service or procedure carried out for health-related purposes AND
- To diagnose treat or maintain physical or mental condition
- To prevent disease or injury
- As a part of rehabilitative palliative care
AND INCLUDES
- Compounding of a drug (pursuant to a prescription)
- Dispensing or selling of a drug, device, equipment (pursuant to a prescription) AND
- A health care service prescribed by regulation.
In other words, the definition of health care is wide in nature and leaves no loopholes. One of the purposes of the legislation is to facilitate the effective provision of care, planning and management of the healthcare system.
Application of PHIPAA
Section 3 of the legislation provides that the act will apply to followings-
- Personal health information in the custody or control of a custodian or an agent
- Personal health information collected before this act could come into force i.e. before 1st September 2010.
Non- Application of PHIPAA
This act doesn’t apply in the following cases-
- Anonymous or unidentified individual’s health information,
- Personal health information of a person, if 50 years have passed since the death of that individual,
- Individual or organization who collects, maintains or uses personal health information for any other purposes other than health care or treatment and the planning and management of the healthcare system. For eg.- Employers, Insurance companies, regulatory body of health care providers, licensed or registered health care service providers etc.,
- Person acting in a judicial or quasi-judicial capacity,
- A constituency record of a minister of crown,
- Information in the court record,
It is pertinent to note that we are mentioning personal health information therefore, it is necessary that we should know what all information is included as personal health information under this law. So, there are some information whether oral or in recorded form if it relates to
- The physical or mental health, family history or health care history (including genetic information)
- Individual’s registration information including Medicare number
- Information about payments, eligibility for health care or coverage for health care
- Donation information (body part or body substance)
- Identifies the individual’s substitute decision-maker
- Identifies an individual’s health care provider
Picture Credit-https://en.wikipedia.org/