Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) Practice Exam

Telemedicine videoconference tapes are covered by HIPAA Security Rule if they are...

1. Stored in a cloud environment

2. Utilized during a live session

3. Not erased after the physician's report is signed

4. Encrypted before transmission

The correct answer is: Not erased after the physician's report is signed

The reason the statement about telemedicine videoconference tapes being covered by the HIPAA Security Rule if they are not erased after the physician's report is signed is correct lies in the protection of electronic protected health information (ePHI). Under HIPAA, any form of ePHI, which includes recordings or tapes of telemedicine sessions, must be adequately protected to maintain patient confidentiality and data integrity. If these tapes are not erased after documentation is completed, they may still constitute a record of ePHI that requires compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule. This means that they must be appropriately secured from unauthorized access and breaches. The HIPAA Security Rule emphasizes the need for safeguards to protect ePHI, which includes ensuring that data is not left in a vulnerable state after it is no longer needed for care, unless they are appropriately protected during storage, retention, and retrieval processes. Therefore, the non-erasure contributes to the continuum of data management that HIPAA seeks to regulate. In contrast, while being stored in a cloud environment, utilized during a live session, or encrypted before transmission all speak to aspects of data handling, they do not specifically address the retention of records post-session and the associated compliance obligations for handling ePHI according to the requirements