HIPAA CLA-100 Certification Practice Exam

Protected Health Information (PHI) under HIPAA is defined as any health information that is created, received, or maintained by a covered entity that can be used to identify an individual. This includes information related to the individual's past, present, or future physical or mental health condition, the provision of healthcare to the individual, or the payment for the provision of healthcare.

The correct answer focuses on the aspect of health information that carries the potential to identify a specific patient. This identification may include names, addresses, birthdates, Social Security numbers, and any other information that can trace back to an individual. Given that this information is sensitive, HIPAA establishes strict regulations to protect it, ensuring that individuals’ privacy is preserved.

The other options do not meet the criteria for PHI as defined by HIPAA. General statistics about healthcare outcomes are aggregated data that do not identify individuals and therefore do not qualify as PHI. Public health notices are often related to health trends or communicable diseases and do not include personal identifiers. Marketing data for health services typically involves non-specific information about services or populations and does not pertain directly to an individual patient’s health information. Thus, only health information capable of identifying a patient is classified as PHI under HIPAA.