What is the core aim of HIPAA's privacy rule?

The core aim of HIPAA's privacy rule is to ensure that patient information is kept confidential. This regulation is fundamentally about protecting individuals' medical records and personal health information from unauthorized access and disclosure. By establishing national standards for the protection of health information, HIPAA empowers patients with rights over their data, fostering trust in the healthcare system. The privacy rule mandates that healthcare providers, health plans, and other entities must implement safeguards to ensure that personal health information (PHI) is used and disclosed only in appropriate ways, thus emphasizing the importance of confidentiality in healthcare.

In contrast, the other options address different aspects of the healthcare system. While minimizing healthcare expenses and increasing efficiency are important considerations, they are not the primary focus of the privacy rule. Similarly, allowing greater access to health information can be a necessary aspect of healthcare administration but must be balanced with the need to protect patient privacy. Thus, the central tenet of the privacy rule is the safeguarding of patient confidentiality, making it the correct answer in this context.