Which of the following terms describes the practices a provider employs to protect patients' privacy rights?

• A. Privacy
• B. Confidentiality
• C. Security
• D. Integrity

Answer: (B)

Protecting patients' privacy rights means keeping health information private and sharing it only with those who need to know. The term that describes the provider’s duties and the procedures used to achieve this is confidentiality. It covers policies, access controls, staff training, consent practices, and safeguards that prevent unauthorized disclosure of protected health information and ensure it’s used only for legitimate purposes. Privacy is the patient’s right itself—the authority to control information about themselves—whereas security are the technical and physical measures that protect data from breaches, and integrity concerns the accuracy and trustworthiness of the data. So confidentiality best describes the practices used to protect privacy.