Certification Board for Sterile Processing and Distribution (CBSPD) Sterile Processing Technician Practice Exam

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is associated with which ethical issue?

1. Transparency

2. Accountability

3. Confidentiality

4. Integrity

The correct answer is: Confidentiality

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is fundamentally concerned with the protection of patients' sensitive information, making confidentiality the central ethical issue it addresses. The act establishes strict guidelines on how medical records and personal health information are managed, shared, and stored, thereby ensuring that individuals' health information remains private and secure. Confidentiality is crucial in healthcare settings as it builds trust between patients and providers, allowing for open communication without fear of unauthorized disclosures. HIPAA mandates that healthcare organizations implement safeguards to protect patient data from breaches and unauthorized access, further emphasizing the importance of confidentiality in the healthcare industry. While other ethical issues like transparency, accountability, and integrity may also play important roles in healthcare, they are not the main focus of HIPAA. Transparency refers to open and honest communication, accountability involves being responsible for one’s actions, and integrity pertains to adherence to moral and ethical principles. None of these principles captures the essence of HIPAA's primary concern with protecting patient privacy as confidentiality does.