HHS Data-Scrubbing Guidance Backs Strict Privacy Definitions

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently affirmed the validity of the current methods for scrubbing patient records of identifying data under existing medical privacy law, a move that forces health care companies to thoroughly strip records of even seemingly innocuous forms for personal information, attorneys say.

"There has been some debate about whether certain information derived from patient identifiers would still be considered to be protected health information," said Data Privacy and Security Team Co-Chair Shannon Hartsfield.