CIPP-US Exam - Question 60

Question

SCENARIO -Please use the following to answer the next question:You are the chief privacy officer at HealthCo, a major hospital in a large U. S. city in state A. HealthCo is a HIPAA-covered entity that provides healthcare services to more than 100,000 patients. A third-party cloud computing service provider, CloudHealth, stores and manages the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of these individuals on behalf of HealthCo. CloudHealth stores the data in state B. As part of HealthCo’s business associate agreement (BAA) with CloudHealth, HealthCo requires CloudHealth to implement security measures, including industry standard encryption practices, to adequately protect the data. However, HealthCo did not perform due diligence on CloudHealth before entering the contract, and has not conducted audits of CloudHealth’s security measures. A CloudHealth employee has recently become the victim of a phishing attack. When the employee unintentionally clicked on a link from a suspicious email, the PHI of more than 10,000 HealthCo patients was compromised. It has since been published online. The HealthCo cybersecurity team quickly identifies the perpetrator as a known hacker who has launched similar attacks on other hospitals – ones that exposed the PHI of public figures including celebrities and politicians. During the course of its investigation, HealthCo discovers that CloudHealth has not encrypted the PHI in accordance with the terms of its contract. In addition, CloudHealth has not provided privacy or security training to its employees. Law enforcement has requested that HealthCo provide its investigative report of the breach and a copy of the PHI of the individuals affected. A patient affected by the breach then sues HealthCo, claiming that the company did not adequately protect the individual’s ePHI, and that he has suffered substantial harm as a result of the exposed data. The patient’s attorney has submitted a discovery request for the ePHI exposed in the breach. Of the safeguards required by the HIPAA Security Rule, which of the following is NOT at issue due to HealthCo’s actions?

Examice · Accepted Answer

The HIPAA Security Rule requires covered entities to implement administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect electronic protected health information (ePHI). Administrative safeguards include policies and procedures designed to manage the selection, development, and maintenance of security measures, as well as the conduct of personnel. Technical safeguards involve technology and the policies and procedures for using that technology to protect ePHI and control access to it. Physical safeguards are measures to protect electronic information systems and related buildings and equipment from natural and environmental hazards, and unauthorized intrusion. Therefore, the correct answer is Security Safeguards, as they are not a specific category required by the HIPAA Security Rule.

impchoi · Answer

C: Administrative covers the phishing training. Technical covers the lack of encryption. Security safeguards are what we're talking about..and administrative and technical are important as mentioned above. The Physical safeguards are not important to how this breach occurred.

Privaceeeeee9876 · Answer

C: Section 8.1.2 of the textbook lists the Security Rule Safeguards as admin, technical and physical. Security safeguards are not considered one of the three categories.

smp175 · Answer

The other comments are correct. See the prompt - "Of the safeguards required . . ." That wording rules out D, because it is not one of the safeguards. Rather, it is a red herring answer choice.

Deatherage · Answer

A - In the scenario, HealthCo failed to conduct due diligence on CloudHealth, which indicates a lapse in administrative safeguards.
B - In the scenario, it's mentioned that the PHI was not encrypted by CloudHealth, which pertains to technical safeguards.
C - These are physical measures, policies, and procedures to protect electronic information systems and related buildings and equipment from natural and environmental hazards, and unauthorized intrusion. The scenario doesn't specifically mention any issues related to physical access or environmental threats to the ePHI.
D - Security safeguard is not required by the HIPPA Security Rule so  this option would be eliminated

Bhimesh · Answer

HealthCo wasn't in compliance with Administrative and Technical and hence Physical safeguards were not focused on during the investigation.

Safeguards.

The Privacy Rule requires that covered entities implement administrative, physical and technical safeguards to protect the confidentiality and integrity of all PHI.

The HIPAA Security Rule requires both covered entities and business associates to implement administrative, physical, and technical safeguards only for ePHI.

CIPP-US Exam - Question 60

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