The law governing patient confidentiality is abbreviated as which of the following?

• A. CDC
• B. HHS
• C. ALARA
• D. HIPAA

Answer: (D)

Protecting patient information is guided by HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This law establishes the Privacy Rule and Security Rule to control how protected health information, including radiology records and patient identifiers, can be used, stored, and disclosed. It requires safeguards for electronic records and limits disclosures to the minimum necessary, with patient consent when required. The other terms refer to different concepts: the CDC is a public health agency, HHS is the department that oversees health programs (and administers HIPAA), and ALARA is about reducing radiation dose, not privacy. So HIPAA is the correct abbreviation for the confidentiality law.