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SCENARIO Please Use the Following to Answer the Next Question

question 17

Multiple Choice

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?

Definitions:

Dependable

Capable of being trusted or relied upon consistently.

Biopsychologist

A scientist who studies the biological basis of behavior, often exploring how the brain and nervous system influence thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Nervous System

The network of nerve cells and fibers that transmits nerve impulses between parts of the body, essential for sensing, thinking, and controlling muscles.

Behavior

Observations of an individual's actions and reactions in various situations, often studied in psychology to understand the underlying mechanisms and influences.