Final answer:
Disclosure means providing access to protected health information, with HIPAA governing its confidentiality and privacy. Ethical challenges arise in scenarios such as informing partners about STD exposure, balancing privacy with healthcare quality and costs, and dealing with minors' privacy rights concerning their parents. Option B is correct.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term that means releasing, transferring, or providing access to protected health information is disclosure. Authorization refers to the permissions obtained before protected health information can be disclosed. Confidentiality is the ethical and legal duty to protect patient information from unauthorized access, while privacy involves the patient's rights to control the release and use of their personal information.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) sets strict standards for healthcare providers and businesses like insurance companies to maintain confidentiality of patient records. Decisions regarding patient privacy can be ethically complex, especially when it involves communicating with sexual partners about potential exposure to sexually transmitted diseases without breaching the patient's right to privacy.
Policies regarding electronic health records need to address questions of balancing treatment costs, patient quality of life, and individual privacy risks. Furthermore, when the patient is a minor, issues of confidentiality versus parental rights become particularly sensitive and require careful consideration by the physician.