PHI is protected health information, which is information protected by law that cannot be released to anyone except the patient without the patient’s consent. This affects data as simple as email addresses and as complex as medical records.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a law to protect patients’ privacy, to protect this PHI. Because all health plans must follow HIPAA regulations, we cannot release this information to someone other than the patient without a signed PHI disclosure form.