What is the goal of the integrity safeguard?

The goal of the integrity safeguard is to maintain the accuracy of Protected Health Information (PHI) over time. This ensures that health information is trustworthy, reliable, and reflects the true state of a patient’s health and treatment. Integrity safeguards are crucial not only for the credibility of health data but also for quality patient care, as accurate data is necessary for making informed clinical decisions.

Ensuring the accuracy of PHI involves implementing measures to protect against erroneous alterations or data corruption, which can have serious implications for healthcare outcomes. This objective is essential in fostering trust in health systems and protecting patients' rights.

While securing PHI from unauthorized access, increasing accessibility of health data, and promoting privacy are all important components of health information management, their focuses differ. Security measures are primarily concerned with preventing unauthorized access, accessibility relates to how easily data can be retrieved by those who need it, and privacy focuses on how personal information is handled in a way that respects patients' rights. However, these are not the primary focus of integrity safeguards, which are specifically designed to ensure that the information is accurate and reliable over time.