The HIPAA "minimum necessary" standard applies to which of the following?

The "minimum necessary" standard under HIPAA is designed to limit the access to and use of Protected Health Information (PHI) to only the information that is necessary to achieve the intended purpose. Answering this in the context of human subjects research is crucial.

In the case of human subjects research utilizing PHI, the minimum necessary standard applies because researchers must ensure that they only access the information needed for their studies, thus protecting the privacy of individuals’ health information. This means that when conducting research, investigators should only use the PHI that is directly relevant to their research objectives, safeguarding against unnecessary exposure of sensitive information.

The other options, while they may touch on aspects of patient treatment or billing processes, do not encapsulate the comprehensive rule that governs how PHI is handled for research purposes. Instead, they either limit the scope more narrowly or mischaracterize the application of the standard, which covers various scenarios where PHI is utilized, not just coding or billing or solely non-treatment uses.