Which federal regulation governs patient privacy in athletic training?

• A. HIPAA
• B. FERPA
• C. OSHA
• D. ADA

Answer: (A)

Protecting patient health information is governed by HIPAA. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act establishes national standards for safeguarding individually identifiable health information, known as PHI, and outlines how it can be used or disclosed. In athletic training, clinicians handle medical histories, treatment notes, and insurance data, so they must keep PHI confidential, share only what’s necessary, and obtain appropriate authorizations when required. The Privacy Rule also allows certain disclosures without explicit patient consent for purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations, and it requires practical safeguards like secure record-keeping.

FERPA protects educational records in schools, not general health information. ADA focuses on rights and accommodations for people with disabilities, not privacy of health data. OSHA deals with workplace safety standards, not patient privacy. Thus HIPAA is the regulation that governs patient privacy in athletic training.