Which of the following accurately describes the purpose of a particular federal enforcement agency?

SCENARIO

Please use the following to answer the next QUESTION:

Matt went into his son's bedroom one evening and found him stretched out on his bed typing on his laptop. ''Doing your network?'' Matt asked hopefully.

''No,'' the boy said. ''I'm filling out a survey.''

Matt looked over his son's shoulder at his computer screen. ''What kind of survey?'' ''It's asking Questions about my opinions.''

''Let me see,'' Matt said, and began reading the list of Questions that his son had already answered. ''It's asking your opinions about the government and citizenship. That's a little odd. You're only ten.''

Matt wondered how the web link to the survey had ended up in his son's email inbox. Thinking the message might have been sent to his son by mistake he opened it and read it. It had come from an entity called the Leadership Project, and the content and the graphics indicated that it was intended for children. As Matt read further he learned that kids who took the survey were automatically registered in a contest to win the first book in a series about famous leaders.

To Matt, this clearly seemed like a marketing ploy to solicit goods and services to children. He asked his son if he had been prompted to give information about himself in order to take the survey. His son told him he had been asked to give his name, address, telephone number, and date of birth, and to answer Questions about his favorite games and toys.

Matt was concerned. He doubted if it was legal for the marketer to collect information from his son in the way that it was. Then he noticed several other commercial emails from marketers advertising products for children in his son's inbox, and he decided it was time to report the incident to the proper authorities.

How does Matt come to the decision to report the marketer's activities?

SCENARIO

Please use the following to answer the next QUESTION:

Cheryl is the sole owner of Fitness Coach, Inc., a medium-sized company that helps individuals realize their physical fitness goals through classes, individual instruction, and access to an extensive indoor gym. She has owned the company for ten years and has always been concerned about protecting customer's privacy while maintaining the highest level of service. She is proud that she has built long-lasting customer relationships.

Although Cheryl and her staff have tried to make privacy protection a priority, the company has no formal privacy policy. So Cheryl hired Janice, a privacy professional, to help her develop one.

After an initial assessment, Janice created a first of a new policy. Cheryl read through the draft and was concerned about the many changes the policy would bring throughout the company. For example, the draft policy stipulates that a customer's personal information can only be held for one year after paying for a service such as a session with personal trainer. It also promises that customer information will not be shared with third parties without the written consent of the customer. The wording of these rules worry Cheryl since stored personal information often helps her company to serve her customers, even if there are long pauses between their visits. In addition, there are some third parties that provide crucial services, such as aerobics instructors who teach classes on a contract basis. Having access to customer files and understanding the fitness levels of their students helps instructors to organize their classes.

Janice understood Cheryl's concerns and was already formulating some ideas for revision. She tried to put Cheryl at ease by pointing out that customer data can still be kept, but that it should be classified according to levels of sensitivity. However, Cheryl was skeptical. It seemed that classifying data and treating each type differently would cause undue difficulties in the company's day-to-day operations. Cheryl wants one simple data storage and access system that any employee can access if needed.

Even though the privacy policy was only a draft, she was beginning to see that changes within her company were going to be necessary. She told Janice that she would be more comfortable with implementing the new policy gradually over a period of several months, one department at a time. She was also interested in a layered approach by creating documents listing applicable parts of the new policy for each department.

What is the most likely risk of Fitness Coach, Inc. adopting Janice's first draft of the privacy policy?

Under the Telemarketing Sales Rule, what characteristics of consent must be in place for an organization to acquire an exception to the Do-Not-Call rules for a particular consumer?

SCENARIO

Please use the following to answer the next QUESTION:

Declan has just started a job as a nursing assistant in a radiology department at Woodland Hospital. He has also started a program to become a registered nurse.

Before taking this career path, Declan was vaguely familiar with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). He now knows that he must help ensure the security of his patients' Protected Health Information (PHI). Therefore, he is thinking carefully about privacy issues.

On the morning of his first day, Declan noticed that the newly hired receptionist handed each patient a HIPAA privacy notice. He wondered if it was necessary to give these privacy notices to returning patients, and if the radiology department could reduce paper waste through a system of one-time distribution.

He was also curious about the hospital's use of a billing company. He questioned whether the hospital was doing all it could to protect the privacy of its patients if the billing company had details about patients' care.

On his first day Declan became familiar with all areas of the hospital's large radiology department. As he was organizing equipment left in the halfway, he overheard a conversation between two hospital administrators. He was surprised to hear that a portable hard drive containing non-encrypted patient information was missing. The administrators expressed relief that the hospital would be able to avoid liability. Declan was surprised, and wondered whether the hospital had plans to properly report what had happened.

Despite Declan's concern about this issue, he was amazed by the hospital's effort to integrate Electronic Health Records (EHRs) into the everyday care of patients. He thought about the potential for streamlining care even more if they were accessible to all medical facilities nationwide.

Declan had many positive interactions with patients. At the end of his first day, he spoke to one patient, John, whose father had just been diagnosed with a degenerative muscular disease. John was about to get blood work done, and he feared that the blood work could reveal a genetic predisposition to the disease that could affect his ability to obtain insurance coverage. Declan told John that he did not think that was possible, but the patient was wheeled away before he could explain why. John plans to ask a colleague about this.

In one month, Declan has a paper due for one his classes on a health topic of his choice. By then, he will have had many interactions with patients he can use as examples. He will be pleased to give credit to John by name for inspiring him to think more carefully about genetic testing.

Although Declan's day ended with many Questions, he was pleased about his new position.

What is the most likely way that Declan might directly violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)?