The HIPAA Privacy Rule protects which of the following?

The HIPAA Privacy Rule specifically protects individually identifiable health information, often referred to as protected health information (PHI). This includes any data that can be used to identify an individual, along with their health status, healthcare services received, and health payment information. The purpose of the Privacy Rule is to ensure that patients' health information is kept confidential and is only disclosed in accordance with specific regulations, thereby safeguarding individuals' privacy and rights regarding their health data.

In this context, while general health statistics and financial records of healthcare systems may hold valuable information, they do not fall under the specific protections granted by the HIPAA Privacy Rule unless they reveal identifiable information about individuals. Employment records in healthcare are also not explicitly covered under the Privacy Rule, as they pertain more to workplace management and compliance rather than the privacy of personal health information. Therefore, the focus on individually identifiable health information makes this choice the most accurate representation of what the HIPAA Privacy Rule is designed to protect.