What is the main purpose of the HIPAA Security Rule?

The main purpose of the HIPAA Security Rule is to set minimum standards for security to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic protected health information (ePHI). This regulation establishes a framework for organizations to implement safeguards that protect sensitive patient information from unauthorized access and breaches.

By setting these standards, the Security Rule helps healthcare organizations identify and assess risks to ePHI, ensuring that appropriate administrative, physical, and technical safeguards are in place. This is crucial because the digital storage and transmission of health information can expose it to various security threats. The emphasis on confidentiality ensures that patient data remains private; integrity ensures that the information is accurate and unaltered, and availability guarantees authorized users can access the information when needed for patient care or other legitimate purposes.

In contrast, the other choices focus on aspects that do not align with the primary objective of the Security Rule. For instance, ensuring patient access to their health records relates more closely to the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Promoting health literacy is significant but not a focus of HIPAA regulations, and generating reliable health statistics is unrelated to the specific security measures intended to protect personal health information.