*edit*
Eh, here is the basic info...no pretty powerpoint slides with examples. 😀
Information that is de-identified is generally defined as "information (1) that does not identify the individual and (2) for which there is no reasonable basis to believe the individual can be identified from it." De-identified health information is exempt from the HIPAA Privacy Rule. In order to de-identify data, the 18 identifiers listed below must be removed from the health information.
Names
Social Security numbers
Telephone numbers
All geographic subdivisions smaller than a state, including street address, city, county, precinct, zip code, and their equivalent geocodes, except for the initial three digits of a zip code, if, according to the current publicly available data from the Bureau of the Census: (a) the geographic unit formed by combing all zip codes with the same three initial digits contains more than 20,000 people, and (b) the initial three (3) digits of a zip code for all such geographic unites containing 20,000 or fewer people is changed to 000
All elements of dates (except year) for dates directly related to an individual, including birth date, admission date, discharge date, date indicative of such age, except that such ages and elements may be aggregated into a single category of age 90 or older
Fax numbers
Electronic mail addresses
Medical record numbers
Health plan beneficiary numbers
Account numbers
Certificate/license numbers
Vehicle identifiers and serial numbers, including license plate numbers
Device identifiers and serial numbers
Web Universal Resource Locators (URLs)
Internet Protocol (IP) address numbers
Biometric identifiers, including finger and voice prints
Full-face photographic images and any comparable images
Any other unique identifying number, characteristic, or code, unless otherwise permitted by the Privacy Rule for re-identification.
