What principle requires pharmacy professionals to disclose only the information necessary about a patient to other parties?

The principle of minimum necessary standards directs pharmacy professionals to share only the essential information about a patient with other parties involved in their care. This principle is rooted in the idea that a patient's health information should be protected and only accessed or shared based on what is necessary for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations. This approach helps safeguard patient privacy and confidentiality by minimizing the exposure of sensitive information.

By focusing on sharing only what is necessary, pharmacy professionals ensure that they are compliant with laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which emphasizes protecting patient information while allowing for appropriate clinical communication. This principle allows professionals to fulfill their responsibility to share relevant information while maintaining respect for the privacy of the patient.

In contrast, while patient confidentiality, the right to privacy, and informed consent are all important concepts in healthcare, they do not specifically address the requirement to limit the information disclosed to only what is necessary. Each of these ideas contributes to an overall understanding of ethical healthcare practices, but minimum necessary standards specifically imposes the requirement to restrict the flow of information to what is essential in a given context.