Which of the following is NOT included in PHI?

The correct choice indicates that healthcare statistics are not considered Protected Health Information (PHI) under the HIPAA Privacy Rule. PHI encompasses any individually identifiable health information that is created, received, maintained, or transmitted by a covered entity. This includes personal identifiers such as patient names, Social Security numbers, and addresses, which directly relate to an individual's health information or condition.

Healthcare statistics, on the other hand, generally refer to aggregated data that does not contain personally identifiable information. They might include trends, averages, or data about specific populations, but they lack the individual identifiers necessary to be classified as PHI. Therefore, while patient-specific data is protected under HIPAA, anonymized statistics that do not relate to any individual do not fall under the same restrictions and are not considered PHI. This distinction is crucial in the context of ensuring patient privacy and understanding how health information is shared and utilized.