What does a designated record set include?

A designated record set is defined as a group of records maintained by or for a covered entity that includes medical records, billing records, enrollment records, and other information related to the individual's health care provided by the entity. This encompasses records used to make decisions about individuals' care and is not limited strictly to the originating provider's notes.

Selection B, which indicates that the designated record set includes records from other hospitals involved in care decisions, captures the essence of a designated record set. It recognizes that comprehensive patient care often involves multiple providers, and thus, documentation from various sources is pertinent to a patient's care coordination and record-keeping.

The other choices fall short in demonstrating the breadth of what constitutes a designated record set. For instance, option A limits the scope to only the primary care provider's notes, disregarding vital documents and records from other facets of care. Option C restricts the selection to patient billing records only, omitting essential clinical documentation that is part of the designated record set. Lastly, option D focuses solely on health insurance policy documents, which do not form part of the health records as defined by HIPAA and thus do not fit into the designated record set category.