According to the HIPAA Privacy Rule, professionals can do what?

The HIPAA Privacy Rule is designed to protect the privacy of individuals' health information while also allowing necessary communication among healthcare professionals to facilitate patient care. The correct choice highlights that professionals are permitted to share information with each other when it is essential for providing care to a patient. This provision ensures that healthcare providers can coordinate treatment, share relevant medical histories, and contribute to collaborative healthcare efforts without violating patient confidentiality.

In contrast, while maintaining confidentiality is crucial in healthcare (as suggested in the option about keeping information confidential), it does not fully capture the nuances of permitted information sharing under HIPAA. Similarly, the rules governing the sharing of Protected Health Information (PHI) explicitly require patient consent in many situations. Therefore, sharing PHI without consent, as noted in another option, contradicts HIPAA regulations. Lastly, the option regarding the electronic storage of information lacks the necessary context; HIPAA does impose restrictions and standards pertaining to the secure storage of electronic PHI to safeguard against data breaches and unauthorized access.