What is an example of an incidental disclosure?

An incidental disclosure refers to a situation where protected health information is unintentionally revealed due to the circumstances or environment but is not a deliberate breach of privacy. In this context, when a person overhears a conversation about a diagnosis, it represents an incidental disclosure because the information was shared in a setting where it could be unintentionally heard by someone not authorized to receive it. This occurrence highlights the importance of maintaining confidentiality and ensuring conversations about sensitive health information occur in private settings to minimize the risk of incidental disclosures.

The other options do not exemplify incidental disclosures: discussing a patient's health in private does not lead to any unauthorized access to information; accessing a medical record without permission is a direct violation of privacy protocols, not incidental; and informing a patient about their treatment options is a standard practice of patient care and does not involve any unauthorized disclosure.