What is a break-the-glass access scenario?

What is a break-the-glass access scenario?

• A. A situation where a user accesses PHI without authorization in an urgent, time-sensitive scenario; documented and reviewed.
• B. Regular access by care team to PHI.
• C. Backing up data.
• D. Deleting data due to privacy breach.

Answer: (A)

Break-the-glass access is emergency access to protected health information when there isn’t time to obtain formal authorization, usually to provide urgent patient care. The access is justified at the moment, time-stamped, and limited to what’s needed, with an automatic audit trail so it can be reviewed afterward. This balances patient safety in emergencies with accountability and privacy protections. Regular, routine access happens through normal authorization, while backing up or deleting data are separate tasks not describing an urgent, documented pause in standard access.

Break-the-glass access is emergency access to protected health information when there isn’t time to obtain formal authorization, usually to provide urgent patient care. The access is justified at the moment, time-stamped, and limited to what’s needed, with an automatic audit trail so it can be reviewed afterward. This balances patient safety in emergencies with accountability and privacy protections. Regular, routine access happens through normal authorization, while backing up or deleting data are separate tasks not describing an urgent, documented pause in standard access.