What are best practices regarding translation technology and patient privacy?

• A. Disregard device security policies.
• B. Do not rely on unapproved machine translation for clinical content; use institution-approved tools; avoid storing PHI on personal devices; secure devices and data.
• C. Use public machine translation for all clinical content.
• D. Store PHI on personal devices for convenience.

Answer: (B)

Protecting patient privacy when using translation technology means using tools that meet the institution’s security standards and handling PHI only within approved systems. The best practice is to rely on institution-approved translation tools for clinical content, avoid unapproved or consumer-grade machine translation for patient information, and refrain from storing PHI on personal devices while keeping devices and data securely protected.

Institution-approved tools are configured to meet privacy requirements, with proper access controls, encryption, audit logs, and governance. They reduce the risk of PHI exposure and help ensure accurate communication. Public machine translation, used for clinical content, can expose patient information and may introduce translation errors that affect care. Storing PHI on personal devices increases risk because personal devices may lack encryption, be lost or stolen, and may not have appropriate safeguards or secure deletion capabilities. Securing devices and data—through updates, strong authentication, encryption, and remote wipe if needed—further protects PHI from unauthorized access.

Following these practices aligns with protecting privacy and regulatory expectations, which is why this approach stands as the best choice.