You have just measured a patient's blood pressure and are about to write it down when he asks what it is. You answer him. “Wow, that's pretty good for me, right?” he asks. You tell him it is, and then the two of you discuss what he has been doing to lower his blood pressure. After a few minutes, you realize you did not write it down and forgot what it was, so you ask him what it was. You write down the number he says. What would have been a better way to record the patient’s blood pressure?

Guess what the patient’s blood pressure reading was.

Write it down immediately before answering the patient’s question

Leave the spot for his blood pressure reading at this visit blank.
True or false: The patient’s blood pressure reading is protected health information.