This Notice is provided to you in accordance with privacy standards promulgated as a result of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). This joint notice of privacy practices describes how your health information may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to your information.
What is this notice and why is it important?
We are required by law to send you this notice to describe how our facility uses and discloses medical information about you (our “privacy practices”).
Our Commitment Regarding Medical Information:
We understand that medical information about you and your health is personal and we are committed to protecting medical information about you. This notice applies to all of the records of your health care generated by our institution, whether created by our institution staff or by your personal physician. Your personal physician may have different policies or notices regarding the use and disclosure of your medical information created in the physician’s office or clinic.
This notice tells you about the ways we may use and disclose medical information about you. We also describe your rights and certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of medical information.
How We May Use and Disclose Medical Information About You:
The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose medical information. For each category of uses or disclosures, we will explain what it means to us and try to give some examples. Not every use or disclosure in each category will be listed. However, all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose information will fall into one of the categories:
- Disclosure at Your Request. We may disclose information when you request it. Such disclosure may require your written authorization.
- For the treatment. We may use medical information about you to provide you with medical treatment or services. We may disclose medical information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, or other members of our institution’s staff who are involved in your care. For example, a doctor treating you for a broken leg may need to know if you have diabetes, because diabetes can slow the healing process. Also, the doctor may need to inform the dietitian if you have diabetes so that we can arrange appropriate meals. Different departments of the hospital may also share medical information about you to coordinate the different things you need, such as prescription drugs, lab tests, and X-rays. In addition, we may disclose medical information about you to people outside the hospital or institution who may be involved in your medical care after you leave our clinic, such as family members or other people we use to provide services that are part of your cares.
- To Get Payment. We may use and disclose medical information about you so that we can bill you, an insurance company or a third party, for the treatment and services you receive at our facility. For example, we may need to provide your health plan with information about a surgery you had in the hospital so that the health plan will pay us or reimburse you for the cost of the surgery. We may also tell your health plan about a treatment you are about to receive to obtain prior approval or to determine whether your plan will cover the treatment.
- For Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose medical information about you for hospital operations. These uses and disclosures are necessary for the operation of the hospital and make sure that all of our patients receive quality care. For example, we may use medical information to review our treatment and services, and to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you. We may also combine medical information from various hospital patients to decide what additional services we should offer, what services are not needed, and whether certain new treatments are effective. In addition, we may disclose information to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, and other hospital staff for review and learning purposes. We may also combine medical information we have with medical information from other hospitals to compare our performance and see where we can improve the medical care and services we offer. We may remove information that identifies you from this set of medical information for others to use to study about health care and the provision of health care services without knowing who the specific patients are.
- Appointment Reminders. We may use and disclose medical information to contact you to remind you that you have an appointment for treatment or to receive medical care at the hospital.
- Treatment Alternatives. We may use and disclose medical information to inform or recommend possible treatment options or alternatives that may be of interest to you.
- Health-Related Benefits and Services. We may use and disclose medical information to inform you of health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.
- Marketing and sales. Most uses and disclosures of medical information for marketing purposes, and disclosures that constitute the sale of medical information, require your authorization.
- People Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care. We may release medical information about you to a friend or family member who is involved in your health care. We may also give information to someone who helps pay for your care. We may also inform your family or friends about your condition and that you are in the hospital. In addition, we may release medical information about you to an entity that assists in disaster relief efforts so that your family can be informed of your condition and location.
- For Research. In certain circumstances, we may use and disclose medical information about you for research purposes. For example, a research project may involve comparing the health and recovery of all patients who received one drug to those who received another for the same condition. All research projects, however, are subject to a special approval process. This process evaluates a proposed research project and its use of medical information, trying to balance research needs with patients’ need for the privacy of their medical information. Before we use or disclose medical information for research, the project will have been approved through this research approval process. But we may, however, disclose your medical information to people who are preparing to conduct a research project, for example, to help them search for patients with specific medical needs, as long as the medical information they review does not leave the hospital. We will almost always ask for your specific permission if the researcher will have access to your name, address or other information that reveals who you are, or will be involved in your care at the hospital.
- When Required by Law. We will disclose medical information about you when required to do so by federal, state or local law.
- To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety. We may use and disclose medical information about you when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person. However, the disclosure would only be made to a person who can help prevent the threat.
Special situations
- Risks to Public Health. We may disclose medical information about you for public health activities. These activities generally include the following:
- To prevent or control disease, injury or disability;
- To report births and deaths;
- To report child abuse or neglect;
- To report reactions to medications or problems with products;
- To notify people of recalled products they might be using.
- To notify a person who may have been exposed to a disease or may be at risk for contracting or spreading a disease or condition;
- To notify the appropriate government authority if we believe a patient has been the victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence. We will only make this disclosure if you agree or when required or authorized by law.
- Health Supervision Activities. We may release medical information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law. These oversight activities include, for example, audits, investigations, inspections, and accreditations. These activities are necessary for the government to monitor the health care system, government programs, and compliance with civil rights laws.
- Lawsuits and Disputes. If you participate in a lawsuit or dispute, we may disclose medical information about you in response to a court or administrative order. We may also release medical information about you in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other legitimate process initiated by another person involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made to inform you of the request or to obtain an order protecting the requested information.
- Enforce the Law. We may disclose medical information if a law enforcement official requires us to:
- In response to a court instruction, subpoena, order, summons, or similar process;
- To identify or find a suspect, fugitive, substantial witness, or missing person;
- About the victim of a crime if, in certain specific circumstances, we are unable to obtain the person’s consent;
- About a death that we believe was the result of criminal conduct;
- About criminal conduct at the hospital;
- In emergency cases to report a crime, the location of the crime or victims; or the identity, description or location of the person who committed the crime.
- Medical Examiner and Funeral Directors. We may release medical information to a coroner or medical examiner. This may be necessary, for example, to identify a deceased person or to determine the cause of death. We may also release medical information about hospital patients to funeral directors as necessary for them to carry out their duties.
- National Security and Intelligence Activities. We may disclose medical information about you to authorized federal officials for the purposes of intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities authorized by law.
- Inmates. If you are incarcerated in a correctional institution or under the custody of a law enforcement officer, we may release medical information about you to the correctional institution or law enforcement officer. This release would be necessary (1) for the institution to provide health care to you; (2) to protect your health and safety or the health and safety of others; or (3) to protect the safety and security of the correctional institution.
- Other uses and disclosures, other than those allowed by the privacy rule, will be done only with your written authorization. You also have the right to revoke an authorization (this must be done in writing).
Your Rights Regarding Medical Information About You.
You have the following rights with respect to the medical information that we maintain about you:
- Right to Inspect and Copy. You have the right to inspect and receive copies of medical information that may be used to make decisions about your care. All the information we have can be exported and sent to your email. You can, for example, request that the doctor send you your clinical history in pdf format to your email or via telegram.
- Right to Modify. If you believe that the medical information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you can ask us to correct the existing information, or to add the missing information. You must submit your request in writing.
- Right to an Accounting of Disclosures. You have the right to request a list of disclosures of your health information that we have made for reasons other than treatment, payment, or health care operations. To request this list or accounting of disclosures, you must submit your request in writing.
- Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the medical information we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment, or health care operations. You also have the right to request that we limit the medical information we disclose about you to someone who is involved in your care or the payment for your care, such as a family member or friend.
- Right to Request Confidential Communications. You have the right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way or at a specific location, for example, at a certain correspondence address, email, or telephone number. Submit your request in writing. We will make all reasonable efforts to accept your request. Your request must specify how or where you want us to contact you.
- Right to a Paper Copy of this Notice. You have the right to receive a paper copy of this notice. You can ask us to give you a copy of this notice at any time. We can send you a copy via email or telegram.
Changes to this privacy notice
We reserve the right to change this notice. The notice will contain the effective date of the notice. In addition, each time you sign up for or are admitted to the hospital / clinic for treatment or health services, we will offer you a copy of the current notice in effect.
Complaints
If you believe that your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with our institution. All complaints must be submitted in writing.
You will not be penalized, nor will the care you receive at our facilities be adversely affected by filing a complaint.
Other Uses of Medical Information.
Other uses and disclosures of medical information not covered by this notice or the laws that apply to us will only be made with your written permission. If you give us permission to use or disclose medical information about you, you may revoke that permission, in writing, at any time. If you revoke your permission, we will no longer use or disclose medical information about you for the reasons included in your written authorization. You understand that we are unable to take back any disclosures we have already made with your permission, and that we are required to retain our records of the care that we provided to you.