Notice of Privacy Practices

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

Understanding Your Health Record/Information

Each time you visit a hospital, physician, or other healthcare provider, a record of your visit is made. Typically, this record contains your symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment and a plan for future care or treatment. This information, is often referred to as your health or medical record, serves as a:

  • Basis for planning your care and treatment
  • Means of communication among the many health professions who contribute to your care
  • Legal document describing the care you received
  • Means by which you or a third party payer can verify that services billed were actually provided.
  • A tool in educating health professionals
  • A source of data for medical research
  • A source of information for public health officials charged with improving the health of the nation
  • A source of data for facility planning and marketing and a tool with which we can assess and continually work to improve the care we render and the outcomes we achieve.

Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to:

  • Ensure its accuracy
  • Better understand who, what, where and why others may access your health information
  • Make more informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to others.

Your Health Information Rights:

Although your health record is the physical property of the healthcare practitioner or facility that compiled it, the information belongs to you. You have the right to:

  • Request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your information as provided by 45CFR 164.522
  • Obtain a paper copy of the notice of information practices upon request
  • Inspect and copy your health record as provided for in 45 CFR 164-524
  • Amend your health record as provided in 45 CFR 164-528
  • Obtain an accounting of disclosures of your health information as provided in 45CFR 164.528
  • Request communications of your health information by alternative means or at alternative locations
  • Revoke your authorization to use or disclose health information except to the extent that action has already been taken

Our Responsibilities:

The organization is required to:

  • Maintain the privacy of your health information
  • Provide you with a notice as to our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to information we collect and maintain about you
  • Abide by the terms of this notice
  • Accommodate reasonable requests you may have to communicate health information by alternative means or at alternative locations

We reserve the right to change our practices and to make the new provision effective for all protected health information we maintain. Should our information practices change, we will supply you with a copy of the change.

We will not use or disclose your health information with your authorization, except as described in this notice.

For More Information or to Report a Problem

If you have questions and would like additional information, you may contact the Director of Health Information Management or with the Secretary of Health and Human Services. There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint.

Examples of Disclosures for Treatment, Payment and Health Operations

We will use your health information for treatment. For Example: Information obtained by nurse, physician or other member of healthcare team will be recorded in your record and used to determine the course of treatment that should work best for you. Your physician will document in your record his expectations of the members of your healthcare team. Members of your healthcare team will record the actions they took and their observations. In that way the physician will know how your care is responding to treatment.

We will use your health information for payment. For example: A bill may be sent to you or a third party payer. Their information on or accompanying this all may include information that identifies you, as well as your diagnosis, procedures and supplies used.

We will use your health information for regular health operations. For example: Members of the medical staff, the quality improvement manager, or members of the governing body may use information in your health record to assess the care and outcomes in your case and others like it. This information will then be used in an effort to continually improve the quality and effectiveness of the healthcare and service we provide.

Other Uses or Disclosures

Business Associates: There are some services provided in our organization through contacts with business associates. Examples include services in radiology/imaging, pathology, history technicians, dermapathology, laboratory tests, collections agencies, medical software technicians and medical transcriptionists. When these services are contracted, we may disclose your health information to our business associates so that they can perform the job we’ve asked them to do and bill you or your third party payer for services rendered. So that your health information is protected, however we require the business associate to appropriately safeguard your information.

Public Health: As required by law, we may disclose your health information to public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability.

Law Enforcement: We may disclose health information for law enforcement purposes as required by law, or in response to a valid subpoena.

Federal law makes provision for your health information to be released to an appropriate health oversight agency, public heatlh authority or attorney, provided that a workforce member or business associate believes in good faith that we have engaged inunlawful coduct or have otherwise violated professional or clinical standards and are potentially endangering one or more patients, workers or the public.