Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO YOU REGARDING YOUR MEDICAL INFORMATION

We understand that medical information about you is personal. We are committed to protecting the privacy of your medical information

HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU

We may disclose information when you request us to do so, but we may require you make the request in writing.

Treatment:We may use and disclose medical information about you for your treatment. For example, a doctor treating you for a broken leg may need to know if you have diabetes because diabetes may slow the healing process. We may also disclose medical information about you to people, places and entities beyond our Care Partners who may be involved in your medical care after you leave our facility.

For example, we may give your physician access to your medical information to assist your physician in treating you.

Payment:We may use and disclose medical information about you to obtain payment. For example, we may give your health plan information about a surgery you received so your health plan will pay us or reimburse you for that surgery.

Health Care Operations:We may use and disclose medical information about you to support our health care operations. For example, we may use medical information to review our treatment and services and evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you.

HOW WILL MY INFORMATION BE USED OR DISCLOSED

• Appointment Reminders: We may use your medical information to contact you to remind you of scheduled appointments.
• Treatment Alternatives: We may use and disclose medical information about you to tell you about or recommend possible treatment options or alternatives that may be of interest to you.
• Health-Related Products or Services: We may use and disclose your medical information to tell you about our health-related products or services that may be of interest to you.
• Fundraising Activities: We may use your medical information to contact you to solicit support for certain fundraising activities related to our operations.
• Family and Friends: We may release medical information about you to a family member, friend, or any other person involved in your medical care. We may also give information to those you identify as responsible for payment of your care.
• Health Information Exchange: We may participate in one or more health information exchanges (HIEs) and may electronically share your medical information for treatment, payment and healthcare operations purposes with other participants in the HIEs. HIEs allow your health care providers to efficiently access and use medical information necessary for your treatment.

We may use or disclose medical information about you without your prior authorization for several other reasons. Subject to certain requirements, we may give out medical information about you without your prior authorization for the following purposes:

• Research:We may use and disclose medical information about you for research purposes. All research projects are subject to a special approval process through an appropriate committee.
• Required by Law:We may disclose medical information when required by law, such as in response to a request from law enforcement in specific circumstances or in response to valid judicial or administrative orders.
• Public Health:We may disclose your medical information for public health activities. These disclosures generally include the following:
• To public health authorities to prevent or control disease, injury, or disability;
• To public health agencies, or other authorized entities, as permitted by law, that maintain registries of certain information, such as immunization registries, for purposes of conducting public health surveillance, public health investigations, and public health interventions;
• To report births and deaths;
• To report the abuse or neglect of children, elders, and dependent adults;
• To notify you of recalls of products you may 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 competent adult patient has been the victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence;
• 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. Any disclosure, however, would only be to someone able to help prevent the threat.

Law Enforcement:

We may disclose medical information about you to law enforcement officials upon their request:

• in response to a court order, subpoena, warrant, investigative demand, or other similar process;
• To help identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person;
• about the victim of a crime if, under certain limited circumstances, we are unable to obtain the victim’s agreement;
• about a death we believe may be the result of criminal conduct;
• about criminal conduct occurring on our premises;
• in emergency circumstances to report a crime, the location of the crime or victims, or the identity, description, or location of the person who committed the crime.

Health Oversight:

We may disclose your medical information to health oversight agencies for purposes of legally authorized health oversight activities, such as audits and investigations necessary for oversight of the health care system and government benefit programs.

• Notification:  We may use or disclose your information to notify or assist in notifying a family member, personal representative, or another person responsible for your care, of your location and general condition.
• Funeral Directors, Medical Examiners, and Coroners: We may disclose medical information to funeral directors, coroners or medical examiners consistent with applicable law in order for them to carry out their duties.
• Lawsuits and Disputes: If you are involved in a lawsuit or dispute, we may disclose medical information about you in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose medical information about you in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request (which may include written notice to you) or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.
• Organ and Tissue Donation: Consistent with applicable law, we may disclose medical information to organ procurement organizations or other entities for the purpose of tissue donation and transplant.
• Military and Veterans: If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release medical information about you as required by military command authorities. We may also release medical information about foreign military personnel to the appropriate foreign military authority.
• National Security: We may release medical information about you to authorized  officials for intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities authorized by law.
• Multidisciplinary Personnel Teams: We may disclose medical information to a multidisciplinary personnel team relevant to the protection, identification, management or treatment of (i) an abused child and the child’s parents, or (ii) elder abuse and neglect.
• Food and Drug Administration : We may disclose certain medical information to the FDA relative to reporting adverse events.
• Workers’ Compensation: We may disclose medical information necessary to comply with laws relating to workers’ compensation or other similar programs established by law.
• Correctional Institutions: Should you be an inmate of a correctional institution, we may disclose medical information necessary for your health and the health and safety of other individuals to the institution or its agents.
• Special Categories of Information: In some circumstances, your medical information may be subject to restrictions that may limit or preclude some uses or disclosures described in this notice.  For example, there are special restrictions on the use or disclosure of certain types of medical information (e.g., HIV test results, mental health records, and alcohol and substance abuse treatment records).  Government health benefit programs, may also limit the disclosure of beneficiary information for purposes unrelated to the program and the care provided to the beneficiary.

OTHER USES OR DISCLOSURES OF MEDICAL INFORMATION

In any other situation not covered by this, we will ask you for your written authorization before using or disclosing medical information about you. Specific examples of uses and disclosures requiring your authorization include: (i) most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes (private notes of a mental health professional kept separately from a medical record); (ii) subject to limited exceptions, uses and disclosures of your medical information for marketing purposes; and (iii) disclosures that constitute the sale of your medical information.

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU

You have the following rights regarding medical information we maintain about you:

• To request in writing a restriction on certain uses or disclosures of your medical information for treatment, payment or health care operations (e.g., a restriction on who may access your medical information). Although we will consider your request, we are not required to agree to a requested restriction, except we must agree to your written request that we restrict a disclosure of information to a health plan if the information relates solely to an item or service for which you have paid out of pocket in full. We are required to abide by such a request, unless we are required by law to make the disclosure. It is your responsibility to notify any other providers about this restriction.To request in writing an amendment to your records if you believe the information in your record is incorrect or important information is missing.