Privacy Notice.
From Healing Home In-Home Health Care Agency
Our Agency is committed to protecting medical information about you. We maintain a record of all care and services you receive from us. This notice tells you about the ways in which we may use and disclose medical information about you. It also describes your rights and certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of your medical information.
We Are Required By Law To:
· Protect your medical information.
· Give you this notice describing our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your medical information.
· Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.
· The following sections describe different ways that we may use and disclose your medical information. Some information, such as certain drug and alcohol information, HIV information and mental health information, is entitled to special restrictions.
For Treatment:
To provide you with medical treatment or services, we may need to use or disclose information about you to personnel involved in your treatment. For example, the nurse will need to inform your therapist, aide or other team members about your pain levels or medication use so that they may effectively care for you.
For Payment:
We may use and disclose your medical information to bill and receive payment for the treatment that you received. For example, we may use or disclose your medical information to your insurance company about a service you received from the Healing Hands In-Home Care Agency, so that your insurance company can pay us or reimburse you for the service.
For Healthcare Operations:
The In-Home Care Agency can use and disclose medical information about you for our agency’s operations. For example, we may use or disclose medical information about you to evaluate our staff’s performance in caring for you.
We may use and disclose medical information about you without your authorization:
When there is an emergency.
When we are required by law to use or disclose certain information.
When it is needed for public health activities.
When reporting information about victims of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.
When disclosing information for the purpose of health oversight activities.
When disclosing information for judicious and administrative proceedings.
When disclosing or using information for organ and tissue donations purposes.
When disclosing information for research purposes.
When we believe in good faith that the disclosure is necessary to avert a serious health or safety threat.
We may use or disclose your health information for any of the purposes described below unless you object to or otherwise restrict a particular release (you may direct your objections or restrictions in writing):
To contact you and remind you about an appointment for treatment or medical care.
To provide you with information about or recommendations of possible treatment options or alternatives that may interest you.
To contact you to provide information about Healing Hands In-Home Care Agency sponsored activities, including fund raising, programs and events. We would only use contact information such as your name, address, phone number and dates you received treatment or services from us.
To release your health information to a friend and/or family member who is involved in your care.
To disclose health information about you to a public or private entity that is authorized, by law or its charter, to assist in disaster relief efforts (for example: the American Red Cross).
You have the following rights regarding medical information we maintain about you:
· Right to copy and inspect or receive a copy of your medical information. There may be exceptions to this right. For example, psychotherapy notes, information collected for certain legal proceedings and health information restricted by law. We may require you to submit your request in writing and may charge you a reasonable fee for copying your records. We may deny access, under certain circumstances, such as if we believe it may endanger you or someone else. You may request that we designate a licensed health care professional to review the denial.
· Right to request a disclosure. You may request that we disclose your medical information for reasons not provided in this notice. For example you may want your lawyer to have a copy of your medical record. These requests must be made in writing to the Agency.
· Right to request an amendment or addendum if you feel that the information, we have about you is incorrect or incomplete. We will require that you submit your request in writing and explain why the amendment is needed. If we accept your request we will notify you and we will amend your records. We cannot take out what is in the record; we add the amendment as you submitted to the record. With your assistance, we will notify others who have the incorrect or incomplete health information. If we deny your request, we will give you a written explanation of why we did not make the amendment and explain your rights. Your request may be denied if the information:
1. Was not created by the In-Home Care Agency.
2. Is not part of the medical and billing records kept by or for the Agency.
3. Is not part of the information which you would be permitted to inspect and copy.
4. Is determined by us to be accurate and complete.
· Right to an accounting of disclosures that we have made of your record since April 14, 2003. This list will not include disclosures made to carry out treatment, billing and health care operations, to you or your personal representative, for a permitted use or disclosure, to parties you authorize to receive your health information, to your family members or other relatives or friends, who are involved in your care, or who otherwise need to be notified of your location, general condition or death. The list will also not include disclosure for national security or intelligence purposes, or to correctional institutions or law enforcement officials. You must provide in writing the time period for which you want to receive the accounting. The first accounting you request in a 12 month period will be free. We may charge you for responding to any additional requests in that same time period.
· 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. Contact us for information about making such a request.
· Right to request confidential communications. You have the right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way. For example, you may wish us to see you at an alternative address, or submit bills to an alternative address. We will honor reasonable request, if you provide us with valid alternative address.
· Right to receive this written notice. If you provide us written authorization to use or disclose your health information, you can change your mind and revoke your authorization at any time, as long as you revoke your authorization in writing. If you revoke your authorization, we will no longer use or disclose the information, but we will not be able to take back any disclosures that we have already made.
For further information on our Agency’s health information practices, or if you have a question or complaint, please contact our Privacy Officer at 803-757-1211.