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We
reserve the right to change our practices and to make the new provisions
effective for all protected health information we maintain.
We
will not use or disclose your health information without your authorization,
except as described in this notice.
Examples
of release of information for Treatment, Payment and Health Operations
We
will use your health information for treatment.
For example: Information taken by a nurse, physician, or other
member of your health care team will be documented in your record
and used to decide the course of treatment that should work best
for you. Your physician will document in your record his or her
expectations of the members of your health care team. Members of
your health care team will then record the actions they took and
their observations. In that way, the physician will know how you
are responding to treatment.
We will also
provide your physician or a following health care provider with
copies of various reports that should help him or her in treating
you once you're discharged from this hospital.
We will
use your health information for payment.
For example:
A bill may be sent to you or a third-party payer such as Medicare,
Medicaid, your insurance company, workman's compensation, etc. The
information on, or accompanying the bill may include information
that identifies you, as well as your diagnosis, procedures, and
supplies used.
We will
use your health information for operations.
For example:
Members of the Medical Staff, the Risk or Quality Management Director,
or members of the quality improvement team 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 health
care and service we provide.
Other Possible
Uses and Releases of Health Information (These examples are
not all inclusive.)
Business associates: There are some services provided in
our organization through contacts with business associates. Examples
include services in the radiology and laboratory departments. When
these services are contracted, we may release your health information
to our business associate so that they can perform the job we've
asked them to do and bill you or your third-party payer for services
provided. To protect your health information, however, we require
the business associate to appropriately safeguard your information.
Directory:
Unless you notify us that you object, we will use your name, location
in the facility, and general condition for directory purposes. This
information may be released to people who ask for you by name. Your
religious affiliation may be provided to members of the clergy.
Notification:
We may use or release information to notify a family member, personal
representative, or other person responsible for your care, to tell
them of your location, and general condition, or death.
Communication
with family: Health professionals, using their best judgment,
may release to a family member, relative, friend or any other person
you identify, health information necessary for their involvement
in your care or payment related to your care.
Research:
We may release information to researchers when their research has
been approved by an institutional review board. They review research
proposals and establish protocols to ensure the privacy of your
health information.
Funeral
directors: We may release health information to funeral directors
consistent with applicable law to carry out their duties.
Organ procurement
organizations: Consistent with applicable law, we may release
health information to organ procurement organizations or other entities
involved in the procurement, banking, or transplantation of organs
for the purpose of tissue donation and transplant.
Marketing:
We may contact you to provide appointment reminders or information
about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and
services that may be of interest to you.
Fund raising:
We may contact you as part of a fund-raising effort.
Food and
Drug Administration (FDA): We may release to the FDA health
information relative to adverse events with respect to food, supplements,
product and product defects, or post marketing surveillance information
to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacement.
Workers'
Compensation: We may release health information to the extent
authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with laws relating
to workers compensation or other similar programs established by
law.
Public health:
As required by law, we may release your health information to public
health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling
disease, injury, or disability.
Correctional
institution: Should you be an inmate of a correctional institution,
we may release to the institution or agents thereof health information
necessary for your health and the health and safety of other individuals.
Law enforcement:
We may release health information for law enforcement purposes
as required by law or in response to a valid subpoena.
Disaster
relief purposes: We may use or release health information to
a public or private party authorized by law or by its charter to
assist in disaster relief efforts, for the purpose of coordinating
the uses or releases described in Notification above. Privacy requirements
apply to the extent that we may use professional judgment to determine
they do not interfere with the ability to respond to the emergency
circumstances.
Federal law
makes provisions for your health information to be released to an
appropriate health oversight agency, public health authority or
attorney, provided that a work force member or business associate
believes in good faith that we have engaged in unlawful conduct
or have otherwise violated professional or clinical standards and
are potentially endangering one or more patients, workers or the
public.
For More
Information or to Report a Problem
If
you have questions and would like additional information, you may
contact the Privacy Officer at 472-7595 or 1-800-678-3577. If you
believe your privacy rights have been violated, you can file a complaint
with the Privacy Officer or with the secretary of Health and Human
Services. There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint.
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