We may use and share your information as we:
Help manage the health care treatment you receive
Run our organization
Pay for your health services
Administer your health plan
Help with public health and safety issues
Do research
Comply with the law
Respond to organ and tissue donation requests and
work with a medical examiner or funeral director
Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement,
and other government requests
Respond to lawsuits and legal actions
See pages 3 and 4
for more information
on these uses and
disclosures
You have the right to:
Get a copy of your health and claims records
Correct your health and claims records
Request confidential communication
Ask us to limit the information we share
Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared
your information
Get a copy of this privacy notice
Choose someone to act for you
File a complaint if you believe your privacy
rights have been violated
See page 2 for
more information on
these rights and how
to exercise them
Our
Uses and
Disclosures
Your
Rights
See page 3 for
more information on
these choices and
how to exercise them
You have some choices in the way that we
use and share information as we:
Answer coverage questions from your family and friends
Provide disaster relief
Market our services and sell your information
This notice describes how medical information about
you may be used and disclosed and how you can get
access to this information. Please review it carefully.
Your Information.
Your Rights.
Our Responsibilities.
Your
Choices
Notice of Privacy Practices • Page 1
Instruction A: Insert the
covered entity’s name
Instruction B: Insert the covered entity’s address,
web site and privacy official’s phone, email
address, and other contact information.
Notice of Privacy Practices • Page 2
When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights.
This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.
Your
Rights
Get a copy of your
health and claims
records
You can ask to see or get a copy of your health and claims records and other health
information we have about you. Ask us how to do this.
We will provide a copy or a summary of your health and claims records, usually within
30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.
Ask us to correct
health and claims
records
You can ask us to correct your health and claims records if you think they are
incorrect or incomplete. Ask us how to do this.
We may say “no” to your request, but we’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days.
Request confidential
communications
You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone)
or to send mail to a different address.
We will consider all reasonable requests, and must say “yes” if you tell us you would
be in danger if we do not.
Ask us to limit what
we use or share
You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment,
payment, or our operations.
We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect
your care.
Get a list of those
with whom we’ve
shared information
You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your health information
for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why.
We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and
health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to
make). We’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable,
cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.
Get a copy of this
privacy notice
You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to
receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.
Choose someone
to act for you
If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal
guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health
information.
We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take
any action.
File a complaint if
you feel your rights
are violated
You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us using the
information on page 1.
You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Ofce for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/
privacy/hipaa/complaints/.
We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
Notice of Privacy Practices • Page 3
In these cases, you have
both the right and choice
to tell us to:
Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in payment
for your care
Share information in a disaster relief situation
If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious,
we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest.
We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent
threat to health or safety.
In these cases we never
share your information
unless you give us
written permission:
Marketing purposes
Sale of your information
For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what
we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the
situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow
your instructions.
Your
Choices
Help manage
the health care
treatment you
receive
We can use your health information
and share it with professionals who are
treating you.
Example: A doctor sends us information
about your diagnosis and treatment plan
so we can arrange additional services.
Run our
organization
We can use and disclose your information
to run our organization and contact you
when necessary.
We are not allowed to use genetic
information to decide whether we will
give you coverage and the price of that
coverage. This does not apply to long term
care plans.
Example: We use health information
about you to develop better services
for you.
Pay for your
health services
We can use and disclose your health
information as we pay for your health
services.
Example: We share information about
you with your dental plan to coordinate
payment for your dental work.
Administer
your plan
We may disclose your health information
to your health plan sponsor for plan
administration.
Example: Your company contracts with us
to provide a health plan, and we provide
your company with certain statistics to
explain the premiums we charge.
How do we typically use or share your health information?
We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.
Our
Uses and
Disclosures
continued on next page
Notice of Privacy Practices • Page 4
Help with public health
and safety issues
We can share health information about you for certain situations such as:
Preventing disease
Helping with product recalls
Reporting adverse reactions to medications
Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety
Do research
We can use or share your information for health research.
Comply with the law
We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it,
including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to
see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.
Respond to organ and tissue
donation requests and work
with a medical examiner or
funeral director
We can share health information about you with organ procurement
organizations.
We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral
director when an individual dies.
Address workers’
compensation, law
enforcement, and other
government requests
We can use or share health information about you:
For workers’ compensation claims
For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official
With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law
For special government functions such as military, national security, and
presidential protective services
Respond to lawsuits and
legal actions
We can share health information about you in response to a court or
administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.
How else can we use or share your health information? We are allowed or required to share your
information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research.
We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more
information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html.
Instruction C: Insert any special notes that apply to your entity’s practices such as “we never market or sell
personal information.”
Instruction D: The Privacy Rule requires you to describe any state or other laws that require greater limits on
disclosures. For example, “We will never share any substance abuse treatment records without your written
permission.” Insert this type of information here. If no laws with greater limits apply to your entity, no
information needs to be added.
Instruction E: If your entity provides health plan members with access to their health information via the Blue
Button protocol, you may want to insert a reference to it here.
To leave this section blank, add a word space to delete the instructions.
Notice of Privacy Practices • Page 5
Our Responsibilities
We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security
of your information.
We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.
We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in
writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you
change your mind.
For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/noticepp.html.
Changes to the Terms of this Notice
We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you.
The new notice will be available upon request, on our web site, and we will mail a copy to you.
This Notice of Privacy Practices applies to the following organizations.
Instruction F: Insert Effective Date of Notice here.
Instruction G: If your entity is part of an OHCA (organized health care arrangement) that has agreed to a
joint notice, use this space to inform your patients of how you share information within the OHCA (such
as for treatment, payment, and operations related to the OHCA). Also, describe the other entities
covered by this notice and their service locations. For example, “This notice applies to Grace Community
Hospitals and Emergency Services Incorporated which operate the emergency services within all Grace
hospitals in the greater Dayton area.”