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.
At
Understanding
Your Health Record/Information
Each time you visit GeneCare, 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,
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 professionals 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 heath professionals,
•
A source of data for medical research,
•
A source of information for public health officials charged with
improving the health of this state and the nation,
•
A source of data for our planning and marketing,
•
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, when, where, and why others
may access your health information, and make more informed decisions when
authorizing disclosure to others
Your
Health Information Rights
Although your health record is the physical property of GeneCare,
the information belongs to you. You have the right to:
•
Obtain a paper copy of this 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 45 CFR 164.528,
•
Request communications of your health information by alternative means or
at alternative locations,
•
Request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your information
as provided by 45 CFR 164.522, and
•
Revoke your authorization to use or disclose health information except to
the extent that action has already been taken.
Our
Responsibilities
GeneCare is required to:
•
Maintain the privacy of your health information,
•
Provide you with this 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,
•
Notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction, and
•
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
provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain.
Should our information practices change, we will mail a revised notice to
the address you’ve supplied us, or if you agree, we will email the revised
notice to you.
We
will not use or disclose your health information without your authorization,
except as described in this notice. We
will also discontinue to use or disclose your health information after we have
received a written revocation of the authorization according to the procedures
included in the authorization.
For
More Information or to Report a Problem
If have questions and would like additional information, you may
contact the practice’s Privacy Officer,
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you can file
a complaint with the practice’s Privacy Officer, or with the Office for Civil
Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. There will be no
retaliation for filing a complaint with either the Privacy Officer or the Office
for Civil Rights. The address for
the OCR is listed below:
Office
for Civil Rights
Room 509F,
Examples
of Disclosures for Treatment, Payment and Health Operations
We
will use your health information for treatment.
For
example:
Information obtained by a nurse, counselor, geneticist, or other member of your
health care team will be recorded in your record and used to determine the
course of treatment that should work best for you. Your counselor 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 subsequent health care
provider with copies of various reports that should assist him or her in
treating.
We
will use your health information for payment.
For
example:
A bill may be sent to you or a third-party payer. The information on or
accompanying the bill may include information that identifies you, as well as
your diagnosis, procedures, and supplies used. We
may also share portions of your medical information with the following:
billing departments, collection agencies, insurance companies, credit
bureaus.
We
will use your health information for regular health operations.
For
example:
Members of the medical staff, the risk or quality improvement manager, 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 healthcare and service we provide.
Business
associates: There are some services provided in our organization through
contacts with business associates. Examples include certain laboratory tests,
and a copy service we use when making copies of your health record. When these
services are contracted, we may disclose 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 rendered. To protect your health
information, however, we require the business associate to appropriately
safeguard your information.
Notification:
We may use or disclose information to notify or assist in notifying a family
member, personal representative, or another person responsible for your care,
your location, and general condition.
Communication
with family: Health professionals, using their best judgment, may disclose to
a family member, other relative, close personal friend or any other person you
identify, health information relevant to that person’s involvement in your
care or payment related to your care.
Research:
We may disclose information to researchers when their research has been approved
by an institutional review board that has reviewed the research proposal and
established protocols to ensure the privacy of your health information.
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.
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.
Correctional
institution: Should you be an inmate of a correctional institution, we may
disclose to the institution or agents thereof health information necessary for
your health and the health and safety of other individuals.
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 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.
Notice of Privacy Policies Revision Number 00001.
Notice of Privacy Practices//03-12-03
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Last modified:
May 25, 2004 04:26 PM
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