Patient Privacy

You have the right to:

• Get a copy of your paper or electronic medical record
• Correct your paper or electronic medical record
• 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

You have some choices in the way that we use and share information as we:

• Tell family and friends about your condition
• Provide disaster relief
• Include you in a hospital directory
• Provide mental health care
• Market our services and sell your information
• Raise funds

We may use and share your information as we:

• Treat you
• Run our organization
• Bill for your services
• Help with public health and safety issues
• Do research
• Comply with the law
• Respond to organ and tissue donation requests
• Work with a medical examiner or funeral director
• Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests
• Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

You have certain rights regarding your health information. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.

Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record

• You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record 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 information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

Ask us to correct your medical record

• You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is 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 say yes to all reasonable requests.

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.
• If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer. We will say yes unless a law requires us to share that information.

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

Your rights are important to us. You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us and we will work to resolve the situation.

We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

If we have not resolved the complaint to your satisfaction, you can also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by using the information below, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/index.html

File a Complaint Using the Health Information Privacy Complaint Form Package

Open and fill out the Health Information Privacy Complaint Form Package in PDF format. You will need Adobe Reader software to fill out the complaint and consent forms. You may either:

• Print and mail the completed complaint and consent forms to:Centralized Case Management Operations
  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
  Room 509F HHH Bldg.
  Washington, D.C. 20201
• Email the completed complaint and consent forms to OCRComplaint@hhs.gov (Please note that communication by unencrypted email presents a risk that personally identifiable information contained in such an email, may be intercepted by unauthorized third parties)

File A Complaint Without Using Our Health Information Privacy Complaint Package

If you prefer, you may submit a written complaint in your own format.

• Print and mail the completed complaint and consent forms to:Centralized Case Management Operations
  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
  Room 509F HHH Bldg.
  Washington, D.C. 20201
• Email to OCRComplaint@hhs.gov

File a Security Rule Complaint

You may file a Security Rule complaint electronically via the OCR Complaint Portal, or using our Health Information Privacy Complaint Package.

If you mail or fax the complaint, be sure to send it to the appropriate OCR regional office based on where the alleged violation took place. OCR has ten regional offices, and each regional office covers specific states. Send your complaint to the attention of the OCR Regional Manager. You do not need to sign the complaint and consent forms when you submit them by e-mail because submission by e-mail represents your signature.

 

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.

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 your care
• Share information in a disaster relief situation
• Include your information in a hospital directory

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
• Most sharing of psychotherapy notes

In the case of fundraising:

• We may contact you for fundraising efforts, but you can tell us not to contact you again.

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.

To treat you:

• We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you.

Example: A doctor treating you for an injury asks another doctor about your overall health condition.

To run our organization

• We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary.

Example: We use health information about you to manage your treatment and services.

To bill for your services

• We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities.

Example: We give information about you to your health insurance plan so it will pay for your services.

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:

https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/guidance-materials-for-consumers/index.html

Help with public 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

• We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.

Work with a medical examiner or funeral director

• 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.

• 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:

https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/notice-privacy-practices/index.html

HIPAA complaints can be submitted via the OCR’s Complaint Page, although OCR will also accept complaints via fax, mail, or email. Contact information for HIPAA violation reporting can be found on the above link.
https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/index.html

In order for OCR to determine whether a violation is likely to have occurred, the reason for the HIPAA complaint should be stated along with the potential violation. Information will need to be supplied about the Covered Entity (or Business Associate), the date when the HIPAA violation is suspected of occurring, the address where the violation occurred – if known – and when the complainant learned of the possible HIPAA violation.
Complaints should be submitted within 180 days of the violation being discovered, although in certain cases, an extension to the HIPAA violation reporting time limit may be granted if there is good cause.

While complaints can be submitted anonymously, it is important to bear in mind that OCR will not investigate any HIPAA complaint if a name and contact information is not supplied.

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, in our office, and on our website.

Please forward any questions or concerns you might have about privacy or security of protected health information to:

Teresa McNeil
Privacy Officer & HIPAA Coordinator
tmcneil@huntregional.org
903.408.1845

Jonathan Schafft
Security Officer
jschafft@huntregional.org
903.408.1832

Stuart O’Neil
Compliance Officer
soneil@huntregional.org
903.408.1606

Compliance Confidential Hot Line:
1.800.673.0098