Privacy Notice
Notice of Privacy Practices for Protected Health 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."
Our Responsibilities to you: Our Agency, Howard County Home Health and Hospice, is required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information and give you notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to the protected health information that we collect and maintain about you. This notice describes how our Agency may use and disclose your protected health information for the purpose of providing you treatment, obtaining payment for your health care, and conducting our health care operations. This notice also describes how our Agency may use and disclose your protected health information for other purposes that are permitted or required by law. While we must abide by the terms of this notice, we reserve the right to modify it from time to time. Should our privacy practices change, we will mail you a copy of our revised notice. Any new privacy practices will apply to all protected health information that our Agency maintains about you.
Your Health Information Rights: You have rights regarding the privacy and confidentiality of your health information. When health information includes identifiers, like names, addresses, phone numbers, and social security numbers, that link it directly to you, it is called protected health information (PHI). Federal laws require that PHI be kept secure and private and give you the following rights regarding your PHI:
You have the right to ask our Agency to restrict the way we use and disclose your PHI. You may ask our Agency to limit the way in which your PHI is used or disclosed. You may request a restriction by contacting our Privacy Officer and indicating the specific limit that you want placed on the use or disclosure of your PHI and to whom you want that restriction to apply. We are not required to agree to your request and we will notify you if your request is denied. If we do agree to your request, we must follow those limitations unless your PHI is needed to provide you with emergency treatment or must be disclosed to comply with state or federal law.
You have the right to see and copy your PHI. You may ask to see and receive a copy of the PHI that is used to make decisions about your care by submitting a written request to our Privacy Officer. We may deny your request to see and copy your PHI in very limited circumstances. If that occurs, our Agency will respond to you in writing with our reasons for denying your request and will describe to you any rights that you may have to have our decision reviewed. If you receive a copy of your PHI, our Agency may charge you a fee for the costs associated with complying with your request, including the costs of copying and mailing your PHI.
You have the right to ask that our Agency send confidential communications to you in a different way or to a different location. You have the right to ask our Agency to communicate with you in certain ways. While our Agency will accommodate all reasonable requests, we may condition this accommodation on you providing us the information as to how payment for our services will be handled or giving us an alternative address or way for us to contact you. We will not require that you provide us with a reason for your request. You may ask that we send confidential communications to you in a different way or to a different location by contacting our Privacy Officer.
You have the right to ask that our Agency amend your PHI. You have the right to ask our Agency to amend PHI that is kept in the medical, billing, and other records that we use to make decisions about you for as long as we maintain those records. You must make your request in writing to our Privacy Officer and provide reasons for the changes you request. We may deny your request if: the information was not created by us; the information is not part of the records used to make decisions about you; the information is correct and complete; or the information is not part of the information you are allowed to see and copy. If we deny your request, we will tell you in writing the reasons for the denial and describe your rights to give us a written statement disagreeing with the denial. We may rebut your statement in writing and will provide you with a copy of any rebuttal that we prepare.
You have the right to receive a listing of disclosures of your PHI made by our Agency. You have the right to receive a written list of certain disclosures of your PHI made by our Agency. The list will not include disclosures of PHI made for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations. This list also will not include disclosures made at your request, disclosures that you authorized in writing, disclosures to friends or family members involved in your care, or certain other disclosures we are allowed to make without your authorization. Your request for an accounting of our disclosures of your PHI must be made in writing to our Privacy Officer and must specify the time period for which you want a listing of disclosures. We are not required to provide you a list of disclosures made before April 14, 2003 or more than six (6) days before the date of your request.
You have the right to revoke an authorization to use and disclose PHI. Unless stated otherwise in our notice, our Agency will not disclose your PHI without written authorization.
You have the right to file a complaint. If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services or with our Privacy Officer. You will not be retaliated against in any way for filing a complaint.
You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this notice. You have the right to receive a paper copy of this notice at any time even if you have previously received a paper or electronic copy of this notice. You may obtain a paper copy of this notice by contacting our Agency's Privacy Officer.
Examples of how we may use and disclose PHI for Treatment, Payment, and Operations
We may use and disclose your PHI for treatment purposes. For example, we may use your PHI to coordinate your care within our Agency and with others involved in your care, including physicians who may be treating you. We also may disclose your PHI to individuals outside of our Agency who are involved in your care including family members and close personal friends, pharmacists, medical equipment suppliers, and other health care professionals, but only as absolutely necessary.
We may use and disclose your PHI to obtain payment for care that we provide to you. For example, we may be required by your health insurer to provide information regarding your health care so that the insurer will pay us for the care that we provided to you. We may also disclose protected health information to obtain prior approval from your insurance company to determine whether you are eligible for benefits or whether a particular service is covered under your health plan.
We may use and disclose your PHI to conduct our health care operations. For example, we may use or disclose your PHI to improve our functioning and ensure that we provide quality care to all patients. This might include using your PHI to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you or disclosing your PHI to our health care providers for review and learning purposes. We also might combine PHI about many of our patients to decide what additional services we should offer, what services are not needed, whether certain types of services that we provide are effective, and generally how we can improve the care and services that we offer. We may remove your personal identifiers from this information so that others may use it to study health care and health care delivery without learning your identity.
Other Examples of How We May Disclose PHI:
Appointment Reminders. We may disclose your PHI to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for a home health visit.
As Required by Law. We will disclose your PHI when our Agency is required to do so by federal, state, or local law, or other judicial or administrative proceeding.
Coroners and Funeral Directors. When required or permitted by law, our Agency may disclose your PHI to coroners and funeral directors to enable them to perform their duties.
Family Communications. We may disclose your PHI to family members or close personal friends if it is directly relevant to that person's involvement in your care or payment related to your care. We may also disclose your PHI when necessary to locate or notify family members or others involved in your care concerning your location, condition, or death.
Health Benefits, Services, and Treatment Alternatives. We may use and disclose your PHI to tell you about or recommend health benefits, services, and treatment alternatives that may be of interest to you.
Health Oversight Activites. We may disclose PHI about you to a state or federal health oversight agency that is authorized by law to oversee our operations.
Law Enforcement. We may disclose PHI about you for law enforcement purposes when required by law (such as to report a certain type of wound) or in response to a valid subpoena or court order.
Medical Research. Under certain circumstances, our Agency may disclose PHI about you for medical research.
Organ Donation. We may use or disclose your PHI for organ, eye, or tissue donation purposes.
Public Health. When required by law, our Agency will disclose your PHI if you have been exposed to a communicable disease or may otherwise be at risk of contracting or spreading a disease or condition. We may also disclose PHI about you so that adverse events and product defects may be tracked, vital events such as births or deaths may be recorded or when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health or safety of another person.
Suspected Abuse or Neglect. We will notify authorities of suspected abuse or neglect only when specifically required or authorized by law or when you agree to the disclosure.
Specified Government Functions. In certain circumstances, federal laws authorize our Agency to use or disclose your PHI to allow the government to carry out functions related to military or veteran affairs, national security and intelligence activities, protective services for the President and others, and medical suitability determinations.
Worker's Compensation. We may release your PHI to comply with laws related to worker's compensation or other similar programs.
For More Information or To Report a Problem: If you would like more information or to report a problem, you may call the Agency's Privacy Officer at 660-248-2100 or toll-free at 866-748-2100 or write:
Howard County Home Health and Hospice101 Furr Street
Fayette, MO 65248
Attention: Privacy Officer