NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES SUMMARY EFFECTIVE: 03/24/2003
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.
If you have any question, please contact our Privacy Officer, whose information is listed below.
WHO WILL FOLLOW THIS NOTICE?
The Lawrence County Board of Health provides Health care to our patients, resident, and clients in Partnership with physician and other professionals and organizations. The information Privacy Practices in this notice will be as followed by:
*Any health care professional who treats you at any Health Department sponsored location.
*All divisions of the Health Department
*All employed associates, staff or volunteers of the Health Department.
*Any business associate or partner of the Lawrence County Health Dept. with whom we share health information.
OUR PLEDGE TO YOU
We understand that medical information about you is Personal. We are committed to protecting medical Information about you. We create a record of the care and services you receive to provide quality care and to comply with legal requirements. This notice applies to all of the records of your care that we maintain, whether created by all Health Department Staff or your personal doctor. We are required by law to:
¨ Keep Medical Information about you private
¨ Give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to medical information about you.
¨ Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.
CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE
We may change our Privacy Policies at any time. Changes will apply to medical information we already hold, as well as new information after the change occurs. Before we make a Significant change in Privacy Policies, we will change our notice and post the new notice in a prominent place within the facility or clinic sites. You can receive a copy of the current notice or policy at any time. The effective date is listed just below the title. You will be offered a copy of the current notice when you first register at our facility or clinic sites for treatment. You will also be asked to acknowledge in writing your receipt of this notice.
HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE MEDICAL INFORAMTION ABOUT YOU
We may use and disclose medical information about you for Treatment (such as sending medical information about you to A specialist as part of a referral); to obtain payment for Treatment (such as sending billing information to your insurance company or Medicare); and to support our health care operations (such as comparing patient data to improve treatment methods).
We may use or disclose medical information about you without your prior authorization for several other reasons. Subject to certain requirements, we may give out medical information about you without prior authorization for public health purposes (community health surveillance, Investigation, or tracking), abuse or neglect reporting, health oversight audits or inspections, research studies, funeral arrangements and organ donation, workers compensation purposes, and emergencies. We also disclose medical information when required by law, such as in response to a request from law enforcement in specific circumstances, or in response to valid judicial or administrative orders. We also may contact your for appointment reminders, or to tell you about or recommend possible treatment options, alternative, health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.
We may disclose medical information about you to a friend or family member who is involved in your medical care, or to disaster relief authorities so that your family can be notified of your location and condition.
MEDICAL INFORMATION OTHER USES
In any other situation not covered by this notice, we will ask for your written authorization before using or disclosing medical information about you.
If you choose to authorize use or disclosure, you can later revoke that authorization by notifying us in writing of your decision.
YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU
In most cases, you have the right to look at or get a copy of medical information that we use to make decisions about your care, when you submit a written request. If we deny your request to review or obtain a copy, you may submit a written request for a review of that decision.
If you believe that information in your record is incorrect or if important information is missing, you have the right to request that we correct the records by submitting a request to amend a record if the information was created by us; or if we determine the record is accurate, you may appeal, in writing, a decision by us not to amend a record.
You have the right to a list of those instances where we have disclosed medical information about you, other than for treatment, payment, health care operations, or where you specifically authorized a disclosure, when you submit a written request. The request must state the time period desired for the accounting, which must be less than a 6-year period and starting after March 24, 2003. The first disclosure list request in a 12-month period is free; other requests will be charged according to our cost of producing the list. We will inform you of the cost before you incur any costs.
You have the right to request that medical information about you be communicated to you in a confidential manner, such as sending mail to an address other than your home, by notifying us in writing of the specific way or location for us to use to communicate with you.
You may request, in writing, that we not use or disclose medical information about you for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations or to persons involved in your care except when specifically authorized by you, when required by law, or in an emergency. We will consider your request, but we are not legally required to accept it. We will inform you of our decision on your request. All written requests or appeals should be submitted to our Administrator (Privacy Complaint Officer) or the Director of Nursing (Privacy Officer) at:
Lawrence County Health Department
2122 So. 8th St.
Ironton, OH 45638
Phone: 740-532-3962
Fax: 740-532-1014
Finally, you may send a written complaint to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights. You may call 1-866-627-7748 to obtain their address.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE WILL YOU BE PENALIZED OR RETALIATED AGAINST FOR FILING A COMPLAINT.