HIPAA Privacy Policy
Kaweah Health Medical Group, Tulare Medical Clinic and Sequoia Prompt Careare affiliates of Kaweah Health Medical Foundation.
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 is important and confidential. Our ethics and policies
require that your information be held in strict confidence.
Introduction
Kaweah Health Medical Foundation is dedicated to the patients we serve
and our community. We always treat your confidential information with
the utmost care. We maintain protocols to ensure the security and confidentiality
of your health information. For example, we have implemented physical
safeguards to protect your information, as well as technical safeguards,
including passwords to protect our computer databases and virus/intrusion
detection software. Within Kaweah Health Medical Foundation, access to
your information is limited to individuals who need it in order to perform
their jobs. At Kaweah Health Medical Foundation, we are committed to using
and disclosing your protected health information responsibly. Protected
Health Information is information about you, including demographic information,
that may identify you and that relates to your past, present, or future
physical or mental health and related health care services. This Notice
of Privacy Practices describes how Kaweah Health Medical Foundation may
use or disclose your protected health information to carry out treatment,
payment, or health care operations as well as other purposes permitted
or required by law. It also describes your rights as they relate to your
protected health information. This Notice is effective June 1, 2013, and
applies to all protected health information as defined by state and federal law.
Understanding Your Health Record
Each time you visit Kaweah Health Medical Foundation, 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,
- Tool in educating health professionals,
- Source of data for medical research,
- Source of information for public health officials, and
- Tool by which we can assess and continually work to improve the care we
render and outcomes we achieve.
Understanding your health record and how your protected health information
is used helps you to: ensure its accuracy; better understand who, what,
when, where, and why others may access your information; and make more
informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to others.
Your Health Information Rights
Although your health record is the physical property of Kaweah Health Medical
Foundation, the information belongs to you. You have the right to:
-
Obtain a paper copy of this notice upon request, even if you have also
requested this
notice electronically.
- Inspect and copy the protected health information in your health record.
Your request must be in writing. Kaweah Health Medical Foundation will
respond to your request within 5 business days after we receive it. If
we must deny your request, we will send you a written denial. You have
the right to request a review of the denial.
- Request to amend the protected health information in your health record
if you believe that it is incorrect or incomplete. Your request must be
in writing and must include at least one reason to support the request.
Your request may be denied if: (1) we believe that the information is
complete and accurate; (2) the information is not part of the record that
you are permitted to inspect or copy; or (3) if we did not create the
information.
- Obtain an accounting of disclosures of your personal health information
made by Kaweah Health Medical Group over a previous 6 year period (not
including service dates prior to April14, 2003).
- Request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your information.
Kaweah Health Medical Foundation is not required by law to agree to your
request. However, if we do agree, we will abide by your request except:
(1) as required by law; (2) in emergencies; or (3) when the information
is necessary to treat you. Your request must be in writing and must describe
the information you want restricted, whether it is limited to our use,
and to whom the restriction applies.
- Restrict Kaweah Health Medical Foundation's disclosure of your personal
health information to health plans if you (or a third party on your behalf)
have paid for the services out of pocket and in full.
- Request that Kaweah Health Medical Foundation communicate with you in a
particular way or at a certain location in order to maintain your privacy.
Your request must be in writing and must specify your preferred method
of communication, as well as an alternate way to contact you.
- Opt-out of future fundraising communications from Kaweah Health Medical
Foundation.
- Receive notification in the event that your protected health information
is acquired, used, accessed or disclosed in a manner not permitted by
law which compromises the security or privacy of such information.
- Have Kaweah Health Medical Foundation obtain a written authorization from
you before using or disclosing your protected health information in ways
that have not been identified in this notice or that are not permitted by law.
Disclosures for Treatment, Payment, & Health Care Operations
We will use or disclose your protected health information for treatment purposes.
For example:
Information obtained by a nurse, physician, 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 physician 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 may also provide your protected health
information to other physicians during the course of your treatment or
to subsequent health care provider in order to assist them in treating
you. We may contact you before an exam to remind you about an appointment
or to talk with you about preparing for the upcoming exam. We may also
contact you with treatment and/or test results.
We will use or disclose your protected health information for payment purposes.
For example:
We may use or disclose information about your services to your health plan
or another person financially responsible for your health care, so they
will pay us or reimburse you. We may also contact your health plan about
a treatment you are going to receive to obtain prior approval or to determine
whether your plan will cover the treatment.
We will use or disclose your protected health information for health care operations purposes.
For example:
We may use information in your health record to assess the care and outcomes
in your case and others that are similar. This information will then be
used in an effort to continually improve the quality and effectiveness
of the healthcare and services we provide. We may randomly select your
health information and remove the information that identifies you in order
to study health care delivery.
Other Permitted Uses and Disclosures
We may use or disclose your protected health information in the following ways. You have the opportunity to agree or object to the use or disclosures of all or part of your protected health information in such ways. If you are not present or able to agree or object, then your physician may, using his or her professional judgment, determine whether the use or disclosure is in your best interest. Only the information that is relevant to your care will be disclosed.
- Communication with Family. Kaweah Health Medical Group health professionals,
using their best judgment, may disclose to a family member, other relative,
or 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.
- Emergencies. Kaweah Health Medical Foundation may use or disclose your
protected health information in an emergency treatment situation. If this
occurs, your physician will try to obtain your consent as soon as reasonably
possible after the delivery of treatment.
- Communication Barriers. We may use or disclose your protected health information
if your physician or another professional attempts to obtain consent from
you but is unable to do so due to substantial communication issues.
- Fundraising. We may contact you as part of a fundraising effort. You have
the option to opt-out of receiving such communications.
- Notification. We may use or disclose information to notify or assist a
family member or personal representative (or other person responsible
for your care) of your location while in our facility. Unless you request
the contrary.
We may use or disclose your protected health information in the following ways without your consent or authorization.
- Required by Law. We may use or disclose your protected health information
to the extent the law requires such use or disclosure.
- Health Oversight. We may disclose your protected health information to
a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as, audits,
investigations and inspections.
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA). We may disclose your protected health
information relative to adverse events with respect to food, supplements,
products and product defects, or post marketing surveillance information
to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacements.
- Workers Compensation. We may disclose your protected health information
to the extent authorized by and necessary to comply with laws relating
to workers compensation or other similar programs established by law.
- Public Health. We may disclose your protected health information to a public
health authority that is permitted by law to collect or receive such information
when it is necessary to reduce or prevent a serious threat to your health
and safety or that of another individual.
- Abuse or Neglect. We may disclose your protected health information to
a public health authority, government entity or other agency that is authorized
by law to receive reports of abuse or neglect.
- Law Enforcement. We may disclose your protected health information for
law enforcement purposes as long as applicable legal requirements are met.
- Legal Proceedings. We may disclose your protected health information in
response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal, or in response
to a valid subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process.
- Military Personnel. We may disclose the protected health information of
individuals who are members of the Armed Forces for activities deemed
necessary by appropriate military command authorities.
- Medical Examiner. We may disclose your protected health information to
a coroner or medical examiner as necessary to assist them to carry out
their legal duties.
- Funeral Directors. We may disclose your protected health information to
funeral directors as necessary to assist them to carry out their legal duties.
- Organ Procurement Organizations. We may disclose your protected health
information to organ procurement organizations or other entities engaged
in the procurement, banking, or transplantation of organs for the purpose
of tissue donation and/or transplantation.
- Business Associates. There are some services provided in our organization
through contacts with business associates. Examples include, radiology,
certain laboratory tests, transcription services we use to transfer dictated
patient care into the medical record. Due to the nature of business associates'
services, they must receive your health information in order to perform
the jobs we've ask them to do. To protect your health information, however,
when these services are contracted we require the business associate to
appropriately safeguard your information.
The following uses and disclosures will only be made with your written
authorization: (1) uses and disclosures for marketing purposes; (2) uses
and disclosures that constitute the sale of protected health information;
and (3) most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes. You have the
right to revoke your authorization at any time in writing.
Our Responsibilities
Kaweah Health Medical Foundation is required by law to:
- Maintain the privacy of your health information.
- Provide you with this notice of 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 on the
disclosure of your health information.
We reserve the right to change our Notice of Privacy Practices at any time.
The new notice will be effective for all protected health information
that we maintain at that time. We will keep a posted copy of the most
current notice at our registration desk and in our reception areas. In
addition, you may request and obtain a copy of our current notice at any
time. Please send your request to the Privacy Officer at the address below.
We will not use or disclose your health information in a manner that was
not described in this notice without your written authorization. You may
revoke such authorization at any time in writing, and we will honor such
request except to the extent that we have already relied on your prior
authorization.
For More Information or to Report a Problem
If you have questions and would like additional information, you may contact:
Compliance and Privacy Officer - Kaweah Health
If you believe Kaweah Health Medical Foundation has violated your privacy
rights, you can file a complaint with Benjamin D. Cripps or with the Office
of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OCR).
There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint. The address for the
OCR is as follows:
Office of Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
200 Independence Avenue S.W.
Room 509F, HHH Building
Washington, D.C. 20201
