Notice of Privacy Practices

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.  PLEASE REVIEW CAREFULLY.

A federal regulation, known as the "HIPAA Privacy Rule" requires that we provide detailed notice in writing of our privacy practices.  We know that this Notice is long.  The HIPAA Privacy Rule requires us to address many specific things in this Notice.

1.  STEPHENS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL'S COMMITMENT TO PROTECTING HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU

In this Notice, we describe the ways that we may use and disclose health information about our patients.  The HIPAA Privacy Rule requires that we protect the privacy of health information that identifies a patient, or where there is a reasonable basis to believe the information can be used to identify a patient.  This information is called "protected health information or "PHI."  This Notice describes your rights as our patient and our obligation regarding the use and disclosure of PHI.  We are required by law to:

• Maintain the privacy of PHI about you;

• Give you this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to PHI; and

• Comply with the terms of our Notice of Privacy Practices that is currently in effect.

Stephens Memorial Hospital reserves the right to make changes to this Notice and to make such changes effective for all PHI we may already have about you.  If and when this Notice is changed, we will post a copy in our business office in a prominent location.  We will also provide you with a copy of the revised Notice upon request made to our Privacy Official.

II.  HOW STEPHENS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL MAY USE AND DISCLOSE PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU

USES AND DISCLOSURES FOR TREATMENT, PAYMENT, AND HEALTHCARE OPERATIONS

The following categories describe the different ways Stephens Memorial Hospital may use and disclose PHI for treatment, payment, or health car operations.  The examples included with each category do not list every type of use or disclosure that may fall within that category.

Treatment:     Disclosures of medical information about you may be made to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical residents or others who are involved in taking care of you at Stephens Memorial Hospital.  This information may be disclosed to other physicians who are treating you or to other healthcare facilities involved in your care.  Information may be shared with pharmacies, laboratories or radiology centers for the coordination of different treatments.

Payment:     PHI about you may be disclosed so that services provided to you may be billed to an insurance company or a third party.  Information may be provided to your health play about treatment you are going to receive in order to obtain prior approval or to determine if your health play will cover the treatment.

Health Care Operations:    Your PHI may be used to evaluate and continually improve the quality of the care and services we provide.  Students, volunteers, and trainees will have access to your PHI for training and treatment purposes as they participate in continuing education, training, internships, and residency programs.

Business Associates:     There are some services that we provide through contracts with third party business associates.  Examples include external laboratories, external radiology associates, and transcription agencies.  To protect your PHI, Stephens Memorial Hospital requires these business associates to appropriately safeguard your PHI.

Directory:     Unless you give notice of an objection, your name, and location in Stephens Memorial Hospital, general condition and religious affiliation will be utilized for patient directories.  The information may be provided to members of the clergy.  Directory information, except for religious affiliation, may also be provided to other people who ask for you by name.

Notification:     Unless you give notice of an objection, PHI may be released to a family member or friend who is involved in your medical care of which helps pay for your care.  PHI about you may be disclosed to notify or assist in notification of a family member or friend about your location and general condition.  This may include disclosures of PHI about you to an organization assisting in a disaster relief effort, such as the American Red Cross, so that your family can be notified about your condition.

Continuity of Care:     In order to provide for the community of you care once you are discharged from Stephens Memorial Hospital, your PHI may be shared with other healthcare providers such as home health agencies.  PHI about you may be disclosed to community services agencies in order to obtain their services on you behalf.

Disclosures required by law or otherwise allowed without authorization of notification

The following disclosures of PHI may be made according to state and federal law without your written authorization or verbal agreement:

• When a disclosure is required by federal, state or local law, judicial or administrative proceedings, or for law enforcement.  Examples would be:  reporting gunshot wounds or child abuse; or responding to court orders.

• For public health purposes, such as reporting PHI about births, deaths, and various diseases, or disclosures to the FDA regarding adverse events with respect to food, medications or devices;

• For health oversight activities, such as audits, inspections of licensure investigations;

• To organ procurement organizations for the purposes of tissue donation and transplant;

• For research purposes, when the research has been approved by an institutional review board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to provide the privacy of your PHI;

• To coroners and funeral directors for the purpose of identification or determination of the cause of death, or performance of duties as authorized by law;

• To avoid a serious threat to the health or safety of a person or the public;

• For specific government functions, such as protection of the President of the United States;

• For workers' compensation purposes;

• To military command authorities as required for members of the armed forces;

• To authorized federal officials for the national security and intelligence activities as authorized by law;

• To correctional institutions or law enforcement officials for the health information of inmates, as authorized by law.

Other allowable Uses and Disclosures

• Contacting you to provide appointment reminders for treatment or medical care, as well as to recommend treatment alternatives;

• Notifying you of health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.

Required Uses and Disclosures

Under the law we must make disclosures when required by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate or determine our compliance with federal privacy law.

 

Privacy Complaints:
You have the right to file a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.  this complaint may be addressed to the Privacy Officer of Stephens Memorial Hospital at 254-559-2242, ext. 306 or in his absence the Administrator of Stephens Memorial Hospital at 254-559-2242, ext. 343, or to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services HIPAA hotline, 1-866-282-0659.
There will be no retaliation for registering any complaint.