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Notice of Privacy Practices
This pamphlet describes how
medical information about you may be used and disclosed and
how you can get access to this information. Please review it
carefully.
You Have a Right to
Receive this Notice
You have a right to receive
a paper copy of this Notice and/or an electronic copy by
e-mail upon request.
How to Complain About Our Privacy Practices
If you think we may have
violated your privacy rights, or disagree with a decision we
made about access to your PHI, you may file a complaint with
the person listed below. You may also file a written
complaint with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services at 200 Independence Avenue, SW,
Washington D.C., 20201 or call 1-877-696-6775. We will take
no retaliatory action against you if you make such
complaints.
Contact Person for
Information or to Submit a Complaint
If you have questions about
this Notice or any complaints about our privacy practices,
please contact our Client Rights Officer at:
Maryhaven
1791 Alum Creek
Drive
Columbus, OH
43207
Tel:
614-445-8131
Our Duty to Safeguard Your Protected Health
Information
Individually identifiable
information about your past, present, or future health or
condition, the provision of health care to you, or payment
for health care is considered "Protected Health Information"
(PHI). We are required to extend certain protections to your
PHI, and to give you this Notice about our privacy practices
that explains how, when and why we may use or disclose your
PHI. Except in specified circumstances, we must use or
disclose only the minimum necessary PHI to accomplish the
intended purpose of the use or disclosure.
We are required to
follow the privacy practices described in this Notice though
we reserve the right to change our privacy practices
and terms of this Notice at any time.
You may request a copy of
the new notice from Maryhaven. It is also posted on our
website at www.maryhaven.com.
How We May Use and Disclose Your Protected Health
Information
We use and disclose
Personal Health Information for a variety of reasons. We
have a limited right to use and/or disclose your PHI for
purposes of treatment, payment, and for our health care
operations. For uses beyond that, we must have your written
authorization unless the law permits or requires us to make
the use or disclosure without your authorization. If we
disclose your PHI to an outside entity in order to perform a
function on our behalf, we must have in place an agreement
from the outside entity that it will extend the same degree
of privacy protection to your information that we must apply
to your PHI. However, the law provides that we are permitted
to make some uses/disclosures without your consent or
authorization. The following describes and offers examples
of our potential uses/disclosures of your PHI.
Uses and Disclosures
Relating to Treatment, Payment, or Health Care Operations
Generally, we may use or
disclose your PHI as follows:
For treatment:
We may disclose your PHI to doctors, nurses, counselors, and
other health care personnel who are involved in providing
your health care. For example, your PHI will be shared among
members of our treatment team. Your PHI may also be shared
with outside entities performing ancillary services related
to your treatment, such as lab work or x-rays, or for
consultation purposes, or community mental health agencies
involved in provision or coordination of your care.
To obtain payment:
We may use/disclose your PHI in order to bill and collect
payment for your health care services. For example, we may
release portions of your PHI to the Medicaid program and to
the local ADAMH Board through the Multi-Agency information
Services Information System (MACSIS), and/or a private
insurance or managed care company to get paid for services
we delivered to you.
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For health care operations:
We may use/disclose
your PHI in the course of operating our health care
organization and programs. For example, we may use your PHI
in evaluating the quality of services provided, or disclose
your PHI to our accountant, to our internal auditors, or to
auditors from the governmental agencies that certify and
regulate our programs.
Appointment Reminders:
Unless you provide us with alternative instructions, we may
send appointment reminders and other similar materials to
your home.
Uses and Disclosures of PHI Requiring Authorization
For uses and disclosures
beyond treatment, payment, and operations purposes we are
required to have your written authorization, unless the use
or disclosure falls within one of the exceptions described
below. Authorizations can be revoked at any time to stop
future uses/disclosures except to the extent that we have
already undertaken an action in reliance upon your
authorization.
Uses and
Disclosures of PHI from Mental Health Records Not Requiring
Consent or Authorization
The law provides that we
may use/disclose your PHI from mental health records without
consent or authorization in the following circumstances:
When required by law:
We may disclose PHI when a law requires that we report
information about suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic
violence or in response to a court order. We must also
disclose PHI to authorities that monitor compliance with
these privacy requirements.
For public health
activities: We may
disclose PHI when we are required to collect information
about disease or injury, or to report vital statistics to
the public health authority.
For health oversight
activity: We may
disclose PHI to governmental agencies responsible for
monitoring the health care system for such purposes as
reporting or investigation of unusual incidents, and
monitoring of the Medicaid program.
Relating to decedents:
We may disclose PHI related to a death to coroners, medical
examiners or funeral directors, and to organ procurement
organizations relating to organ, eye, or tissue donations or
transplants
For research purpose:
In certain
circumstances, and under supervision of a privacy board, we
may disclose PHI to our research staff and their designees
in order to assist medical/psychiatric research.
To avert threat to
health or safety:
In order to avoid a serious threat to health or safety, we
may disclose PHI as necessary to law enforcement or other
persons who can reasonably prevent or lessen the threat of
harm.
For specific government
functions: We may
disclose PHI of military personnel and veterans in certain
situations, to correctional facilities in certain
situations, to government benefit programs relating to
eligibility and enrollment, and for national security
reasons, such a protection of the President.
Uses and Disclosures of PHI from Alcohol and Other
Drug Records Not Requiring Consent or Authorization
The law provides that we
may use/disclose your PHI from alcohol and other drug
records without consent or authorization in the following
circumstances:
When required by law:
We may disclose PHI when law requires that we report
information about suspected child abuse or neglect, or when
a crime has been committed on program premises or against
program personnel, or in response to a court order.
Relating to decedents:
We may disclose PHI
relating to an individual’s death if state or federal law
requires the information for collection of vital statistics
or inquiry into the cause of death.
For research, audit, or
evaluation purposes:
In certain circumstances, we
may disclose PHI for research, audit, or evaluation
purposes.
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To avert threat to health
or safety: In order
to avoid a serious threat to health or safety, we may
disclose PHI as necessary to law enforcement when a threat
is made to commit a crime on the program premises or against
program personnel. Your Rights Regarding Your
Protected Health Information
You have the following
rights relating to your protected health information:
To request restrictions
on use or disclosures:
You have the right to ask that
we limit how we use or disclose your PHI. We will consider
your request, but are not legally bound to agree to the
restriction. To the extent that we do agree to any
restrictions on our use/disclosure of your PHI, we will put
the agreement in writing and abide by it except in emergency
situations. We cannot agree to limit uses/disclosures that
are required by law.
To choose how we contact
you: You have the
right to ask that we send you information at an alternative
address or by an alternative means. We must agree to your
request as long as it is reasonably easy for us to do.
To inspect and request a
copy of your PHI:
Unless your access to your records is restricted for clear
and documented treatment reasons, you have a right to see
your protected health information upon your written request.
We will respond to your request within 10 days. If we deny
your access, we will give you written reasons for the denial
and explain any right to have the denial reviewed. If you
want copies of your PHI, a charge for copying may be
imposed, depending on your circumstances. You have a right
to choose what portions or your information you want copied
and to have prior information on the cost of copying.
To request amendments to
your PHI: If you
believe that there is a mistake or missing information in
our record or your PHI, you may request, in writing, that we
correct or add to the record. We will respond with in 30
days of receiving your request. We may deny the request if
we determine that the PHI is: (1) correct and complete; (2)
not created by us and/or not part of our records, or; (3)
not permitted to be disclosed. Any denial will state the
reasons for denial and explain your rights to have the
request and denial, along with any statement in response
that you provide, appended to your PHI. If we approve the
request for amendment, we will change the PHI and so inform
you, and tell others that need to know about the change in
the PHI.
To find out what
disclosures have been made:
You have a right to get a list
of when, to whom, for what purpose, and what content of your
PHI has been released other than instances of disclosure
for: treatment, payment, and operations; to you; or pursuant
to your written authorization. The list will not include any
disclosures made for national security purposes, to law
enforcement officials or correctional facilities, or
disclosures made before April, 2003. We will respond to your
written request for such a list within 30 days of receiving
it. Your request can relate to disclosures going back as far
as six years. There will be no charge for up to one such
list each year. There may be a charge for frequent requests.
Implemented April 14,
2003
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