Although your health information is the physical property
of the facility or practitioner that compiled it, the information belongs
to you, and you have certain rights over that information. You have
the right to:
* Request, in writing, a restriction on certain uses and disclosures
of your health information. However, agreement with the request is
not required by law, such as when it is determined that compliance
with the restriction cannot be guaranteed;
* Inspect or obtain a copy of your health record as provided by law;
* Request, in writing, that your health record be amended as provided
by law, if you feel the health information we have about you is incorrect
or incomplete. You will be notified if the request cannot be granted;
* Request that we communicate with you about your health information
in a specific way or at a specific location. Reasonable requests will
be accommodated;
* Obtain an accounting of disclosures of your health information as
provided by law;
* Obtain a paper copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices on request.
You may exercise these rights by directing a request to the Privacy
Contact listed on this Notice.
THR has certain responsibilities regarding your health information,
including the requirement to:
* Maintain the privacy of your health information;
* Provide you with this Notice that describes THR’s legal duties
and privacy practices regarding the information that we maintain about
you;
* Abide by the terms of the Notice currently in effect.
THR entities reserve the right to change these information privacy
policies and practices and to make the changes applicable to any health
information that we maintain. If changes are made, the revised Notice
of Privacy Practices will be made available at each THR facility, posted
on each entity web site, and will be supplied when requested.
Uses and Disclosures of Health Information without Authorization
When you obtain services from any THR entity, certain uses and disclosures
of your health information are necessary and permitted by law in
order to treat you, to process payments for your treatment and to
support the operations of the entity and other involved providers.
The following categories describe ways that THR entities use or disclose
your information, and some representative examples are provided in
each category. All of the ways your health information is used or
disclosed should fall within one of these categories.
Your health information will be used for treatment.
For example: 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 a THR facility. 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.
Your health information will be used for payment.
For example: Health information 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 plan about
treatment you are going to receive in order to obtain prior approval
or to determine if your health plan will cover the treatment.
Your health information will be used for health care operations.
For example: The information in your health record may be used to evaluate
and improve the quality of the care and services we provide. Students,
volunteers, and trainees will have access to your health information
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, transcription agencies and copying services. To protect
your health information, THR entities require these business associates
to appropriately protect your information.
Directory: Unless you give notice of an objection, your name, location
in the facility, general condition and religious affiliation will be
used for patient directories, in those entities where such directories
are maintained. This information may be provided to members of the
clergy. This information, except for religious affiliation, may also
be provided to other people who ask for you by name.
Continuity of Care: In order to provide for the continuity of your
care once you are discharged from one of our facilities, your information
may be shared with other healthcare providers such as home health agencies.
Information about you may be disclosed to community services agencies
in order to obtain their services on your behalf.
Disclosures Requiring Verbal Agreement
Unless you give notice of an objection, and in accordance with your
Authorization to Verbally Release Health Information, medical information
may be released to a family member or other person who is involved
in your medical care or who helps pay for your care. Information
about you may be disclosed to notify a family member, legally authorized
representative or other person responsible for your care about your
location and general condition. This may include disclosures of information
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. You will be given an opportunity to agree to
these disclosures except as due to your incapacity or in emergency
circumstances.
Disclosures Required by Law or otherwise Allowed without authorization
or Notification.
The following disclosures of health information 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 information about births,
deaths, and various diseases, or disclosures to the FDA regarding adverse
events related to food, medications or devices;
* For health oversight activities, such as audits, inspections or licensure
investigations;
* To organ procurement organizations for the purpose 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 guidelines to provide for the privacy of your health
information; or the disclosure is that of a limited data set, where
personal identifiers have been removed.
* To coroners and funeral directors for the purpose of identification,
the determination of the cause of death, or to perform their 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 national security and intelligence
activities as authorized by law;
* To correctional institutions or law enforcement officials concerning
the health information of inmates, as authorized by law.
Other allowable uses and disclosures without Authorization
Other uses or disclosures of your health information that may be made
include:
* 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;
* Use of your health information for the purposes of fundraising for
a THR entity. You will have the opportunity to opt out of any future
communications. Contact the Privacy Officer on this Notice for instructions
on opting out.
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.
Uses and Disclosures Requiring Authorization
Any other uses or disclosures of your health information not addressed
in this Notice or otherwise required by law will be made only with
your written authorization. You may revoke such authorization at
any time.
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
Contact listed in this Notice, or to the Secretary of the Department
of Health and Human Services. There will be no retaliation for registering
a complaint.
Privacy Contact
Address any questions about this Notice or how to exercise your privacy
rights to the Deuteronomy Privacy Officer Contact at 214-345-1314.
Effective Date
April 14, 2003
This Medical Practice is a part of Deuteronomy,
which is a Texas Health Resources Entity. Deuteronomy abides by THR’s
Privacy Practices and, for the purpose of this notice, will be referred
to as a Texas Health Resources entity (THR entity). 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.
Understanding Your Health Information
Each time you visit a hospital, physician, or other healthcare provider,
a record of your visit is made in order to manage the care you receive.
Texas Health Resources (THR) entities understand that the medical
information that is recorded about you and your health is personal.
The confidentiality of your health information is also protected
under both state and federal law.
This Notice of Privacy Practices describes how THR entities may use
and disclose your information and the rights that you have regarding
your health information. The Notice applies to all of THR’s healthcare
facilities (both inpatient and outpatient). It also applies to physicians
and allied health professionals with staff privileges at THR facilities
, for hospital-based episodes of care conducted in cooperation with
THR facilities.
1 The physicians participating in your care at THR facilities are not
employees or agents of THR and are not acting for or on behalf of
THR. Some physicians engaged in a postgraduate Medical Education
Program are an exception to this and are employees of the facility.
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