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 IT CAREFULLY.
Who Presents this Notice
This Notice describes the privacy practices of Sierra Medical Center (the “Hospital”) and members of its workforce, as well as the physician members of the medical staff and allied health professionals who practice at the Hospital. The Hospital and the individual health care providers together are sometimes called “the Hospital and Health Professionals” in this Notice. While the Hospital and Health Professionals engage in many joint activities and provide services in a clinically integrated care setting, the Hospital and Health Professionals each are separate legal entities. This Notice applies to services furnished to you at the hospital and all off-campus outpatient departments as an inpatient or outpatient in a hospital-affiliated program involving the use or disclosure of your health information.
Privacy Obligations
The Hospital and Health Professionals each are required by law to maintain the privacy of your health information (“Protected Health Information” or “PHI”) and to provide you with this Notice of legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your Protected Health Information. The Hospital and Health Professionals use computerized systems that may subject your Protected Health Information to electronic disclosure for purposes of treatment, payment and/or health care operations as described below. When the Hospital and Health Professionals use or disclose your Protected Health Information, the Hospital and Health Professionals are required to abide by the terms of this Notice (or other notice in effect at the time of the use or disclosure).
Permissible Uses and Disclosures Without Your Written Authorization
In certain situations your written authorization must be obtained in order to use and/or disclose your PHI. However, the Hospital and Health Professionals do not need any type of authorization from you for the following uses and disclosures:
Uses and Disclosures for Treatment, Payment and Health Care Operations. Your PHI may be used and disclosed to treat you, obtain payment for services provided to you and conduct “health
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• Treatment. Your PHI may be used and disclosed to provide treatment and other services to you--for example, to diagnose and treat your injury or illness. In addition, you may be contacted to provide you appointment reminders or information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you. Your PHI may also be disclosed to other providers involved in your treatment. For example, a doctor treating you for a broken leg may need to know if you have diabetes because if you do, this may impact your recovery.
• Payment. Your PHI may be used and disclosed to obtain payment for services provided to you--for example, disclosures to claim and obtain payment from your health insurer, HMO, or other company that arranges or pays the cost of some or all of your health care (“Your Payor”) to verify that Your Payor will pay for health care. The physician who reads your x-ray may need to bill you or your Payor for reading of your x-ray therefore your billing information may be shared with the physician who read your x-ray.
• Health Care Operations. Your PHI may be used and disclosed for health care operations, which include internal administration and planning and various activities that improve the quality and cost effectiveness of the care delivered to you. For example, PHI may be used to evaluate the quality and competence of physicians, nurses and other health care workers. PHI may be disclosed to the Hospital Compliance & Privacy Office in order to resolve any complaints you may have and ensure that you have a comfortable visit. Your PHI may be provided to various governmental or accreditation entities such as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations to maintain our license and accreditation. In addition, PHI may be shared with business associates who perform treatment, payment and health care operations services on behalf of the Hospital and Health Professionals.
Use or Disclosure for Directory of Individuals in the Hospital. Hospital may include your name, location in the Hospital, general health condition and religious affiliation in a patient directory without obtaining your authorization unless you object to inclusion in the directory. Information in the directory may be
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