Privacy Policy
Hospice of Cincinnati - Notice of Privacy Practices
Effective Date: April 14, 2003. 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.
This Notice will tell you about the ways in which we may use and disclose medical information about you. It also describes your rights and certain obligations that we have regarding the use and disclosure of your medical information.
Hospice of Cincinnati entities which are covered by regulations pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) are required by law to maintain the privacy of your health information, give you notice of our privacy practices with respect to your medical information, and follow the terms of this Notice. This Notice applies to all your records of care generated and maintained by Hospice of Cincinnati affiliated entities, including Hospice of Hamilton, Hospice of Cincinnati Western Hills, and Hospice of Cincinnati East. While you are a patient at a Hospice of Cincinnati facility, you may also receive health care services from other health care providers who are not employees or agents of Hospice of Cincinnati but who will follow the terms of this Notice with respect to the privacy of your health information. Hospice of Cincinnati and its entities will share your medical information as necessary with each other to carry out your treatment, obtain payment for the services provided to you or operate their health care facilities.
How We May Use and Disclose Medical Information About You
The following categories describe different ways that we may use and disclose your medical information. These are examples and, therefore, not every permitted use and disclosure is listed.
For Treatment. We may use medical information about you to provide you with medical treatment or services. We may disclose medical information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students and other trainees, or other personnel who are involved in taking care of you at Hospice of Cincinnati or its entities. Different departments of Hospice of Cincinnati may share medical information about you in order to coordinate the different services you may need, such as prescriptions, etc. We may also disclose medical information about you to people outside the hospice or its entities that may be involved in your medical care after you leave a hospice facility, such as other physicians involved in your care, family members, durable medical equipment companies, or staffing agencies.
Fundraising Activities. We may disclose medical information about you to a foundation related to Hospice of Cincinnati so that the foundation may contact you to raise money for Hospice of Cincinnati and its entities. We only release contact information, such as your name, address and phone number and the dates you received treatment or services from Hospice of Cincinnati.
Hospice Directory. We may include certain information about you in the Hospice of Cincinnati directory while you are a patient with hospice. This information may include your name, location within one of our facilities, your general condition and your religious affiliation. The directory information, except religious affiliation, may be released to people who ask for you by name. Your religious affiliation may be given to a member of the clergy, such as a priest or rabbi, even if they do not ask for you by name. This is so your family, friends and clergy can visit you at hospice and generally know how you are doing.
Individuals Involved With or Concerned About Your Care. We may release information about your condition to a friend or family member relevant to his/her involvement in your care or payment for your care. We may also disclose your location and condition to assist or notify a family member or personal representative whom is involved in your care. We may also disclose your information in a disaster relief effort so that your family can be notified about your condition and location.
Research. Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose medical information about you for research purposes. For example, a research project may involve comparing the health and recovery of all patients who received one medication to those who received another, for the same condition. This process evaluates a proposed research project and its use of medical information, trying to balance the research needs with patients’ need for privacy of their medical information.
As Required by Law. We will disclose medical information about you when required to do so by federal, state or local law.
To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety. We may use and disclose medical information about you when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person.
Organ and Tissue Donation. If you are an organ donor, we may release medical information to organizations that handle organ procurement or transplantation or to an organ donation bank, as necessary to facilitate organ or tissue donation and transplantation.
Inmates. If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or under the custody of a law enforcement official, we may release medical information about you to the correctional institution or the law enforcement official.
Other Uses Of Your Medical Information
Other uses and disclosures of your medical information not covered by this Notice or required by the laws that apply to Hospice of Cincinnati, will be made only with your written permission (your written permission is referred to as an Authorization). If you provide your permission to use or disclose medical information about you, you may revoke that permission in writing at any time. If you revoke your permission, we will no longer use or disclose medical information about you for the reasons indicated in your written Authorization. You understand that we are unable to take back any disclosures that we made before we received your written notice revoking your Authorization.
Your Rights Regarding Medical Information About You
You have the following rights regarding medical information we maintain about you:
Right to Inspect and Copy. You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of your medical information. This includes your medical and billing records but does not include psychotherapy notes. If you request a copy of the information, we may charge a fee for the costs of copying, mailing or other supplies associated with your request.
If you are a patient at Hospice of Cincinnati, to inspect or obtain a copy of your medical information, you must submit your request in writing to Hospice of Cincinnati Medical Records Department, 4360 Cooper Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45242.
We may deny your request in certain circumstances. If you are denied access to your medical information, you may request that the denial be reviewed. Another licensed health care professional chosen by Hospice of Cincinnati will review your request and the denial. The person conducting the review will not be the same person who denied your request. We will comply with the outcome of the review.
Right to Amend. If you feel that medical information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information. You have the right to request an amendment for as long as the information is kept by or for Hospice of Cincinnati.
If you are a patient at Hospice of Cincinnati, to inspect or obtain a copy of your medical information, you must submit your request in writing to Hospice of Cincinnati Medical Records Department, 4360 Cooper Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45242.
We may deny your request for an amendment if it is not in writing or does not include a reason to support the request. In addition, we may deny your request if you ask us to amend information that:
Right to an Accounting of Disclosures. You have the right to request an “accounting of disclosures”. This is a list of the disclosures we made of your medical information. This list will not include disclosures that we made for purposes of treatment, payment and health care operations. We are also not required to include in this list the disclosures we made by acting upon your written authorizations.
If you are a patient at Hospice of Cincinnati, to inspect or obtain a copy of your medical information, you must submit your request in writing to Hospice of Cincinnati Medical Records Department, 4360 Cooper Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45242.
Your request must state a time period, which may not be longer than six (6) years and may not include dates before April 14, 2003. The first accounting you may request within a twelve (12) month period will be free. For additional accountings, we may charge you for the costs of providing the list.
Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the medical information we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment, or health care operations. You also have the right to request a restriction or limit on the medical information we disclose about you to someone who is involved in your care or the payment for your care, like a family member or friend.
We are not required to agree to your request for a restriction or limitation. If we do agree, we will comply with your request unless the information is needed to provide you emergency treatment.
In your request, you must tell us (1) what information you want to limit; (2) whether you want to limit our use, disclosure or both; and (3) to whom you want the limits to apply, for example, disclosures to your spouse.
Right to Request Confidential Communications. You have the right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way or at a certain location. For example, you can ask that we only contact you at work.
We will accommodate all reasonable requests. Your request must specify how or where you wish to be contacted.
Right to a Paper Copy of this Notice. You have a right to a paper copy of this Notice. You may ask us to give you a copy of this Notice at any time. You may also obtain a copy of this Notice on our web site, www.hospiceofcincinnati.org.
Changes To This Notice
We reserve the right to change this notice. We reserve the right to make the revised or changed notice effective for medical information we already have about you as well as any information we receive in the future. We will post a copy of the current Notice in the Hospice of Cincinnati and all of its entities. The Notice will contain on the first page, in the top right-hand corner, the effective date. In addition, if you are a patient at hospice, each time you are admitted to hospice or one of its entities, we will offer you a copy of the current notice in effect.
For Further Information
For further information about the matters covered by this Notice, you may contact:
Director of Operations or Manager, Clinical Services for Hospice of Cincinnati, at (513) 891-7700.
Complaints
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with Hospice of Cincinnati or with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. To file a complaint with hospice, you must submit your complaint in writing as follows:
TriHealth’s Privacy Officer, TriHealth, Inc., Corporate Administration Department, 619 Oak Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45206.
You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.
A: Notice Of Privacy Practices 4-03