Privacy Practices
State and federal laws require us to maintain the privacy of personal Protected Health Information (PHI). We are also required to inform our clients about our privacy practices by providing this Notice. We must follow the privacy practices as described below. This Notice took effect on November 1, 2003 and will remain in effect until we amended or replace it.
It is our right to change our privacy practices as long as the law permits the changes. Before we make a significant change, we will amend this Notice to reflect the changes. We will make the new Notice available upon request. The new terms will apply to new PHI, as well as all information maintained, created and/or received by us before the date changes were made.
You may request a copy of our Notice of Privacy Practices at any time. Please contact our Program Director at (509) 448-1202. Requests in writing may be sent to P.O. Box 8087 Spokane, WA 99203
TYPICAL USES AND DISCLOSURES OF HEALTH INFORMATION
We keep personal PHI confidential, using it only for the following purposes:
Treatment: We use PHI to provide professional services. We limit various staff members’ access to specific PHI according to their primary job functions. We follow “minimum necessary or need to know” standards. Everyone on our staff is required to sign a confidentiality statement.
Disclosure: We may disclose and/or share PHI with other health care professionals who provide treatment and/or service at the same time that we provide treatment/services. These professionals will have a privacy and confidentiality policy like this one. Personal PHI may also be disclosed to family, friends and/or other persons our client(s) choose to have involved. This is only done if clients agree that we may do so.
Payment: We may use or disclose PHI to seek payment for services we provide. This disclosure involves our administrative office staff and may include insurance organizations or other businesses that may become involved in the process of mailing statements and/or collecting unpaid balances.
Emergencies: In case of any emergency, we may use or disclose PHI to notify, or assist in notifying, a family member or someone responsible for our client(s) care. Such notice would include our client(s) name, location, and condition. If at all possible, we will provide our client(s) a chance to object to this use or disclosure. Under emergency conditions, or if the client is incapacitated, we will use our professional judgment to disclose only certain information directly relevant to the clients’ care.
We will also use professional judgment to provide information in our client’s best interest. We may allow someone to pick up filled prescriptions, x-rays or other similar forms of health information and/or supplies unless you advise us otherwise.
Health Care Operations: We will use and disclose health information to keep our practice operable. Examples of personnel who may have access to this information include, but are not limited to:
• secretarial staff,
• medical records staff,
• individuals or groups involved in the licensing or re-licensing process,
• individuals or groups involved in the contracting or re-contracting process,
• outside health or management reviewers, and
• individuals performing similar activities.
Required by Law: We may use or disclose health information when we are required to do so by law. This includes court or administrative orders, subpoenas, discovery requests or other lawful processes. We will use and disclose information when requested by national security, intelligence and other State and Federal officials and/or if you are an inmate or otherwise under the custody of law enforcement. We disclose the names and other limited health information of individuals who may have committed a crime or are witness to a crime.
Abuse or Neglect: We may disclose health information to appropriate authorities if we have reasonable cause to believe that a child is a possible victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence or the possible victim of other crimes. This information will be disclosed only to the extent necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health or safety or that of others.
Public Health Responsibilities: We will disclose health information to report problems with products, reactions to medications, product recalls, disease/infection exposure and control, injury and/or disability.
Marketing Health-Related Services: We will not use health information for marketing purposes unless we have written authorization to do so.
National Security: The health information of Armed Forces personnel may be disclosed to military authorities under certain circumstances. If the information is required for lawful intelligence, counterintelligence or other national security activities, we may disclose it to authorized federal officials.
Appointment Reminders: We may use or disclose health information to provide our client(s) with appointment reminders, including but not limited to voicemail message, postcards or letters.
YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS
Access: Upon written request, our client(s) have the right to inspect and get copies of their own health information and that of an individual for whom they are a legal guardian. There will be some limited exceptions. If you wish to examine your health information contact the Program Director. The requesting client(s) will need to submit a letter of request.
Once approved, an appointment can be made to review the records. Copies, if requested, will be $5.00 for pages 1-5 and $.50 thereafter. Staff time will be charged at a rate of up to $15.00 per hour for time required to locate and copy specific PHI. If you request the copies be mailed, postage will also be charged. If you prefer a summary or an explanation of your PHI, we will provide it for a fee. Please contact our Program Director for the fee and/or for an explanation of our fee structure.
Amendment: Our client(s) have the right to amend their PHI if the client feels it is inaccurate or incomplete. Requests to amend must be in writing and must include an explanation of why the information should be amended. Under certain circumstances, the request to amend may be denied.
Non-routine Disclosures: Our client(s) have the right to receive a list of non-routine disclosures we have made of their PHI. This includes instances in which we, or our business associates, disclosed information for reasons other than treatment, payment or health care operations. We do not keep records of routine disclosure of PHI to a professional for treatment and/or payment purposes. Therefore, we cannot make these available. You can request non-routine disclosures going back six years. However, we are not required to release information prior to April 14, 2003.
Restrictions: Our client(s) have the right to request that we place additional restrictions on our use or disclosure of their PHI. We do not have to agree to these additional restrictions, but if we do, we will abide by our agreement. There are exceptions to this as described above. Please contact our Program Director if you want to further restrict access to your PHI. This request must be submitted in writing.
QUESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS
Our clients have the right to file a complaint with us if they feel we have not complied with our privacy practices. Complaints should be directed to our Director. If a client believes that we may have violated privacy rights, or disagrees with a decision we made regarding access to PHI, a complaint may be made to us in writing. A Complaint Form may be obtained from our Program Director. We support our clients’ right to maintain the privacy of PHI and will not retaliate in any way if a client chooses to file a complaint with us or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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