USES AND DISCLOSURES OF HEALTH INFORMATION
We use and disclose health information about your child for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. For example:
Treatment: We may use or disclose your child’s health information to a physician or other healthcare provider providing treatment to your child.
Payment: We may use and disclose your child’s health information to obtain payment for services we provide to your child.
Healthcare Operations: We may use and disclose your child’s health information in connection with our healthcare operations. Healthcare operations include quality assessment and improvement activities, reviewing the competence or qualifications of healthcare professionals, evaluating practitioner and provider performance, conducting training programs, accreditation, certification, licensing, or credentialing activities.
Your Authorization: In addition to our use of your child’s health information for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations, you may give us written authorization to use your child’s health information or to disclose it to anyone for any purpose. If you give us an authorization, you may revoke it in writing at any time. Your revocation will not affect any use or disclosures permitted by your authorization while it was in effect. Unless you give us a written authorization, we cannot use or disclose your child’s health information for any reason except those described in this Notice.
To Your Family and Friends: We must disclose your child’s health information to you, as described in the Patient Rights section of this Notice. We may disclose your child’s health information to a family member, friend, or another person to the extent necessary to help with your child’s healthcare or with payment for your child’s healthcare, but only if you agree that we may do so.
Persons Involved in Care: We may use or disclose health information to notify or assist in the notification of (including identifying or locating) a family member, your child’s personal representative, or another person responsible for your child’s care, of your child’s location, your child’s general condition, or death. If you are present, then prior to use or disclosure of your child’s health information, we will provide you with an opportunity to object to such uses or disclosures. In the event of your child’s incapacity or emergency circumstances, we will disclose health information based on a determination using our professional judgment disclosing only health information that is directly relevant to the person’s involvement in your child’s healthcare. We will also use our professional judgment and our experience with common practice to make reasonable inferences of your child’s best interest in allowing a person to pick up filled prescriptions, medical supplies, x-rays, or other similar forms of health information.
Marketing Health-Related Services: We will not use your child’s health information for marketing communications without your written authorization.
Required by Law: We may use or disclose your child’s health information when we are required to do so by law.
Abuse or Neglect: We may disclose your child’s health information to appropriate authorities if we reasonably believe that your child is a possible victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence or the possible victim of other crimes. We may disclose your child’s health information to the extent necessary to avert a serious threat to your child’s health or safety or the health or safety of others.
National Security: We may disclose to military authorities the health information of Armed Forces personnel under certain circumstances. We may disclose to authorized federal officials health information required for lawful intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities. We may disclose to the correctional institution or law enforcement official having lawful custody of protected health information of inmate or patient under certain circumstances.
PATIENT RIGHTS
Access: You have the right to look at or get copies of your child’s health information, with limited exceptions. You may request that we provide copies in a format other than photocopies. We will use the format you request unless we cannot practicably do so. (You must make a request in writing to obtain access to your child’s health information. You may obtain a form to request access by using the contact information listed at the end of this Notice. We will charge you a reasonable cost-based fee for expenses such as copies and staff time. You may also request access by sending us a letter to the address at the end of this Notice. If you request copies, we will charge you $1.00 for each page, $25.00 per hour for staff time to locate and copy your child’s health information, and postage if you want the copies mailed to you. If you request an alternative format, we will charge a cost-based fee for providing your child’s health information in that format. If you prefer, we will prepare a summary or an explanation of your child’s health information for a fee. Contact us using the information listed at the end of this Notice for a full explanation of our fee structure.)
Disclosure Accounting: You have the right to receive a list of instances in which we or our business associates disclosed your child’s health information for purposes, other than treatment, payment, healthcare operations, and certain other activities, for the last 6 years, but not before April 14, 2003. If you request this accounting more than once in a 12-month period, we may charge you a reasonable, cost-based fee for responding to these additional requests.
Restriction: You have the right to request that we place additional restrictions on our use or disclosure of your child’s health information. We are not required to agree to these additional restrictions, but if we do, we will abide by our agreement (except in an emergency).
Alternative Communication: You have the right to request that we communicate with you about your child’s health information by alternative means or to alternative locations. (You must make your request in writing.) Your request must specify the alternative means or location, and provide a satisfactory explanation of how payments will be handled under the alternative means or location you request.
Amendment: You have the right to request that we amend your child’s health information. (Your request must be in writing, and it must explain why the information should be amended.) We may deny your request under certain circumstances.
Electronic Notice: If you receive this Notice on our Web site or by electronic mail (e-mail) you are entitled to receive this Notice in written form.
