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The Regional Hospital for Respiratory and Complex Care
12844 Military Road South, Tukwila, WA 98168
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.
Understanding Your Health Record/Information
The Regional Hospital originates, records and maintains health
information about the patient describing the health history, symptoms,
examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment and any plans for
future care or treatment. This information, often referred to as your
health or medical record, serves as a:
- Basis for planning your care and treatment
- Means of communication among the many health
professionals who contribute to your care
- A source of information for
applying the diagnosis and surgical information to your bill
- A means
by which a third-party payer (insurance companies, governmental or
private entity responsible for paying a patient’s bill) can verify that
services billed were actually provided
- A tool for routine health care
operations, such as assessing quality and reviewing the competence of
health care professionals
- A tool with which we can assess and
continually work to improve the care we render and the outcomes we
achieve
- A source of data for medical research
- A source of data for
facility planning and marketing
- A source of information for public
health officials charged with improving the health of the nation
- Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is
used helps you to:
- Ensure its accuracy
- Better understand who,
what, when, where, and why others may access your health information
- Make more informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to others
Your Health Information Rights
Although your health record is the physical property of the hospital,
the information belongs to you. You have the right to:
- Request a
restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your information as
provided by 45 CFR 164.522
- Obtain a paper copy of the Notice of
Privacy Practices upon request
- Inspect and obtain a copy of your
health record as provided for in 45 CFR 164.524 and RCW 70.02.030
- Amend your health record as provided in 45 CFR 164.526
- Obtain an
accounting of disclosures of your health information as provided in 45
CFR 164.528 and RCW 70.02.020
- Request communications of your health
information by alternative means or at alternative locations
- Revoke
your authorization to use or disclose health information except to the
extent that action has already been taken
Our Responsibilities
Regional Hospital is required to:
- Maintain the privacy of your health
information
- Provide you with a notice as to our legal duties and
privacy practices with respect to information we collect and maintain
about you
- Abide by the terms of this notice
- Notify you if we are
unable to agree to a requested restriction
- Accommodate reasonable
requests you may have to communicate health information by alternative
means or at alternative locations.
We reserve the right to change our practices and to make the new
provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain.
Should our information practices change, we will mail a revised notice
to the address you have supplied us.
We will not use or disclose your health information without your
authorization, except as described in this notice.
For More Information or to Report a Problem
If you have questions and would like additional information, you may
contact the Chief Privacy Officer at (206) 248-4549.
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you can file a
complaint with the Chief Privacy Officer or with The Department of
Health and Human Services. There will be no retaliation for filing a
complaint.
Please bring any privacy complaints you may have to the attention of the
Chief Privacy Officer located in room #242 of the hospital. The person
most appropriate to address your complaint will provide you with a
written or verbal response in a timely manner.
A complaint may be filed with Office for Civil Rights/Department of
Health and Human Services either on paper or electronically
(www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/).
The mailing address and telephone number is:
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
(202) 619-0257 or Toll Free: 1-877-696-6775
Examples of Disclosures for Treatment, Payment and Health Operations
We will use your health information for treatment.
For example: Information obtained by a nurse, physician, or other
member of your healthcare team will be recorded in your record and used
to determine the course of treatment that should work best for you.
Your physician will document in your record his or her expectations of
the members of your healthcare team. Members of your healthcare team
will then record the actions they took and their observations. In that
way, the physician will know how you are responding to treatment.
We will also provide your physician or a subsequent healthcare provider
with copies of various reports that should assist him or her in treating
you once you’re discharged from this hospital.
We will use your health information for payment.
For example: A bill may be sent to you or a third-party payer
(insurance companies, governmental, or private entity responsible for
paying your bill). The information on or accompanying the bill may
include information that identifies you, as well as your diagnosis,
procedures, and supplies used.
We will use your health information for regular health operations.
For example: Members of the medical staff, the risk or quality
improvement manager, or members of the quality improvement team may use
information in your health record to assess the care and outcomes in
your case and others like it. This information will then be used in an
effort to continually improve the quality and effectiveness of the
healthcare and service we provide.
Business associates: There are some services provided in our
organization through contacts with business associates. Examples
include physician services in the emergency department, radiology and
laboratory tests. When these services are contracted, we may disclose
your health information to our business associate so that they can
perform the job we’ve asked them to do in performing a function or
activity on behalf of The Regional Hospital that involves the creation,
use or disclosure of protected health information and bill you or your
third-party payer for services rendered. To protect your health
information, however, we require the business associate to appropriately
safeguard your information.
Directory: Unless you notify us that you object, we will use your name,
location in the facility, general condition, and religious affiliation
for directory purposes. This information may be provided to members of
the clergy and, except for religious affiliation, to other people who
ask for you by name.
Notification: We may use or disclose information to notify or assist in
notifying a family member, personal representative, or another person
responsible for your care, your location, and general condition.
Communication with family: Health professionals, using their best
judgment, may disclose to a family member, other relative, close
personal friend or any other person you identify, health information
relevant to that person’s involvement in your care or payment related to
your care.
Research: We may disclose information to researchers when their
research has been approved by an institutional review board that has
reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the
privacy of your health information.
Deceased Individuals: We may disclose health information to funeral
directors, coroner or medical examiner consistent with applicable law to
carry out their duties.
Organ procurement organizations: Consistent with applicable law, we may
disclose health information to organ procurement organizations or other
entities engaged in the procurement, banking, or transplantation of
organs for the purpose of tissue donation and transplant.
Marketing: We may contact you to provide appointment reminders or
information about treatment alternatives or other health-related
benefits and services that may be of interest to you.
Employee benefits: We may contact you to communicate about health
insurance products offered by the hospital that could enhance or
substitute for existing health plan coverage. This includes
communications that describe a health-related product or service, or the
payment for such a product or service that is provided by the hospital
or included in its plan of benefits.
Fund raising: We may contact you as part of a fund-raising effort.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA): We may disclose to the FDA health
information relative to adverse events with respect to food,
supplements, product and product defects, or post marketing surveillance
information to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacement.
Workers compensation: We may disclose health information to the extent
authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with laws relating
to workers compensation or other similar programs established by law.
Public health: As required by law, we may disclose your health
information to public health or legal authorities charged with
preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability.
Government authority: We may disclose your health information to a
government authority, including a social service or protective services
agency, authorized by law, if we reasonably believe you are a victim of
abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.
Correctional institution: Should you be an inmate of a correctional
institution, we may disclose to the institution or agents thereof health
information necessary for your health and the health and safety of other
individuals.
Law enforcement: We may disclose health information for law enforcement
purposes as required by law or in response to a valid subpoena.
Federal law makes provision for your health information to be released
to an appropriate health oversight agency, public health authority or
attorney, provided that a work force member or business associate
believes in good faith that we have engaged in unlawful conduct or have
otherwise violated professional or clinical standards and are
potentially endangering one or more patients, workers or the public.
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