For Patients :: Privacy Policy / HIPAA Statment

Privacy Policy / HIPAA Statement

JOINT NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
Effective Date: April 14, 2003
Updated: January 1, 2006
Thoracic & Cardiovascular Institute, PC
Ingham Regional Medical Center

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

Thoracic & Cardiovascular Institute, PC and Ingham Regional Medical Center are creating a clinically integrated care setting and constitute an organized health care arrangement under HIPAA. This arrangement involves participation of legally separate entities and neither entity will be responsible for the medical judgment or patient care provided by the other entity in the arrangement. Both Medical Practices, however, have agreed to abide by this Notice of Privacy Practices. The physicians and healthcare providers in these Medical Practices will be able to access and use your Protected Health Information to carry out treatment, payment or medical practice operations.

If you have any questions about this notice, please contact: Thoracic & Cardiovascular Institute's Privacy Official at 517-483-7570.

OUR PLEDGE REGARDING YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION:

We understand that health information about you is personal. We are committed to protecting your health information. We create a medical record of the care and services you receive at Thoracic & Cardiovascular Institute, PC and Ingham Regional Medical Center (the "Medical Practices"). We need this record to provide you with your medical care and to comply with certain legal requirements. This notice applies to all of the records of your care generated by the Medical Practices, whether made by the Medical Practices' personnel or your personal doctor. This notice describes the Medical Practices' privacy practices used by any volunteer we allow to help you at the Medical Practice, all of the Medical Practices' employees and staff, and anyone else authorized to enter information into your Medical Practice chart.

This notice will tell you about the ways in which we may use and disclose your health information. We also describe your rights and certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of your health information.

We are required by law to:

make sure that health information that identifies you is kept private;
give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your health information; and
follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.

WHO FOLLOWS THIS NOTICE:

This Notice describes the Medical Practices' operations and how our employees and staff use and disclose health information.

HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU:

The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose health information. For each category of uses or disclosures we will explain what we mean. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories.

For Treatment. The Medical Practices may use health information to provide you with medical treatment or services. We may disclose health information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, or other personnel who are involved in taking care of you at the Medical Practices. Different departments of the Medical Practices also may share health information about you in order to coordinate the different things you need, such as prescriptions, lab work and x-rays. We also may disclose health information about you to people outside the Medical Practices who may be involved in your medical care after you leave the Medical Practices, such as family members, clergy or others we use to provide services that are part of your care. For Payment. The Medical Practices may use and disclose your health information so that the treatment and services you receive at the Medical Practices may be billed to and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company or a third party. For example, we may need to give your health plan information about the treatment you received at the Medical Practices so your health plan will pay us or reimburse you for that treatment. We may also tell your health plan about a treatment you are going to receive to obtain prior approval or to determine whether your plan will cover the treatment.

For Health Care Operations. The Medical Practices may use and disclose health information about you for the Medical Practices' operations. These uses and disclosures are necessary to manage and operate the Medical Practice and make sure that all of our patients receive quality care. For example, we may use health information to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you. We may also combine health information about many of our patients to decide what additional services we should offer, what services are not needed, and whether certain new treatments are effective. We may also disclose information to doctors, nurses, technicians, and other personnel for review and learning purposes. We may also combine the health information we have with health information from other medical practices to compare how we are doing and see where we can make improvements in the care and services we offer. We may remove information that identifies you from this set of health information so others may use it to study healthcare and healthcare delivery without learning who the specific patients are.

With regard to behavioral health and substance abuse information, Michigan law requires that we obtain your permission to disclose such information, regardless of whether it will be used for treatment, payment, or health care operations.

Appointment Reminders. We may use and disclose health information to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for treatment or medical care at one or both of the Medical Practices.

Health-Related Benefits and Services. We may use and disclose health information to tell you about health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.

Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care. We may release health information about you to a friend or family member who is involved in your medical care. We may also tell your family or friends your condition and, if applicable, that you are in a hospital.

As Required by Law. We will disclose medical information about you when required to do so by federal, state or local law.

SPECIAL SITUATIONS:

We may disclose health information about you as required by state or federal laws and regulations relating to any or all of the following, as such may apply to you.

Community/public health activities and reports such as disease control, abuse or neglect and health and vital statistics.
To avert a serious threat to your health or safety and to protect the health and safety of the public. Any disclosure would only be to someone able to help prevent the threat.
Administrative oversight for such things as audits, investigations, licensure or determining cause of death.
Court order or other legal processes related to law enforcement activities.
Organ and tissue donation and transplant reports as required by regulatory organizations as necessary to facilitate organ or tissue donation and transplant.
Workers' Compensation or other rehabilitative activities reporting as required by law or insurers in order to provide benefits for work-related or victim injuries or illnesses.

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU:

You have the following rights regarding health information we maintain about you:

Right to Inspect and Copy. You have the right to inspect and copy your health information.

To inspect and copy your health information, you must submit your request in writing to one of the Medical Practices. If you request a copy of this information, we are permitted to charge a reasonable fee for the costs of copying and mailing the information.

We may deny your request to inspect and copy your health information in certain very limited circumstances. If you are denied access to your health information, you may request that the denial be reviewed. A licensed healthcare professional chosen by the Medical Practices will review your request and the denial. The person conducting the review will not be the 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 the Medical Practices.

To request an amendment, your request must be made in writing and submitted to the Medical Practice. In addition, you must provide a reason that supports your request.

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:

Was not created by us, unless the person or entity that created the information is no longer available to make the amendment;
Is not part of the health information kept by or for the Medical Practices;
Is not part of the information which you would be permitted to inspect and copy; or
Is accurate and complete.

Right to an Accounting of Disclosures. Except for disclosures involving treatment, payment, healthcare operations and other authorized disclosures, you have the right to request an "accounting of disclosures." This is a list of the disclosures we made of health information about you.

To request this list or accounting of disclosures, you must submit your request in writing to the Medical Practice. Your request must state a time period, which may not be longer than six years and may not include dates before April 14, 2003. Your request should indicate in what form you want the list (for example, on paper or electronically). The first list you request within a 12-month period will be free. For additional lists, we may charge you for the costs of providing the list. We will notify you of the cost involved and you may choose to withdraw or modify your request at that time before any costs are incurred.

Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the health information we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment or healthcare operations. You also have the right to request a limit on the health 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. For example, you could ask that we not use or disclose information about a surgery you had.

We are not required to agree to your request if the request involves treatment or payment. If we do agree, we will comply with your request unless the information is needed to provide you with emergency treatment.

To request restrictions, you must make your request in writing to one of the Medical Practices. 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 or by mail.

To request confidential communications, you must make your request in writing to one of the Medical Practices. We will not ask you the reason for your request. We will accommodate all reasonable requests. Your request must specify how or where you wish to be contacted.

Right to Paper Copy of this Notice. Your have the right to a paper copy of this notice. You may ask us to give you a copy of this notice at any time. Even if you have agreed to receive this notice electronically, you are still entitled to a paper copy of this notice.

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 health 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 Medical Practice. The notice's effective date will be on the first page in the top right-hand corner.

COMPLAINTS:

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with one of the Medical Practices or with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. To file a complaint with us concerning either of the Medical Practices, you must submit your complaint in writing to:

Thoracic & Cardiovascular Institute, PC
Privacy Official
405 W. Greenlawn Avenue
Suite 400
Lansing, MI 48910

You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.

OTHER USES OF HEALTH INFORMATION.

Other uses and disclosures of health information not covered by this notice or the laws that apply to us will be made only with your written permission. If you provide us permission to use or disclose health 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 health information about you for the reasons covered by your written authorization. You understand that we are unable to take back any disclosures we have already made with your permission, and that we are required to retain our records of the care that we provided to you.