Elder Medical Services, P.C.

132 Cayuga Road, Suite 1C

Cheektowaga NY 14225

 

Notice of Privacy Policy

 

The misuse of Personal Health Information (PHI) has been identified as a national problem causing patients inconvenience, aggravation, and money.  We want you to know that all of our employees, managers and health care providers continually undergo training so that they may understand and comply with government rules and regulations regarding the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) with particular emphasis on the “Privacy Rule”.  We strive to achieve the very highest standards of ethics and integrity in performing services for our patients.

It is our policy to properly determine appropriate uses of PHI in accordance with the governmental rules, laws, and regulations.  We want to ensure that our practice never contributes in any way to the growing problem of improper disclosure of PHI.  As part of this plan, we have implemented a Compliance Program that we believe will help us to prevent any inappropriate use of PHI.

We also know that we are not perfect!  Because of this fact, our policy is to listen to our employees and our patients without any thought of penalization if they feel that an event in any way compromises our policy of integrity.  More so, we welcome your input regarding any service problem so that we may remedy the situation promptly.

Thank you for being one of our highly valued patients.

 

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.

 

Introduction

 Elder Medical Services is committed to treating and using protected health information about you responsibly.   This Notice of Health Information Practices describes the personal information we collect, and how and when we use or disclose that information.  It also describes your rights as they relate to your protected health information.  This Notice is effective April 2003, and applies to all protected health information as defined by federal regulations.

 Understanding Your Health Records/Information

 Each time an Elder Medical provider visits with you either in a Skilled Nursing Facility, Assisted Living, or Hospital, a record of the visit is made.  Typically, this record contains your symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment, and plan for future care.  This information serves as a:

q       Basis for planning your care and treatment.

q       Means of communication among the many health professionals who contribute to your care.

q       Legal document describing the care received.

q       Means by which you or a third-party payer can verify that services billed were actually provided.

q       A tool in educating health professionals.

q       A source of data for medical research.

q       A source of information for public health officials charged with improving the health of this state and nation.

q       A source of data for our planning and marketing.

q       A tool with which we can assess and continually improve the care we render and the outcomes we achieve.

 Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to: ensure its accuracy, better understand who, what, where, when, and why others may access your health information, and make more informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to others.

 Your Health Information Rights

 Although your health record is the physical property of the Skilled Nursing Facility, Assisted Living Facility or Hospital, the information belongs to you.  You have the right to:

q       Obtain paper copy of this notice of information practices upon request.

q       Inspect and copy your health record.

q       Amend your health record.

q       Obtain an accounting of disclosures of your health information.

q       Request communications of your health information any alternative means or at alternative locations.

q       Request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your information.

q       Revoke your authorization to use of disclose health information except to the extent that action has already taken place.

Our Responsibilities

 Elder Medical Services is fully committed to compliance with HIPAA guidelines by:

q       Providing appropriate security for our patient records.

q       Protecting the privacy of our patients’ medical information.

q       Providing patients with proper access to their medical records.

q       Appropriately maintaining our patient information and billing process in compliance with national HIPAA standards.

q       Provide you with this notice as to our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to information we collect and maintain about you.

q       Abide by the terms of this notice.

q       Notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction.

q       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 new provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain.  We will keep a posted copy of the most current notice in all of our facilities.

For More Information or to Report a Problem

If you have any questions, please contact Elder Medical’s Privacy Officer, Beth Hoerner at 716-871-0406.

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with our Privacy Officer or with the Office for Civil Rights.  There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint with either party.  The address is for the OCR is listed below:

Office for Civil Rights

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services

200 Independence Ave., S.W.

Room 509F, HHH Building

Washington, D.C. 20201

 Examples of Disclosures for Treatment, Payment and Health Operations

 We will use your health information for treatment.

 When co-managing your health with other physicians or consultants, the providers of Elder Medical Services will release or receive health information, as they feel appropriate and necessary for optimal health management.

 We will use your health information for payment.

 For example: A bill may be sent to you or a third-party payer.  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 or the risk or quality improvement manager 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 healthcare and services we provide.

 Business Associates: There are some services provided in our organization through contacts with business associates.  Examples include our computer medical billing support company and our insurance carrier.  When these services are contracted we may disclose your health information to our business associates so that they can perform the job we’ve asked them to do or to bill you or your third-party payer for services rendered.  To protect your health information, however, we require the business associate to appropriately protect your information.

 Notification: We may use or disclose information to notify or assist in notifying a family member, personal representative, or other 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.

 Researchers: 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.

 Funeral Directors:  We may disclose health information to funeral directors 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.

 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.

 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.