Privacy Policy
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. You have
the right to obtain a paper copy of this Notice upon request.
Patient Health Information
Under federal law, your patient health information is protected and confidential.
Patient health information includes information about your symptoms, test results,
diagnosis, treatment, and related medical information. Your health information also
includes payment, billing, and insurance information.
How We Use Your Patient Health Information
We use health information about you for treatment, to obtain payment, and for health
care operations, including administrative purposes and evaluation of the quality of
care that you receive. Under some circumstances, we may be required to use or disclose
the information even without your permission.
Examples of Treatment, Payment, and Health Care Operations
Treatment: We will use and disclose your health information to provide you with medical/clinical
treatment or services. For example, nurses, physicians, dentist and other members
of your treatment team will record information in your record and use it to determine
the most appropriate course of care. We may also disclose the information to other
health care providers who are participating in your treatment, to pharmacists who
are filling your prescriptions, and to family members who are helping with your care.
Payment: We will use and disclose your health information for payment purposes. For
example, we may need to obtain authorization from your insurance company before providing
certain types of treatment. We will submit bills and maintain records of payments
from your health plan.
Health Care Operations: We will use and disclose your health information to conduct our standard internal
operations, including proper administration of records, evaluation of the quality
of treatment, and to assess the care and outcomes of your case and others like it.
SPECIAL USES
We may use your information to contact you with appointment reminders. We may also
contact you to provide information about treatment alternatives or other health-related
benefits and services that may be of interest to you.
Other Uses and Disclosures
We may use or disclose identifiable health information about you for other reasons,
even without your consent. Subject to certain requirements, we are permitted to give
out health information without your permission for the following purposes:
- Required by Law: We may be required by law to report gunshot wounds, suspected abuse or neglect, or similar injuries and events.
- Public Health Activities: As required by law, we may disclose vital statistics, diseases, information related to recalls of dangerous products, and similar information to public health authorities.
- Health Oversight: We may be required to disclose information to assist in investigations and audits, eligibility for government programs, and similar activities.
- Judicial and Administrative Proceedings: We may disclose information in response to an appropriate subpoena or court order.
- Law Enforcement Purposes: Subject to certain restrictions, we may disclose information required by law enforcement officials.
- Deaths: We may report information regarding deaths to coroners, medical examiners, funeral
directors, and organ donation agencies.
Serious Threat to Health or Safety: We may use and disclose information when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person. - Military and Special Government Functions: If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release information as required by military command authorities. We may also disclose information to correctional institutions or for national security purposes.
- Research: We may use or disclose information for approved medical research.
- Workers Compensation: We may release information about you for workers compensation or similar programs providing benefits for work-related injuries or illness.
In any other situation, we will ask for your written authorization before using or
disclosing any identifiable health information about you. If you choose to sign an
authorization to disclose information, you can later revoke that authorization to
stop any future uses and disclosures.
Individual Rights
You have the following rights with regard to your health information. Please contact
the person listed below to obtain the appropriate form for exercising these rights.
Request Restrictions: You may request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your health information. We are not required to agree to such restrictions, but if we do agree, we must abide by those restrictions.
Confidential Communications: You may ask us to communicate with you confidentially by, for example, sending notices
to a special address or not using postcards to remind you of appointments. Inspect
and Obtain Copies: In most cases, you have the right to look at or get a copy of your
health information. There may be a small charge for the copies.
Amend Information: If you believe that information in your record is incorrect, or if important information
is missing, you have the right to request that we correct the existing information
or add the missing information.
Accounting of Disclosures: You may request a list of instances where we have disclosed health information about
you for reasons other than treatment, payment, or health care operations.
Our Legal Duty
We are required by law to protect and maintain the privacy of your health information,
to provide this Notice about our legal duties and privacy practices regarding protected
health information, and to abide by the terms of the Notice currently in effect.
Changes in Privacy Practices
We may change our policies at any time. Before we make a significant change in our
policies, we will change our Notice and post the new Notice in the waiting area and
each examination room. You can also request a copy of our Notice at any time. For
more information about our privacy practices, contact the person listed below.
Complaints
If you are concerned that we have violated your privacy rights, or if you disagree
with a decision we made about your records, you may contact the person listed below.
You also may send a written complaint to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The person listed below will provide you with the appropriate address upon request.
You will not be penalized in any way for filing a complaint.
Contact Person
If you have any questions, requests, or complaints, please contact:
Title: Compliance/Privacy Officer
Address: 1005 Dr. D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd
Nashville, TN 37208-3599
Compliance Hotline: (888) 695-1534
Email: compliance@mmc.edu
You may also send a written complaint to the United States Secretary of the Department
of Health and Human Services. Contact information can be found at the website for
the Office of Civil Rights at www.hhs.gov/ocr.
Effective Date: The effective date of this Notice is 4/14/2003.
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