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Privacy Notice
Oneida County Hospital / Long term care / Home health
Notice of Privacy Practices
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.
I. Understanding Your Health Information
We are committed to protecting your health information and understand that this information is personal. We call this information "protected health information," or "PHI" for short. It includes information that can be used to identify you that we've created or received about your past, present, or future health or condition, the provision of health care to you or the payment of this health care. Each time you receive care at our facility or a home health visit, a record of your visit is made. Typically, this record contains your symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment, and a plan for future care or treatment. Our record of your PHI serves as a:
 Basis for planning your care and treatment;
Means of communication among the many health professionals who contribute to your care;
Legal document describing the care you received;
Means by which a third-party payer or you can verify that services billed were actually provided;
A tool in education health professionals
A source of data for medical research
A source of information for public health official charged with improving the health of the nation;
A source of data for facility planning and operations; and
A tool with which we can assess and continually work to improve the care we render and the outcomes we achieve.
Understanding your PHI and how it is used helps you to: ensure its accuracy; better understand who, what, when, where and why others may access your PHI; and make more informed decision when authorizing disclosure to others.
II. What Rights you have regarding your PHI
You have the following rights with respect to your PHI:
A. The Right to Request Limits on Uses and Disclosures of Your PHI.
You have the right to ask that we limit how we use and disclose your PHI. We will consider your request but are not legally required to accept it. If we accept your request, we will put any limits in writing and abide by them except in emergency situations. You may not limit the uses and disclosures that we are legally required or allowed to make.
B. The Right to Choose How We Send PHI to You.
You have the right to ask that we send information to you to an alternate address (for example, sending information to your work address rather than your home address) or by alternative means (for example, email instead of regular mail). We must agree to your request so long as we can easily provide it in the format you requested.
C. The Right to See and Get Copies of Your PHI.
In most cases, you have the right to look at or get copies of your PHI that we have, but you must make the request in writing. If we don't have your PHI but we know who does, we will tell you how to get it. We will respond to you within 30 days after receiving your written request. In certain situations, we may deny your request. If we do, we will tell you, in writing, our reasons for the denial and explain your right to have the denial reviewed.
If you request copies of your PHI, we will charge you a reasonable fee for each page. Instead of providing the PHI you requested, we may provide you with a summary or explanation of the PHI as long as you agree to that and to the cost in advance.
D. The Right to Get a List of the Disclosures We Have Made.
You have the right to get a list of instances in which we have disclosed your PHI. The list will not include uses or disclosures for treatment, payment, or health care operations, or those that you have authorized, such as those made, directly to you to your family, or in our facility directory. The list also won't include uses and disclosures made for national security purposes, to corrections or law enforcement personnel, or before April 14th, 2003.
We will respond within 60 days of receiving your request. You may request disclosures made going back as far as six years. The list will include the date of the disclosure, to whom PHI was disclosed (including their address, if known), a description of the information disclosed and the reason for the disclosure. There will be no charge for up to one such list each year. There may be a charge for more frequent requests.
E. The Right to Correct or Update Your PHI.
If you believe that there is a mistake in your PHI or that a piece of important information is missing, you have the right to request that we correct the existing information or add the missing information. You must provide the request and your reason for the request in writing. We will respond within 60 days of receiving your request. We may deny your request in writing if the PHI is (i) correct and complete, (ii) not created by us, (iii) not allowed to be disclosed, or (iv) not part of our records. Our written denial will state the reasons for the denial and explain your right to file a written statement of disagreement with the denial. If you don't file one, you have the right to request that your request and our denial be attached to all future disclosures of your PHI. If we approve your request, we will make the change to your PHI, tell you that we have done it, and tell others that need to know about the change to your PHI.
F. The Right to Get a Copy of This Notice.
You have the right to receive a paper copy of this notice and/or have an electronic copy e-mailed to you upon request.
III. We have a legal duty to safeguard your protected health information (PHI)
We are legally required to protect the privacy of your health information. We must provide you with this notice about our privacy practices that explains how, when, and why we use and disclose your PHI. With some exceptions, we may not use or disclose any more of your PHI than is necessary to accomplish the purpose of the use or disclosure. We are legally required to follow the privacy practices that are described in this notice.
However, we reserve the right to change the terms of this notice and our privacy policies at any time. Any changes will apply to the PHI we already have. Before we make an important change to our policies, we will promptly change this notice and post a new notice in prominent locations around the facility, and on our web site. You can also request a copy of this notice from the contact person listed in Section VI below at any time and can view a copy of the notice on our web site at www.oneidahospital.com
IV. How we may use and disclose your protected health information.
We use and disclose health information for many different reasons. For some of these uses or disclosures, we need your specific authorization. Below, we describe the different categories of our uses and disclosures and give you some examples of each category.
A. Uses and Disclosures for to Treatment, Payment, or Health Care Operations.
1. For treatment.
We may disclose your PHI to physicians, nurses, medical students, and other health care personnel who provide you with health care services or are involved in your care. For example, if you're being treated for a knee injury, we may disclose your PHI to the physical therapy department in order to coordinate your care.
2. To obtain payment for treatment.
We may use and disclose your PHI in order to bill and collect payment for the treatment and services provided to you. For example, we may provide portions of your PHI to our billing department and your health insurance to get paid for the health care services we provided to you. We may also provide your PHI to our business associates, such a billing companies, claims processing companies and others that process our health care claims.
3. For health care operations.
We may disclose your PHI in order to operate this facility. For example, we may use your PHI in order to evaluate the quality of health care services that you received or to evaluate the performance of the health care professionals who provided health care services to you. We may use a photo of you and other PHI for medication identification and other patient safety programs. We may also provide your PHI to our accountants, attorneys, consultants, and others in order to make sure were complying with the laws that affect us.
B. Certain Uses and Disclosures Do Not Require Your Authorization.
1. When a disclosure is required by federal, state or local law, judicial or administrative proceedings, or law enforcement.
For example, we make disclosures when a law requires that we report information to government agencies and law enforcement personnel about victims of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence; when dealing with gunshot and other wounds; or when ordered in a judicial or administrative proceeding.
2. For public health activities.
For example, we report information about births, deaths, and various diseases (such as cancer or contagious diseases,) to government officials in charge of collecting that information, and we provide coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors necessary information relating to an individual's death.
3. For health oversight activities.
For example, we will provide information to assist the government when it conducts an investigation or inspection of a health care provider or organization.
4. For purposes of organ donation.
We may notify organ procurement organizations to assist them in organ, eye, or tissue donation and transplants.
5. For research purposes.
In certain circumstances, we may provide PHI in order to conduct medical research.
6. To avoid harm.
In order to avoid a serious threat to the health or safety of a person or the public, we may provide PHI to law enforcement personnel or persons able to prevent or lessen such harm.
7. For specific government functions.
We may disclose PHI of military personnel and veterans in certain situations. And we may disclose PHI for national security purposes, such as protecting the President of the United States or conducting intelligence operations.
8. For workers' compensation purposes.
We may provide PHI in order to comply with workers' compensation laws.
9. Appointment reminders and health related benefits or services.
We may use PHI to provide appointment reminders or give you information about treatment alternatives, or other health care service or benefits we offer.
10. Fundraising activities.
We may use part of your PHI to raise funds for our organization through the Oneida County Hospital Foundation. The money raised through these activities is used to expand and support the health care services and educational programs we provide to the community. If you do not wish to be contacted as part of our fundraising efforts, please contact the person listed in section VI below.
C. Two Uses and Disclosures Require You to Have the Opportunity to Object.
1. Patient directories.
We may release your name, location in this facility, and general condition to callers and visitors who ask for you by name, unless you object in whole or in part. Additionally, religious affiliation may be shared with clergy. The opportunity to agree or object may be obtained retroactively in emergency situations.
2. Disclosures to family, friends, or others involved in your care.
We may share with these people information directly related to their involvement in your care, or payment for your care. We may also share PHI with these people to notify them about your location, general condition, or death.
D. All Other Uses and Disclosures Require Your Prior Written Authorization.
In any other situation not described in sections IV.A, B, and C above, we will ask for your written authorization before using or disclosing any of your PHI. If you choose to sign an authorization to disclose your PHI, you can later revoke that authorization in writing to stop any future uses and disclosures to the extent that we haven't taken any action relying on the authorization.
V. IF YOU HAVE A CONCERN ABOUT our Privacy Practices
If you think that we may have violated your privacy rights, or you disagree with a decision we made about access to your PHI, you may file a complaint with the person listed in Section VI below. You also may send a written complaint to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. We will take no retaliatory action against you if you file a complaint about our privacy practices.
VI. Person to Contact
If you have any questions about this notice or any complaints about our privacy practices, or would like to know how to file a complaint with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services please contact:
Privacy Officer
Oneida County Hospital /Long Term Care /Home Health /EMS
150 North 200 West
Malad City, Idaho 83252
208-766-2231
VII. Effective Date of this Notice
This notice went into effect on April 14th, 2003
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