HIPAA & Privacy Practices

Notice of Privacy Practices

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

Who will follow this notice?

This joint Notice of Privacy Practices applies to any healthcare professional providing services at one of the MetroSouth facilities. This Notice applies to the Hospital and its employees, volunteers, medical staff, students and trainees who provide direct hospital services. This Notice applies to all departments and units of MetroSouth Medical Center including its affiliates, i.e., MetroSouth Health Center at Morgan Park, hospice and homecare. This Notice also applies to social service agencies and other health care and service providers that provide care or services at the Hospital, or for its patients, in that, as a condition to providing services at the Hospital, such providers must agree to comply with all Hospital policies, including its policies relating to patient privacy. This Notice, however, only details the privacy policies of the Hospital and does not govern the independent practices or operations of health care and service providers, for services provided independent of the hospital. Physicians and other health care providers administrators and staff, will share protected health information with each other, limited only to the minimum necessary information, required to perform their duties as related to treatment, payment and/or health care operations.

Our Pledge Regarding your Medical Information

We understand that medical information about you and your health is personal. We are committed to protecting and safeguarding your medical information, which is called protected health information, (PHI), or electronic protected health information, (EPHI). We create a record of the care and services you receive at the Hospital. We need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with certain legal requirements. This Notice applies to all of the records of your care generated by the Hospital, whether made by Hospital personnel or your personal doctor or other practitioners involved in your care. Your personal doctor may have different policies or Notices regarding the doctor's use and disclosure of your medical information created in the doctor's office or clinic.

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

We are required by law to:

make sure that medical information that identifies you is kept private;
additionally, we are required to safeguard your protected health Information and account information to detect, deter and prevent identity as well as medical identity theft. We will also mitigate identity theft information in regard to information that is illegally obtained, to create an identity theft and medical identity theft profile;
we will also give you this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to medical information about you; and,
follow the terms of the Notice that is currently in effect.

Illinois law may require your written permission to disclose information in certain proceedings involving information obtained by certain providers such as physicians or rape and crisis counselors. Illinois law may also require your written permission if certain medical information is to be used in various review and disciplinary proceedings of healthcare professionals by state authorities.

We will not use or disclose your medical information if that disclosure is prohibited or significantly limited by other applicable law, including, but not limited to, the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act; Illinois Medical Practice Act; Illinois Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code; Illinois AIDS Confidentiality Act; Genetic Information Privacy Act; Illinois Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act; and the Federal Drug Abuse, Prevention, Treatment and Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Act of 1970.

How we may use and disclose medical information about you

The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose medical information. For each category of uses or disclosures we will explain what we mean, to give you an example. 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: We may use medical information about you to provide you with medical treatment or services. We may disclose medical information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, health care students, clergy, or others who are involved in your care. For example, a doctor treating you for a broken leg may need to know if you have diabetes because diabetes may slow the healing process. In addition, the doctor may need to tell the dietitian if you have diabetes so that we can arrange for appropriate meals. Different departments of the Hospital also may share medical information about you in order to coordinate the different things you need, such as prescriptions, lab work and x-rays. We also may disclose medical information about you to people outside the Hospital who may be involved in your medical care after you leave the Hospital, such as long term care facilities or others we or your physician uses to provide services that are part of your care.
For Payment: We may use and disclose medical information about you so that the treatment and services you receive at the Hospital 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 surgery you received at the Hospital so your health plan will pay us or reimburse you for the surgery. 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: We may use and disclose medical information about you for Hospital operations. These uses and disclosures are necessary to run the Hospital and make sure that all of our patients receive quality care. For example, we may use medical information to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you or we or our designee may send you a patient satisfaction survey. We may also combine medical information about many Hospital patients to decide what additional services the Hospital should offer, what services are not needed, and whether certain new treatments are effective. We may also disclose information to doctors, nurses, technicians, health care students, and other Hospital personnel for review and learning purposes. We may also combine the medical information we have with medical information from other Hospitals 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 medical information so others may use it to study health care and health care delivery without learning who the specific patients are.
Appointment Reminders: We may use and disclose medical information to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for treatment or medical care at the Hospital.
Treatment Alternatives: We may use and disclose medical information to tell you about or recommend possible treatment options or alternatives that may be of interest to you.
Health-Related Benefits and Services: We may use and disclose medical information to tell you about health related benefits, services, or medical education classes that may be of interest to you.
Fundraising Activities: We may disclose information to a foundation related to the Hospital so that the foundation may contact you in raising money for the Hospital. We would only release contact information, such as your name, address and phone number and the dates you received treatment or services at the Hospital. If you do not want the Hospital to contact you for fundraising efforts, you must notify our Privacy Officer in writing.
Hospital Directory: Unless you advise the Registration Representative otherwise, we may include certain limited information about you in the Hospital directory while you are a patient at the Hospital. This information may include your name, location in the Hospital, your general condition (e.g., good, fair, etc.) and your religious affiliation. The directory information, except for your religious affiliation, may also be released to people who ask for you by name. Your religious affiliation may be given to a member of the clergy, such as a priest or rabbi, even if they don't ask for you by name. This is so your family, friends and clergy can visit you in the Hospital and generally know how you are doing. In addition, we may disclose medical information about you to an entity assisting in a disaster relief effort so that your family can be notified about your condition, status and location.

Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care: We may release medical information about you to a care giver who may be a friend or family member. We may also give information to someone who helps pay for your care. If you object to this use of disclosure of your protected health information, to communicate with family members, care takers, or friends who may be covered under your health insurance, please contact the nurse, manager or Director, in charge. You may also contact the Director of Compliance & Health Information Management at 708-824-4403.

Research: Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose medical information about you for research purposes. For example, a research project may involve comparing the health and recovery of all patients who received one medication to those who received another, for the same condition. All research projects, however, are subject to a special approval process. We will almost always ask for your specific permission if the researcher will have access to your name, address or other information that reveals who you are, or will be involved in your care at the 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

Organ and Tissue Donation: If you are an organ donor, we may release medical information to organizations that handle organ procurement or organ, eye or tissue transplantation or to an organ donation bank, as necessary to facilitate organ or tissue donation and transplantation.
Military: If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release medical information about you as required by military command authorities. We may also release medical information about foreign military personnel to the appropriate foreign military authority.
Workers' Compensation: We may release medical information about you for workers' compensation or similar programs. These programs provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness.
Public Health Risks (Health and Safety to you and/or others): We may disclose medical information about you for public health activities. We may use and disclose medical information about you to agencies when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person. These activities generally include the following:
- to prevent or control disease, injury or disability;
- to report births and deaths;
- to report child abuse or neglect;
- to report reactions to medications or problems with products;
- to notify people of recalls of products they may be using;
- to notify a person who may have been exposed to a disease or may be at risk for contracting or spreading a disease or condition;
- to notify the appropriate government authority if we believe a patient has been the victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence. We will only make this disclosure when required or authorized by law.
Health Oversight Activities: We may disclose medical information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law. These oversight activities include, for example, audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure. These activities are necessary for the government to monitor the health care system, government programs, and compliance with civil rights laws.
Lawsuits and Disputes: If you are involved in a lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose medical information about you in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose medical information about you in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute.
Law Enforcement: We may release medical information about you if asked to do so by a law enforcement official:
- In response to a court order, subpoena, warrant, summons or similar process;
- To identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person;
- About the victim of a crime if, under certain limited circumstances, we are unable to obtain the person's agreement;
- About a death we believe may be the result of criminal conduct;
- About criminal conduct at the Hospital; and
- In emergency circumstances to report a crime; the location of the crime or victims; or the identity, description or location of the person who committed the crime.
Coroners, Medical Examiners and Funeral Directors: We may release medical information to a coroner or medical examiner. This may be necessary, for example, to identify a deceased person or determine the cause of death. We may also release medical information about patients of the Hospital to funeral directors as necessary to carry out their duties.
National Security and Intelligence Activities: We may release medical information about you to authorized federal officials for intelligence, counter-intelligence, and other national security activities authorized by law.
Protective Services for the President and Others: We may disclose medical information about you to authorized federal officials so they may provide protection to the President, other authorized persons or foreign heads of state or conduct special investigations.
Inmates: If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or under the custody of a law enforcement official, we may release medical information about you to the correctional institution or law enforcement official. This release would be necessary (1) for the institution to provide you with health care; (2) to protect your health and safety or the health and safety of others; or (3) for the safety and security of the correctional institution.

Other Uses of Medical Information

Other uses and disclosures of medical 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 medical 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 medical 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.

Your Rights Regarding Medical Information About You

Right to Inspect and Copy: You have the following rights regarding medical information we maintain about you:

To inspect and copy medical information that may be used to make decisions about your care. Usually, this includes medical and billing records, but does not include mental health information.
To inspect and copy medical information that may be used to make decisions about you, you must submit this request in writing to the Medical Records Department. If you request a copy of the information, we will charge a fee for the costs of copying, mailing or other supplies associated with your request.
We may deny your request to inspect and copy your medical information in certain very limited circumstances. If you are denied access to medical information, you may request that the denial be reviewed. Another licensed health care professional chosen by the Hospital 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 or for the Hospital.

To request an amendment, your request must be made in writing and submitted to the Director of Medical Records. 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 medical information kept by or for the Hospital;
- 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: You have the right to request an "accounting of disclosures." This is a list of the disclosures we made of medical information about you to others except for purposes of treatment, payment and operations identified above, and other exceptions under federal and state law.

To request this list or accounting of disclosures, you must submit your request in writing to the Director of Health Information (Medical Records). 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 medical information we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment or health care operations. You also have the right to request a limit on the medical 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 performed.

We are not required to agree to your request. If we do agree, we will comply with your request unless the information is needed to provide you emergency treatment.
To request restrictions, you must make your request in writing to the Director of Medical Records. 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.

Please advise the Registration Representative how or where you wish to be contacted. We will not ask you the reason for your request. We will accommodate all reasonable requests.

Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice: You 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 by requesting a copy from any member of our Hospital personnel.

METROSOUTH MEDICAL CENTER RESPONSIBILITIES

MetroSouth Medical Center is required to:

Maintain and safeguard the privacy of your Protected Health Information.
Provide you with this notice of privacy practices and abide by the terms of his notice.
Notify you of the status of your requested restriction, on how your information is to be used and/or disclosed.
Accommodate reasonable requests you may make to communicate health information by alternative means or alternative locations and
Obtain your written authorization to use or disclose your health information for research purposes or for any reason other than those listed or permitted under law.

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 medical 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 Hospital. When this notice is changed the effective date will be updated. In addition, each time you register at or are admitted to the Hospital for treatment or health care services as an inpatient or outpatient, you have the right to request a copy of the current Notice in effect.

Questions or Complaints

If you have questions regarding your privacy rights or believe that your privacy has been violated, you may contact or submit your complaint in writing to:

Privacy Officer
Director of Compliance and Health Information Management
MetroSouth Medical Center
12935 S. Gregory Ave.
Blue Island, Illinois 60406
708-824-4403

TTY - Teletypewriter
TDD - Telecommunications device for the deaf
800-526-0844

If we cannot resolve your concern, you also have the right to file a written complaint with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Their website is www.hhs.gov

We will not retaliate against you in any way, nor will the quality of your health care be jeopardized, for filing a complaint.