In accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Paramount Wellness Retreat will ensure that all health information is protected.
DEFINITIONS:
Protected health information includes any identifiable information that Paramount Wellness Retreat obtains from a patient or others that relates to the physical or mental health of a patient. This includes health care provided to a patient or payment for services a patient received at Paramount Wellness Retreat.
Treatment means the provisions, coordination or management of health care, including consultations between health care providers regarding patient care and referrals for health care from one health care provider to another. For example, a psychiatrist conducting a psychiatric evaluation may need to know if an individual is currently taking medications that could affect the outcome of the evaluation or the decision-making process regarding prescribing medications for an identified psychiatric condition. The psychiatrist may review medical records to assess whether medications may be affecting a patient’s current condition or could have negative interactions with other medications the psychiatrist might prescribe.
Payment means activities that the agency may undertake to obtain reimbursement for health care provided to a patient, including determinations of eligibility and coverage and other utilization review activities. For example, prior to providing health care services, the agency may need to provide an HMO information about a patient’s medical condition to determine whether the proposed course of treatment will be covered. When the agency subsequently bills the HMO for the services rendered to a patient, Paramount Wellness Retreat can provide the HMO with information regarding patient care if necessary to obtain payment.
Health care operations means the support functions of a facility related to treatment and payment, such as performance improvement activities, case management, receiving and responding to patient complaints, physician reviews, compliance programs, audits, business planning, development, management, and administrative activities. For example, we may use health care information to evaluate the performance of staff in caring for patients. We may also combine health care information about many patients to decide what additional services we should offer, what services are not needed, and whether certain new treatment methods are effective.
PROCEDURE
Paramount Wellness Retreat will provide patients with information about their rights and the agency’s legal duties and privacy practices with respect to the privacy practices with respect to the privacy of protected health information. This notice also discusses the disclosures Paramount Wellness Retreat will make of a patient’s protected health information. The agency will comply with the provisions of this notice, although we reserve the right to change the terms of this notice from time to time and to make the revised notice effective for all protected health information we maintain. Patients are given the opportunity to request a copy of our most current privacy notice at any time from the Paramount Wellness Retreat’s administrative office.
PERMITTED USE AND DISCLOSURES
Once a patient has given their written consent, Paramount Wellness Retreat can use or disclose protected health information for purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations.
EXCEPTIONS
Even without a patient’s written consent or authorization, we can use or disclose protected health information for purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations if:
- Paramount Wellness Retreat has an indirect treatment relationship with a patient, that is, we provide healthcare to an individual based on the orders of another health care provider, we may disclose the results of that testing to the physician who ordered the procedure;
- A patient is a prison inmate at the time we created or received the protected health information;
- A patient is in need of emergency care and is incapable of giving consent, provided that we attempt consent as soon as reasonably possible after the delivery of emergency treatment;
- Paramount Wellness Retreat is required by law to treat a patient, and our attempts to obtain consent are unsuccessful; or
- We attempt to obtain consent but cannot do so due to substantial barriers to communicating with a patient, and we determine that a patient’s consent to receive treatment is clearly inferred from the circumstances.
OTHER USES AND DISCLOSURES OF PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION
Paramount Wellness Retreat may contact a patient to provide appointment reminders or information about treatment alternatives or other health related benefits and services that may be of interest to a patient.
We may disclose protected health information to a patient’s family or friends or any other individual identified by the patient when they are involved in the care of or the payment of a patient’s care. We will only disclose the protected health information directly relevant to their involvement in the patient’s care.
We may also use or disclose protected health information to notify, or assist in the notification of a family member, a personal representative, or another person responsible for a patient’s care, of the patient’s location, general condition, or death. If the patient is available, they will be given an opportunity to object to these disclosures, and we will not make these disclosures if a patient objects. If a patient is not available, we will determine whether a disclosure to family or friends is in the patient’s best interest, and we will disclose only the protected health information that is directly relevant to their involvement in the case. When permitted by law, we may coordinate our uses and disclosures of protected health information with public or private entities authorized by law or by charter to assist in disaster relief efforts. We may contact patient’s as part of our marketing efforts as permitted by applicable law.
Except for the situations set forth below, we will not use or disclose a patient’s protected health information for any other purpose unless the patient has provided written authorization. Patients have the right to revoke that authorization at any time, provided that the revocation is in writing, except to the extent that we already have taken action in reliance on a patient’s authorization.
SPECIAL SITUATIONS
Organ and Tissue Donation. If a patient is 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 and Veterans. If a patient is a member of the armed forces, we may release health care information about that patient as required by military command authorities. We may also release health care information about foreign military personnel to the appropriate foreign military authority.
Worker’s Compensation. We may release health care information about a patient for programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness.
Public Health Risks. We may disclose health care information about a patient for public activities. These activities generally include the following:
- To prevent or control disease, injury or disability;
- To report child abuse and neglect;
- To report births and deaths;
- To report reactions to medications or problems with products;
- To notify people of product recalls, repairs, or replacements;
- 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 if the patient agrees or when required or authorized by law.
Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose health care information to federal or state agencies that oversee our activities. These activities are necessary for the government to monitor the health care system, government programs, and compliance with civil rights laws. We may disclose protected health information to persons under the Food and Drug Administration’s jurisdiction to track products or to conduct post-marketing surveillance.
Lawsuits and Disputes. If a patient is involved in a lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose health care information in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose medical information about a patient in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made to inform the patient about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.
Law Enforcement. We may release health care information 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 on our premises; 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 to funeral directors as necessary to carry out their duties.
National Security and Intelligence Activities. We may release health care information about a patient to authorized federal officials for intelligence, counterintelligence, or other national security activities authorized by law.
Protective Services for the President and Others. We may disclose health care information 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 a patient is an inmate of a correctional institution or under the custody of a law enforcement official, we may release medical information about that patient to the correctional institution or law enforcement official. This release would be necessary (1) for the institution to provide a patient with health care; (2) to protect a patient’s health and safety or the health and safety of others; or (3) for the safety and security of the correctional institution.
Serious Threats. As permitted by applicable law and standards of ethical conduct, we may use and disclose protected health information if we, in good faith, believe that the use or disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public.
HIPAA PATIENT RIGHTS
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- Patients have the right to request restrictions on our uses and disclosures of protected health information for treatment, payment and health care operations. However, we are not required to comply with a patient’s request.
- The right to reasonably request to receive communications of protected health information by alternative means or at alternative locations.
- Subject to payment of a reasonable copying charge, patients have the right to inspect and copy the protected
health information contained in their medical and billing records and in any other Paramount Wellness
Retreat records used to make decisions about a patient’s care, except for:
- psychotherapy notes, which are notes recorded by a mental health professional documenting or analyzing the contents of conversation during a private counseling session or a group, joint or family counseling session and that have been separated from the rest of a patient’s medical record;
- information compiled in reasonable anticipation of, or for use in, a civil, criminal, or administrative proceeding;
- protected health information involving laboratory tests when your access is prohibited by law;
- if a patient is a prison inmate and obtaining such information would jeopardize a patient’s health, safety, security, custody, or rehabilitation or that of other inmates, or the safety of any officer, employee, or other person at the correctional institution or person responsible for transporting the patient;
- if we obtained or created protected health information as part of a research study for as long as the research is in progress, provided that the patient agreed to the temporary denial of access when consenting to participate in the research;
- a patient’s protected health information is contained in records kept by a federal agency or contractor when a patient’s access is denied by law; and
- if the protected health information was obtained from someone other than Paramount Wellness Retreat under a promise of confidentiality and the access requested would be reasonably likely to reveal the source of the information.
- We may also deny a request for access to protected health information if:
- a licensed healthcare professional has determined, in the exercise of professional judgment, that the access requested is reasonably likely to endanger a patient’s life or physical safety or that of another person;
- the protected health information makes reference to another person (unless such other person is a health care provider) and a licensed healthcare professional has determined, in the exercise of professional judgment, that the access requested is reasonably likely to cause substantial harm to such other person; or
- the request for access is made by a patient’s personal representative and a licensed healthcare professional has determined, in the exercise of professional judgment, that the provision of access to such personal representative is reasonably likely to cause substantial harm to the patient or another person.
- Patient’s have the right to request a correction to their protected health information, but we may deny that
request for correction, if we determine that the protected health information or record that is the subject of
the request:
- is not part of the patient’s medical or billing records;
- is not available for inspection as set forth above; or
- is accurate and complete.
- Patients have the right to receive an accounting of disclosures of protected health information made by us to
individuals or entities other than to the patient, except for disclosures:
- to carry out treatment, payment, and health care operations as provided above;
- to persons involved in the patient’s care or for other notification purposes provided by law;
- for national security or intelligence purposes as provided by law;
- to correctional institutions or law enforcement officials as provided by law; or that occurred prior to April 14, 2003.
- to carry out treatment, payment, and health care operations as provided above;
- Patients have the right to request and receive a copy of this notice from us.
Changes to this Notice
Paramount Wellness Retreat reserves the right to amend the terms of this Notice at any time in the future and to make the revised or changed notice effective for all information that it maintains. Until an amendment is made, Paramount Wellness Retreat is required by law to comply with this Notice. Should the terms change, we will provide all current and future patients with a copy of the revised Notice terms.
Complaints Regarding this Notice
Complaints about this Notice or how Paramount Wellness Retreat handles your health information should be directed to:
Executive Director
Paramount Wellness Retreat
7 Island Dock Rd,
Haddam, CT 06438
If you are not satisfied with the manner in which this office handles a complaint, you may submit a formal complaint to one of the following:
Department of Health and Human Services
Office of Civil Rights
200 Independence Avenue, SW Room 509F, HHH Building
Washington, DC 20201
Department of Public Health
Bureau of Substance Addiction Services
250 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02108
(617) 624-5111
You may also address your complaint to one of the regional U.S Department of Health and Human Services Offices for Civil Rights. A list of these offices can be found online at:https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/addresses.html