Notice of Privacy Practices
Effective: July 11, 2006
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.
We are committed to protecting the confidentiality of your medical information, and are required by law to do so. This notice describes how we many use your medical information and how we may disclose it to others. This notice also describes the rights you have concerning your own medical information.
WHICH HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS ARE COVERED BY THIS NOTICE?
This Notice of Privacy Practices covers Cogent Healthcare and its physicians and employees, as well as health care professionals working under certain contractual arrangements with Cogent Healthcare.
Typically our services are provided in hospitals which are also required to protect your medical information. When providing services within a hospital, our physicians and health care professionals are subject to the hospital?s policies and procedures relating to the confidentiality of your medical information. In those instances, our use and disclosure of medical information is described in and governed by the hospital?s notice of privacy practices which is provided to you by the hospital. This Notice therefore applies only to the extent not inconsistent with any applicable hospital?s notice of privacy practices.
HOW WE MAY USE OR DISCLOSE YOUR MEDICAL INFORMATION
We may use or disclose your medical information in the following circumstances without your authorization:
Treatment: We may use or disclose your medical information to treat you. For example, we may use your medical information to diagnose your illness, or we may disclose your medical information to your physician to assist in your treatment at the hospital and to others outside the hospital who may be involved in your follow-up care.
Payment: We may use or disclose your medical information to bill you or your health plan and to collect payment for the medical services that we have provided. For example, we may use your medical information to keep track of any payments your health plan owes us, or we may disclose your medical information to your health plan so that they will pay us for your treatment.
Healthcare Operations: We may use or disclose your medical information for our healthcare operations. For example, we may use your medical information to evaluate the quality, efficiency or costs of care provided by our physicians or other health care professionals. We may also disclose your medical information to our accountants or attorneys for accounting or legal services, and to business associates who provide administrative and management services to Cogent Healthcare.
Required By Law: Federal, State, or local laws sometimes require us to disclose patients? medical information. For instance, we may be required to report child abuse or neglect, or we may be required to provide certain information to law enforcement officials in domestic violence cases. We may also be required to give information to the State Workers? Compensation Program for work-related injuries.
Public Health: We may report certain medical information for public health purposes. For example, your medical information may be disclosed if you are at risk of contracting or spreading a disease or condition.
Victims of Abuse, Neglect, or Domestic Violence: We may disclose your medical information in cases where we reasonably suspect abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, as authorized by law.
Health Oversight Agencies: We may disclose medical information to a health oversight agency for oversight activities authorized by law, such as a state medical board or the Office of Inspector General in connection with the provision of services to Medicare beneficiaries.
Judicial and Administrative Proceedings: We may disclose medical information if Cogent is ordered to do so by a court or administrative tribunal or in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process.
Law Enforcement: In certain circumstances, we may disclose medical information for a law enforcement purpose to law enforcement officials, such as, for example, reporting certain types of wounds or injuries.
Coroners, Medical Examiners and Funeral Directors: We may disclose medical information concerning deceased patients to coroners, medical examiners and funeral directors.
Organ, Eye, or Tissue Donation: We may disclose medical information to organizations that procure, bank, or transplant organ, eye or tissue donations.
Research Purposes: We may disclose medical information for research purposes, under certain circumstances.
Public Safety: We may disclose medical information for public safety purposes in limited circumstances in order to prevent or lessen a serious threat to the health or safety of a particular person or of the general public.
Military, Veterans, National Security and Other Government Purposes: If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release your medical information as required by military command authorities or to the Department of Veterans Affairs. We may also disclose medical information to federal officials for intelligence and national security purposes, or for presidential protective services.
Workers? Compensation: We may disclose medical information as authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with your state?s laws as to workers? compensation or other similar programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness without regard to fault.
Information with Additional Protection: Certain types of medical information have additional protection under state or federal law. For instance, medical information about communicable disease and HIV/AIDS and evaluation and treatment for a serious mental illness may be treated differently than other types of medical information. For those types of information, we will follow applicable state and federal guidelines regarding disclosing that information.
USE OR DISCLOSURE OF YOUR MEDICAL INFORMATION UNLESS YOU OBJECT
Unless you object, we may use or disclose your medical information in the following ways:
Family Members and Others Involved in Your Care: We may disclose your medical information to a family member, other relative, friend, or any other person you identify who is involved in your medical care or who helps to pay for your care. In addition, we may use or disclose your medical information to notify or to assist in the notification of (including identifying or locating), a family member, a personal representative, or another person responsible for your care about your location, general condition, or death. We also may use or disclose your medical information to a disaster relief organization in a disaster to notify or to assist in the notification of (including identifying or locating), a family member, a personal representative, or another person responsible for your care about your location, general condition, or death. If you do not want us or our physicians or staff to disclose your medical information to family members or others, please notify our Privacy Officer. You can reach the Privacy Officer using contact information listed on the last page of this notice.
USE OR DISCLOSURE OF YOUR MEDICAL INFORMATION IN OTHER CONTACTS WITH YOU
Appointment Reminders: We may use and disclose your information to contact you to remind you of an upcoming appointment.
Treatment Options and Health Related Services: We may use or disclose your medical information to manage or coordinate your healthcare. This may include informing you about possible treatment options or alternatives, or to tell you about health-related services available to you.
Fundraising: Under certain circumstances, we may use or disclose your medical information in order to contact you in connection with fundraising. However, the information disclosed would only include your contact information and the dates you received services. You will also be provided information on how to opt out of receiving such communications. You may also notify our Privacy Officer using the contact information listed on the last page of this notice that you do not want to receive any fundraising information.
OTHER USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRING YOUR AUTHORITIZATION
If we wish to use or disclose your medical information for a purpose or general type that is not discussed in this Notice, we will do so only with your written authorization. If you give your written authorization to us for a particular use or disclosure, you may revoke that authorization at any time. Of course, a revocation of an authorization cannot affect uses and disclosures that we have already made based on your written authorization before your revocation. If you would ever like to revoke your written authorization, please notify the Privacy Officer in writing.
WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS?
Right to Request Restrictions on How We Will Use or Disclose Your Medical Information for Treatment, Payment, or Health Care Operations: You have the right to request that we restrict the uses or disclosures that we make of your medical information to treat you, to seek payment for your care, or to perform our healthcare operations. We are not required to agree to your request, but if we do agree, we must comply with that agreement. Our agreement will likely however include permission for us not to follow such restriction in emergency situations as our health care professionals deem appropriate. If you want to request a restriction, you may write to the Privacy Officer and describe your request in detail.
Right to Request Confidential Communication: You have the right to ask us to communicate with you in a way that you feel is more confidential. Such requests must be reasonable. For example, you can ask us not to call your home, but to communicate only by mail. To request that we do this, write to the Privacy Officer. You can also speak to your healthcare provider in private outside the presence of other patients.
Right to Inspect and Copy Your Medical Information: You have the right to look at your own medical information and to get a copy of that medical information. However, we are a hospitalist company that provides only professional and management services. We do not control your medical record. You should make any request for medical information to your hospital of record. If you have questions regarding this right, please contact the Privacy Officer.
Right to Request Amendment of Your Medical Information: You have the right to request that your medical record be amended if you believe that it contains an error. We are a hospitalist company that provides only professional and management services. We do not control your medical record. You should make any request for amendment of your medical information to your hospital of record. If you have questions regarding this right, please contact the Privacy Officer.
Right to Get a List of Certain Disclosures of Your Medical Information: You have the right to request a list of certain types of disclosures that we may have made of your medical information. We are not required to account for disclosures related to your treatment, for billing and collection of payment for services, for our health care operations, which you authorized, or allowed by law, as discussed above. If you would like to receive such a list, please write to the Privacy Officer.
Right to A Paper Copy: You have the right to a paper copy of this Notice at any time. You may download a paper coy of the notice from our Web site, at www.cogenthealthcare.com or you may obtain a paper copy of the notice from the Privacy Officer.
WHAT ARE OUR DUTIES?
Duty to Protect and Give Notice: We have a duty to maintain the privacy of your medical information and to provide you with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices as to your medical information.
Duty to Abide By Terms of Notice: We have the duty to abide by the terms of our notice of privacy practices that is currently in effect.
CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE
From time to time, we may change our practices concerning how we use or disclose patient medical information. We reserve the right to change this Notice and to make the provisions in our new Notice effective for all medical information we maintain. If we change these practices, we will publish a revised Notice of Privacy Practices on our website. You can get a copy of our current Notice of Privacy Practices at any time by contacting the Privacy Officer.
DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, OR COMPLAINTS
If you have any questions, concerns, or problems about this Notice or about how we may use or disclose your medical information, please contact the Privacy Officer. If you have a complaint concerning our treatment of your privacy rights or how we use or disclose your medical information, please contact our Privacy Officer. In addition, you may also send a complaint to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights within 180 days of the act or omission of which you are complaining. We will not penalize you or retaliate against you in any way for filing a complaint.
PRIVACY OFFICER
If you have any questions, comments, or request as to anything in this Notice, please contact our Privacy Officer:
National Privacy Officer Contact Information:
5410 Maryland Way, Suite 300
Brentwood, TN 37027
Phone: 1-615-377-5607
Fax: 1-615-377-5610