HIPPA Notice of Privacy Practices

Your health information is private

North County Geriatrics is committed to protecting the confidentiality of information about you, and is required by law to do so. This notice describes how we may use information about you within North County Geriatrics and how we may disclose it to others outside North County Geriatrics. We will notify you if there is a breach of your unsecured protected health information. This notice also describes the rights you have concerning your own health information.

Effective date September 23, 2013.

How we use and disclose information about you

Treatment: North County Geriatrics may use information about you to provide you with services and supplies. We may also disclose information about you to others that need the information to treat you, such as doctors, physician assistants, nurses, students, technicians, therapists, dentists, emergency service and medical transportation providers, medical equipment providers, and others involved in your care. For example, we will allow your physician to have access to your health record to assist in your treatment and for follow up care. We may make your health information available electronically through an electronic health information exchange (“HIE”) to other health care providers and health plans that request your information for their treatment and payment purposes.

We may also use and disclose information about you to contact you to remind you of an upcoming appointment, to inform you about possible treatment options or alternatives, or to tell you about health-related services available to you.

Family Members and Others Involved in Your Care: North County Geriatrics may disclose information about you to a family member or friend who is involved in your care. If you do not want the Center to disclose information about you to family members or others, you must notify the registration/front office staff at the Center.  In the event of a disaster, we may disclose information about you to help locate a family member or friend in a disaster.

Payment: North County Geriatrics may use and disclose information about you to get paid for the services and supplies we provide to you. For example, your health plan or health insurance company may request to see parts of your health record before they will pay us for your treatment.

Health Care Operations:  North County Geriatrics may use and disclose information about you if it is necessary to improve the quality of care we provide to patients or for health care operations. We may use information about you to conduct quality improvement activities, to obtain audit, accounting or legal services, or to conduct business management and planning. For example, we may use health information to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you.

Fundraising: Many of our patients like to make contributions to support the care provided by North County Geriatrics. North County Geriatrics may contact you in the future to raise funds for this purpose. You will be provided the option of not receiving these communications. Your health information is not shared for the purpose of fundraising.

Research: North County Geriatrics may use or disclose information about you for research projects, such as studying the effectiveness of a treatment you received. These research projects must go through a special process that protects the confidentiality of your information.

Required by Law: Federal, state, or local laws do not require patient consent to disclose information which is required to be reported. For instance, we are required to report child abuse and neglect, gunshot wounds, etc. Public policy has determined that these types of needs outweigh the patient’s right to privacy. North County Geriatrics is also required to give information to the state workers’ compensation program for work- related injuries.

Public Health: North County Geriatrics may report certain health information for public health purposes. For instance, we are required by law to report births, deaths, and communicable diseases to the state. We may also need to report patient problems with medications or medical products to the manufacturer and to the FDA.

Public Safety: North County Geriatrics may disclose health information for public safety purposes in limited circumstances.  We may disclose health information to law enforcement officials or to the court in response to a search warrant or other court order. We may also disclose health information to assist law enforcement officials in identifying or locating a person, to prosecute a crime of violence, to report deaths that may have resulted from criminal conduct at the Center. We may also disclose information about you to law enforcement officials and others to prevent a serious threat to health or safety.

Health Oversight Activities: North County Geriatrics may disclose health information to a government or oversight agency that oversees North County Geriatrics centers or its personnel, such as the state’s department of health services, or other federal agencies that oversee Medicare, or licensing agencies who govern physicians and other healthcare professionals.