Notice of Health Information Practices

Centers for Youth and Families

Understanding Your Health Record/Information

For the purposes outlined in this Notice, the term "you" and references to you means you and the person with legal authority to make health care decisions on your behalf. If you are an unemancipated minor, this means your parent, guardian or other person acting in place of your parent. If you are an emancipated minor, this means the person with legal authority to make healthcare decisions on your behalf.

For each day of treatment you receive at The Centers, a record is made. Typically, this record includes a description of your diagnoses, the results of any tests or assessments that you were given, the interventions used to help you improve, and the progress you make toward achieving the goals on your treatment plan. This information, often referred to as your client or medical record, serves as a:

• basis for planning your care and treatment;
• means of communication among the many health care professionals who contribute to your care;
• legal document describing the care you received;
• means by which you or a third party payer can verify that services billed were actually provided;
• a tool in education of health care professionals;
• a source of data for research;
• a source of information for public health officials charged with improving the health of the nation;
• a source of data for facility planning and marketing;
• a tool with which we can assess and continually work to improve the care we render and the outcomes we achieve.

Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to:

• ensure its accuracy;
• better understand who, what, when, where, and why others may access your health information;
• make more informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to others.

Your Health Information Rights

Although your record is the physical property of The Centers, the information belongs to you. You have the right to:

• request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your information as provided by the regulations supporting the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA);
• obtain a paper copy of this notice of information practices;
• inspect and obtain a copy of your record as provided for in HIPAA and The Centers’ Privacy Plan;
• amend your health record as provided in HIPAA;
• obtain an accounting of disclosures of your health information as provided in HIPAA;
• request confidential communications of your health information by alternative means or at alternative locations;
• revoke your authorization to use or disclose health information except to the extent that action has already been taken;
• receive a copy of this notice in a language you can understand and to have it explained to you by a staff member.

Our Responsibilities

Centers for Youth and Families is required to:

• take reasonable efforts to maintain the privacy of your health information;
• provide you with this notice as to our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to information we collect and maintain about you;
• abide by the terms of this notice;
• notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction;
• accommodate reasonable requests you may have to communicate health information by alternative means or at alternative locations (fax or e-mail will not be used to disclose PHI, except in extreme emergency, unless authorized by you in writing).

We reserve the right to change our practices and to make the new provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain. Should our information practices change, we will mail a revised notice to the address you have supplied us 30 days prior to the effective date of the change.

For the purpose of this policy, your treatment team may include the following members: you; your parents/guardians; your foster parents; Centers’ staff to include the clinician, psychiatrist, nurse, educational therapist, mental health technician, case manager and other special persons involved in your treatment, unless you object.

We will not use or disclose your health information without your authorization, except as described in this notice.

For More Information or to Report a Problem

If you have questions and would like additional information, you may contact The Centers’ Privacy Officer at 660-6867 or through the mail at P.O. Box 251970, Little Rock, AR 72225-1970. If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with The Centers’ Privacy Officer or with the Secretary of Health and Human Services. There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint.

Examples of Disclosures for Treatment, Payment and Health Operations

We will use your health information for treatment.

For example: Information obtained by a nurse, clinician or other member of your treatment team will be recorded in your record and used to determine the course of treatment that should work best for you. Your psychiatrist will oversee all of your treatment. Members of your treatment team will then record the actions they took and their observations about you. In that way, the psychiatrist will know how you are responding to treatment.

The treatment team may identify other persons having relevance to your treatment while at the Centers. These individuals may include your primary care physician; your local education agency; DHS caseworker; and probation officers. As members of your treatment team, these designated persons may review the minimum necessary protected health information from your record in order for them to fulfill their role in your treatment, unless you specifically exclude any of them from disclosure.

We will also provide a subsequent healthcare provider, if there is one, with copies of various reports that should assist him or her in treating you once you are discharged from The Centers.

We will use your health information for payment.

For example: A bill for services provided to you may be sent to a third-party payer such as an insurance company. The information on or accompanying the bill may include information that identifies you, as well as your diagnosis and treatment protocols. The payer will use this information to determine if the services were allowable and necessary under the payment plan.

We will use your health information for regular healthcare operations. Healthcare operations include the following activities:

• Performance improvement, outcomes evaluation, the development of clinical guidelines;
• Reviewing the competence of clinical staff, conducting training programs in which students, trainees, or practitioners learn under supervision to practice or improve their skills, accreditation, certification, licensing, or credentialing activities;
• Obtaining or maintaining risk insurance;
• Conducting or arranging for medical review, legal services, and auditing functions, including fraud and abuse detection and compliance;
• Business planning and development;
• Business management and general administrative activities;
• Creating de-identified health information, for which an individual authorization is not required, for the purposes of fundraising and marketing.

For example: Members of the medical staff of The Centers, the risk or performance improvement manager, or members of the Performance Improvement Committee may use information in your health record to assess the care and outcomes in your case and others like it. This information will then be used in an effort to continually improve the quality and effectiveness of the healthcare and service we provide.

Business associates: There are some services provided in our organization through contacts with business associates. Examples include emergency medical or psychiatric services at Children’s Hospital or Pinnacle Pointe Hospital. When these services are contracted, we may disclose your health information to these business associates in order that they may perform the job we asked them to do. A third party payer may be billed for these services. To protect your health information, however, we require the business associate to appropriately safeguard your information.

Directory: Unless you notify us that you object, your name may appear on a white board in a client care area and may be accompanied by information for staff use regarding your diagnosis and/or treatment protocol.

Notification: We may use or disclose information to notify or assist in notifying a family member, personal representative, or another person responsible for your care, your location and general condition.  You have the right to limit and restrict how notification is provided to others concerning your care.

Communication with family: Our mental health professionals, using their best judgment, may disclose to a family member, other relative, close personal friend or any other person you identify, health information relevant to that person’s involvement in your care or payment related to your care. You have the right to limit and restrict how communication with your family is provided regarding your care and payment.

Research: We may disclose information to researchers when their research has been approved by an institutional review board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your health information.

Marketing: We may contact you to provide appointment reminders. Information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services may be discussed with you during face-to-face encounters. You may request to be excluded from all marketing activities.

Fundraising: We may contact you as part of a fundraising effort. You may request to be excluded from all fundraising activities.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA): We may disclose to the FDA health information relative to adverse events with respect to food, product and product defects, or post marketing surveillance information to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacement.

Workers Compensation: We may disclose health information to the extent authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with laws relating to workers compensation or other similar programs established by law.

Public Health: As required by law, we may disclose your health information to public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability and for health oversight activities.

Suspected abuse or neglect: We may disclose your health information to public or legal authorities as required by law to investigate allegations of suspected abuse and/or neglect.

Law Enforcement: We may disclose health information for law enforcement purposes as required by law or in response to a valid subpoena.

Federal laws make provision for your health information to be released to an appropriate health oversight agency, public health authority, or law enforcement agency, or in response to a valid request from a judicial or administrative proceeding.

Effective Date: January, 2003

Reference

“Standards for the Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, Final Rule.” 45 CFR Parts 160 through 164. Federal Register 65, no. 250 (December 28, 2000).