I can freely share the details of your protected health information for purposes of “treatment, payment and health care operations.” That means I can talk to you about you situation, and discuss it with your other health care providers. If you are referred to other specialists, I can send the information on to them.
The law also requires me to share your information under other, very precise situations: for example, if a subpoena has been served on me, to turn over medical records ... or a federal agency is investigating a complaint that I have not been protecting your privacy.
Any other time I share your personal health information, it has to be with your specific authorization: you have to okay it, in writing, first. For example, you may want me to send information about your consultation to the Human Resources Dept. at your office, so they can pay you back under their corporation lactation support program. When you do give me permission to turn over information about you, I CAN GIVE OUT ONLY THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF INFORMATION NEEDED TO GET THE JOB DONE.
Under HIPAA, I can call or write you to remind you to come back for an appointment, or to tell you how you can get a product or service that might interest you and your family.
You have four rights under HIPAA:
(1) Access (you can ask the lactation consultant to see all the PHI she has about you);
(2) Amendment (you can ask the lactation consultant to change her files to amend inaccurate PHI); (3) Disclosure Accounting (you can ask to whom the lactation consultant has given you PHI) and
(4) Restriction Request (you can put limits on the lactation consultant’s use and sharing of your PHI).
My duty under HIPAA is to give you this notice, so you understand I have promised to keep your private health information confidential. If I change this notice in the future, I’ll give you a new copy.
I, Barbara Hardin, am the Privacy Officer for The Mother’s Milk Company. You may contact me at 773.595.5593. I will answer your questions or concerns about how I protect the privacy of your health information.
You can complain if you think the lactation consultant hasn’t protected your privacy. I am the Privacy Officer, so first you’d have to complain to me ... and I have a duty to remedy the problem. I can’t penalize you for making a complaint. If I don’t address your complaint adequately, you can go over my head to the Office of Civil Rights of the federal Health and Human Services Department, to ask that a formal investigation be made. You can get all the details from them by calling (toll free) 1- 800-368-1019, or see their website at www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy You cant’ go to court and sue me over a HIPAA violation – but you can ask HHS to investigate.
Notice of Privacy Practices, effective July 2004© Eliz. C. Brooks, JD, IBCLC (ecbrks@yahoo.com), 2004
Download Notice of Privacy Practices of The Mothers Milk CompanySM