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Notice of Privacy Practices


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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.

Under the privacy regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended (HIPAA), Curry Health Network (CHN) is required to maintain the privacy of protected health information (PHI). This Notice of Privacy Practices describes how we may use and disclose your PHI to carry out payment and health care operations, and for other purposes that are permitted or required by law. It also sets out our legal obligations concerning your PHI and describes your rights to access and control your PHI.

Protected health information (PHI) is individually identifiable health information, including demographic information, collected from you or created or received by a health care provider, a health plan, your employer, or a health care clearinghouse and that relates to: (1) your past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition; (2) the provision of health care to you; or (3) the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to you.

If you have any questions or want additional information about this Notice or the policies and procedures described in the Notice, please contact us at 541.247.3164 or emailing.

Who Will Follow This Notice?

This notice applies to the following individuals and organizations:
All of Curry Health Network's entities, departments, and units (e.g., Curry General Hospital, Curry Medical Center, Curry Medical Center-Emergency Care, Curry Medical Practice, and Curry Family Medical).

Members of our medical staff, employees, volunteers, trainees, students, and other health care personnel who provide services at Curry or affiliated patient care settings.

Our Responsibilities

CHN is required by law to adopt reasonable safeguards to protect the privacy of your PHI. We are obligated to provide you with a copy of this Notice, which defines our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to PHI. CHN reserves the right to change the provisions of this Notice and make the new provisions effective for all PHI that CHN maintains. If CHN makes a material change to this Notice, it will provide you with a copy of the revised Notice.

Primary Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information

The following is a description of how we are most likely to use or disclose your PHI.

Treatment, Payment, and Health Care Operations

CHN has the right to use and disclose your PHI for all activities that are included within the definitions of "treatment," "payment," and "health care operations" as set out in 45 C.F.R. § 164.501 (this provision is a part of what is known as "the HIPAA Privacy Regulations"). This Notice does not list all of the activities included within the definitions of "treatment, payment and health care operations," but most uses or disclosures will be covered by one of these categories.
Treatment: CHN will use or disclose your PHI for treatment purposes. Treatment purposes include the provision, coordination or management of health care and related services among health care providers and third parties. This includes consultation between health care providers and the referral from one health care provider to another. In addition, CHN will electronically notify your Primary Care Provider (if capabilities exist) when you are admitted to the hospital and when you go home so they can coordinate follow up care.
Payment: CHN will use or disclose your PHI so that treatment and services you receive may be billed and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company, health plan, or third-party payor. CHN will also disclose PHI to third-party payors to determine whether the cost of services will be covered. PHI will also be disclosed to emergency responders to allow them to obtain payment or reimbursement for services provided to you.
Health Care Operations: CHN will use or disclose your PHI to support its business functions. These functions include but are not limited to: quality assessment and improvement, reviewing provider performance, licensing, business planning, and business development. For example, CHN may use your information (1) to provide you with information about one of CHN's programs, (2) to respond to a participant service inquiry from you, (3) to review the quality of medical services being provided to you, or (4) to conduct audits or medical review of claims activity.

Business Associates

CHN may contract with individuals and entities (known as "business associates") to perform various functions on CHN's behalf or to provide certain types of services. To perform these functions or to provide the services, business associates will receive, create, maintain, use or disclose PHI, but only after CHN requires the business associates to agree in writing to appropriately safeguard the privacy and security of your information as required by law.

Health Information Exchange

We may provide your health care information to a health information exchange (HIE) in which we participate. A HIE is a health information exchange where other health care providers caring for you can access your medical information from wherever they are if they are members of the HIE. These providers may include doctors, nursing facilities, home health agencies, or other providers. If you require care outside of our hospitals or practices, if the doctor treating you is a member of the HIE, they can access the information about you that other providers have contributed. This doctor can provide well informed care quickly because they will have learned your medical history or allergies, or prescriptions from the HIE. If you do not want your medical information to be contributed to the HIE and shared with these member health care providers, you can opt out by contacting CHN at (541) 247-3000 and asking for the Medical Records Department. If you opt out, your providers may not have the most recent information about you.

Other Possible Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information
The following is a description of other possible ways in which CHN may use and disclose your PHI.

Health Oversight Activities

CHN may disclose your PHI to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as audits; investigations; inspections; licensure or disciplinary actions; civil, administrative, or criminal proceedings or actions; or other activities.

Required by Law

CHN may use or disclose your PHI to the extent that federal, state or local law requires the use or disclosure. When used in this Notice, "required by law" is defined as it is in the HIPAA Privacy Regulations.

Public Health Activities

CHN may use or disclose your PHI for public health activities that are permitted or required by law. For example, CHN may use or disclose information for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability, or CHN may disclose such information to a public health authority authorized to receive reports of child abuse or neglect. CHN also may disclose PHI, if directed by a public health authority, to a foreign government agency that is collaborating with the public health authority.

Abuse or Neglect

CHN may disclose your PHI: (1) in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding; (2) in response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal (to the extend such disclosure is expressly authorized); or (3) in response to a government authority that is authorized by law to receive reports of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence. Additionally, as required by law, CHN may disclose your information to a governmental entity authorized to receive such information if it is believed that you have been a victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.

Legal Proceedings
CHN may disclose your PHI: (1) in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding; (2) in response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal (to the extent such disclosure is expressly authorized); or (3) in response to a subpoena, a discovery request, or other lawful process, once CHN has met all administrative requirements of the HIPAA Privacy Regulations.

Law Enforcement
Under certain conditions, CHN may disclose your PHI to law enforcement officials. Some of the reasons for such a disclosure may include but is not limited to: (1) it is required by law or some other legal process; (2) it is necessary to locate or identify a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person; or (3) it is necessary to provide evidence of a crime that occurred on our premises.

Coroners, Medical Examiners, Funeral Directors, and Organ Donation

CHN may disclose your PHI to a coroner or medical examiner for purposes of identifying a deceased person, determining a cause of death, or for the coroner or medical examiner to perform other duties authorized by law. CHN also may disclose, as authorized by law, information to funeral directors so that they may carry out their duties. CHN may disclose PHI to organizations that handle organ, eye, or tissue donation and transplantation.

Research

CHN may disclose your PHI to researchers when an institutional review board or privacy board has: (1) reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of the information and (2) approved the research.

To Prevent a Serious Threat to Health or Safety
Consistent with applicable federal and state laws, CHN may disclose your PHI if it is believed that the disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public. CHN may also disclose PHI if it is necessary for law enforcement authorities to identify or apprehend an individual.

Military Activity and National Security, Protective Services
Under certain conditions CHN may disclose your PHI if you are, or were, Armed Forces personnel for activities deemed necessary by appropriate military command authorities. If you are a member of foreign military service, CHN may disclose, in certain circumstances, your information to the foreign military authority. CHN also may disclose your PHI to authorized federal officials for conducting national security and intelligence activities, and for the protection of the President, other authorized persons, or heads of state.

Inmates

If you are an inmate of a correctional institution, CHN may disclose your PHI to the correctional institution or to a law enforcement official for: (1) the institution to provide health care to you; (2) your health and safety and the health and safety of others; or (3) the safety and security of the correctional institution.

Workers' Compensation

CHN may disclose your PHI to comply with workers' compensation laws and other similar programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illnesses.

Others Involved in Your Health Care

Unless you object, CHN may disclose your PHI to a friend or family member that you have identified as being involved in your health care. CHN also may disclose your information to an entity assisting in a disaster relief effort so that your family can be notified about your condition, status, and location. If you are not present or able to agree to these disclosures of your PHI, then CHN may, using its professional judgment, determine whether the disclosure is in your best interest.

Other Uses and Disclosures

Other uses and disclosures of your PHI that are not described above will be made only with your written authorization. If you provide CHN with such an authorization, you may revoke the authorization in writing, and this revocation will be effective for future uses and disclosures of PHI. The revocation will not, however, be effective for information that CHN has already used or disclosed in reliance on your authorization.

Specially Protected Health Information
Federal and state law may impose additional privacy and confidentiality restrictions on the use and disclosure of mental health, AIDS/HIV, drug addictions, alcoholism, and other substance abuse treatment, developmental disabilities, and/or genetic information and records.

Your Rights
The following is a description of your rights with respect to your PHI.

Right to Request a Restriction

You have the right to request a restriction on CHN's use and disclosure of the PHI for payment or health care operations. Your request must be in writing. CHN is not required to agree to a restriction when it is using PHI for treatment purposes. However, CHN must agree if your request is for either payment or health care operational purposes and is for an item for which CHN has been paid in full and disclosure is not required by law.

Right to Inspect and Copy

You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of your PHI that is contained in a "designated record set." Generally, a "designated record set" contains medical and billing records, as well as other records that are used to make decisions about your health care benefits. However, you may not inspect or obtain a copy of psychotherapy notes or certain other information that may be contained in a designated record set.
To inspect and obtain a copy of your PHI that is contained in a designated record set, you must submit your request in writing. If you request a copy of the information, CHN may charge a fee for the costs of copying, mailing, or other supplies associated with your request. CHN may deny your request to inspect and copy your PHI in certain limited circumstances.

Right to Amend

If you believe that your PHI is incorrect or incomplete, you may request CHN to amend your information.

To request an amendment, your request must be made in writing and submitted to the Privacy Officer. In addition, you must provide a reason that supports your request.

CHN may deny your request for amendment if it determines that the information that is the subject of the request:
Was not created by us, unless the requestor provides a reasonable basis to believe that the originator of the PHI is no longer available to make the amendment;
Is not part of the designated record set kept by or on behalf of CHN;
Is not part of the information which you would be permitted to inspect and copy; or
Is accurate and complete.

A denial, in whole or in part, of a request for amendment will be made in writing and explain the basis for the denial. Upon denial, you have the right to submit a written statement disagreeing with the denial.

Right to an Accounting

You have a right to an accounting of most disclosures of your PHI that are for reasons other than treatment, payment or health care operations. An accounting will include the date of the disclosure, to whom the disclosure was made, a brief description of the information disclosed, and the purpose for the disclosure. You must request an accounting by submitting your request in writing. Your request may be for disclosures made up to six (6) years before the date of your request, but in no event for disclosures made before April 14, 2003.

Right to an Electronic or Paper Copy of This Notice

If you wish to exercise any of your rights with respect to your health information, please contact the following for more information: Privacy Officer, (541) 247-3164. You have a right to a paper copy of this notice, even if you have agreed to accept this notice electronically.

Right to Notification of Breach

You have the right to be notified upon discovery of a breach of PHI. The Privacy Officer will make such notifications to you in writing without unreasonable delay in the event such a breach occurs.

Right to Choose Someone to Act for You

If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information. We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.

Other Permissible Uses and Disclosures You Have a Right to Object To:

Appointment Reminders:

We may use and disclose PHI to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for treatment or medical care at Curry General Hospital or an affiliated clinic or entity.

Health-Related Benefits and Services:

We may use and disclose PHI to tell you about health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.

Fundraising Activities:

We may use information about you to contact you in an effort to raise money for Curry Health Network and its operations. We may disclose PHI to the Curry Health Foundation so that they may contact you. These may include contact information, such as your name, address, phone number, and when you received treatment. If you do not want to be contacted for fundraising purposes, you must notify the Privacy Officer in writing.

Complaints
You may complain to Curry Health Network if you believe that it has violated your privacy rights. You may file a complaint with CHN by writing to: Compliance / Privacy Officer, Curry Health Network, 94220 4th Street, Gold Beach, OR 97444.

You also may file a complaint with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-697-6776, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/.

CHN will not penalize or in any other way retaliate against you for filing a complaint, either with CHN or with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Effective Date
This Notice is effective on January 1, 2014; last updated May 1, 2021.