NANI HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices
Background/Purpose
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.
Your Rights
You have the right to:
• Request a copy of your paper or electronic medical record
• Request a correction to your paper or electronic medical record
• Request confidential communication
• Ask us to limit the information we share
• Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information
• Get a copy of this privacy notice
• Choose someone to act for you
• File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated
Your Choices
You have some choices in the way that we use and share information as we:
• Tell family and friends about your condition
• Include you in a hospital directory
Our Uses and Disclosures
We may use and share your information as we:
• Treat you
• Run our organization
• Bill for your services
• Help with public health and safety issues
• Follow the law
• Respond to organ and tissue donation requests
• Work with a medical examiner or funeral director
• Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests
• Respond to lawsuits and legal actions
• Aid in disaster relief
Your Rights
When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.
Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record
• You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you. Ask us how to do this.
• We will supply a copy or a summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for copying, printing, and/or postage.
Ask us to correct your medical record
• You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. Ask us how to do this.
• We may say “no” to your request, but we’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days.
Request confidential communications
• You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address.
• We will say “yes” to all reasonable requests.
Ask us to limit what we use or share
• You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We do not have to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care.
• If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer. We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information.
• We participate in electronic medical record programs called Epic Care Everywhere® and other data sharing programs not listed here. These data sharing programs allow providers outside of and across NANI to see your medical record information for treatment purposes. You may request not to participate in these data sharing programs. This request can be made in writing to your doctor’s office, or the address listed under “Questions and Concerns” below.
• We participate in electronic medical record programs called Epic Care Everywhere® and other data sharing programs not listed here. These data sharing programs allow providers outside of and across NANI to see your medical record information for treatment purposes. You may request not to participate in these data sharing programs. This request can be made in writing to your doctor’s office, or the address listed under “Questions and Concerns” below.
Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared information
• You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why.
• We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We’ll supply one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.
Get a copy of this privacy notice
You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.
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.
File a complaint if you feel your rights are being violated
• You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us using the information on page 5.
• You can file a complaint with the:
Centralized Case Management Operations
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Room 509F HHH Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20201
E-mail:
https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/complaint-process/index.html
• We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
Your Choices
For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions.
In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to:
• Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care
• Share information in a disaster relief situation
• Include your information in a hospital directory
If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.
In these cases, we will never share your information unless you give us written permission:
• Marketing purposes
• Sale of your information
• Most sharing of psychotherapy notes
In the case of fundraising:
• We may contact you for fundraising efforts, but you can tell us not to contact you again.
Our Uses and Disclosures
How do we typically use or share your health information?
We typically use or share your health information in the following ways:
Treat you
We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you.
Example: A doctor treating you for an injury asks another doctor about your overall health condition.
Run our organization
We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary.
Example: We use health information about you to manage your treatment and services.
Bill for your services
We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities.
Example: We give information about you to your health insurance plan so it will pay for your services.
Business Associates
Some patient care services may be provided to our organization through contracts with business associates, such as: accountants; consultants; quality assurance reviewers; billing and transcription service vendors; physicians; dialysis organization and product manufacturers. Examples of patient care services include but are not limited to medical director, dialysis training, population health, and benefits education services. We may disclose your health information to our business associates so that they can perform the job we asked them to do. Business associates are required to sign a contract that states they will appropriately safeguard your information.
Contacting You About Your Health
We may use and disclose health information to contact you and provide you with a reminder about an appointment or other treatment options with us. You may also receive educational text messages and/or materials from us or our business associates. You can opt-out of receiving text messages or other informational materials by using the “opt-out” feature contained in each text, or by contacting NANI’s Privacy Official, whose contact information can be found under the “Questions and Concerns” section below.
How else can we use or share your health information?
We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html.
Help with public health and safety issues
We can share health information about you for certain situations such as:
• Preventing disease
• Helping with product recalls
• Reporting adverse reactions to medications
• Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
• Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety
Follow the law
We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re following federal privacy law.
Respond to organ and tissue donation requests
We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.
Work with a medical examiner or funeral director
We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies.
Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests
When right and within the requirements defined in HIPAA, we can use or share health information:
• For workers’ compensation claims
• For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official
• With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law
• For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services
Respond to lawsuits and legal actions
We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.
Our Responsibilities
• We are required by law to keep the privacy and security of your protected health information.
• We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.
• We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.
For more information see:
https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/notice-privacy-practices/index.html.
Health Information Exchange (HIE) Disclosure
We are required by the Privacy Law to provide you with notice if we share information for public health purposes without your authorization. NANI does take part in information exchanges with the Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE), the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP), and the Indiana State Narcotic Gateway.
Changes to the Terms of this Notice
We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, in our office, and on our web site.
Questions and Concerns
If you have any questions, or would like additional information, or if you wish to file a complaint with us regarding our use or disclosure of your information, you may reach out to our Privacy Officer using the contact information below.
Effective Date of this Notice: 1/1/2024
Other Instructions for Notice
• Effective Date of this Notice: 1/1/2023
• NANI HIPAA Privacy Official:
120 W. 22 nd St. Suite 200
Oak Brook, IL 60523
E:
P: 833-551-1176
