This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review carefully.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Notice

Understanding Your Health Care Record or Information:

Each time you are visited by or have contact with this home care agency, documentation of the visit or contact is made. Normally, this documentation contains information regarding your health: diagnosis, symptoms, examination, treatment provided, test results, communications in the course of your treatment, and an ongoing plan for your care and treatment. This information, often referred to as your health, medical, or clinical record, serves as a basis for planning your care and treatment and serves as a means of communication among the many health professionals who participate in your care. This information also must be used to bill for your care. Understanding what is in your health care record and how your health information is used, helps you to ensure it’s accuracy, better understand who, what, when, where, and why others may access your health information, and will help you to make more informed decisions when asked for authorization to disclose this information to others.

Your Rights Regarding Your Health Information:

Unless otherwise required by law, the health care record developed while you are receiving home care services will be the physical property of this home care agency but you have the right to request restrictions on the uses and disclosures of your health information that go beyond the practices described in this notice, but we are not required to agree to every request. We will tell you which request we can accommodate and which we cannot. You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of your health and billing records and you may ask us to amend these records if you think there are errors in them. You also may obtain an accounting of certain disclosures of your health information. You may request that we communicate with you about your health information by alternative means or at alternative locations. We will honor reasonable requests and tell you if a request cannot be honored. You may obtain a paper copy of our current privacy notice at any time upon request. To exercise any of these rights, talk to a nurse or therapist who provides treatment to you in your home or call our Privacy Officer at (516) 739-8701 to initiate the process.

The Agency’s Responsibilities:

This agency is required to maintain the privacy of your health information. In addition, we are required to provide you with a notice as to our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to information we collect and maintain about you. The agency must abide by the terms of this notice. We reserve the right to change our practices and to make the new provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain. Should our privacy practices change while you are receiving home care services from us, we will hand-deliver or mail a revised notice to you. In addition, we will routinely post our current privacy notice on our website: vnali.org for downloading and make paper copies available to patients and the public upon request. You may contact our Privacy Officer at 516-739-8701 at any time to get a copy of the privacy notice in effect at the time of the call. We will not use or disclose your health information without your authorization, except as described in this notice. Because genetic test result information is so sensitive, we will always ask for a written authorization from you before we disclose it. We also will get written authorization to disclose information about your HIV/AIDs status unless we are making the disclosure to health care providers and facilities that need to know to take care of you properly or to protect themselves and their employees properly, to payers that need the information to process claims for your care, and, when required by law, to health care oversight agencies, public health officials, and other organizations such as correctional institutions. If you authorize a particular use or disclosure of your health information, you may revoke your authorization at any time, except to the extent that action has been taken.

To Report a Problem or Request Further Information:

If you have questions and would like additional information, you may contact the privacy officer at 516-739-8701. If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, please contact the above person. You can also file a complaint with the Secretary of Health & Human Services at 1-800-368-1019. There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint.

Examples of Disclosure for Treatment, Payment, & Health Operations:

The agency staff will utilize your health information for treatment. The health information you provide or obtained by the agency will be recorded in your clinical record. This information will be used to develop your individual plan of care. For example, your nurse will document the results of your initial assessment in your clinical record. From this assessment, your plan of care will be developed with your input and orders from your physician. The plan of care will include what kind of services you require (i.e., nursing, aide, therapy, etc.), how often, what the specific service is expected to do, and what outcomes are expected from each service as well as your expected overall outcomes. Members of your health care team (i.e., nurse, aide, therapist, etc.) will document the care they provided and their observations. For example, the physical therapist will document the exercises he/she did with you and how well you did. If you practiced stair climbing, the document will show that stair climbing was done, how many stairs you were able to climb and if you had any problems, such as shortness of breath, while climbing the stairs. We will also provide each member of your health care team with the information they need in order to care for you. For example, if you have chosen to execute an advance directive, all members will be provided with that information. The physical therapist will be provided with your history and information regarding your mobility and ability to get around. To facilitate your treatment, we also may disclose your health information to your physician or to a hospital or other health care facility to which you are admitted for care.
The agency will utilize your health information for payment. For example, a bill may be sent to you or your insurance company, a third-party payer, or whoever is responsible to pay the bill for your care. The information on the bill may include information that identifies you, your diagnosis, the type and amount of service you received as well as any supplies or equipment.
The agency will utilize your health information for health operations. For example, members of the quality improvement team may review your record as well as other patient’s records and utilize the information to assess the care and outcomes from the care. This information will be utilized in an effort to continually improve the quality and effectiveness of the care and services that the agency provides.

There may be some services provided to our agency through contracts with Business Associates (BA). Examples include consultants we use to audit clinical records, policies and procedures and our business operations to ensure compliance with Federal, State & local regulations and quality standards. Other examples of BA’s include individuals or organizations that may provide the following services: legal, actuarial, accounting, management, administrative, accreditation, data aggregation or financial services. We may disclose parts or all of your health information to our Business Associate so that they can do the task we asked them to do. In order to protect your health information, we include a clause in the contract about the need for the Business Associate to also safeguard your information.

Notification:

We may use or disclose information about you in order to notify a family member, caregiver, or a person responsible for your care, your location, and your general condition.

Communication with Family:

The agency, or its professional staff, using their best judgment may disclose to a family member, other relative, close personal friend or any other person you identify, your health information relevant to that person’s involvement in your care or the payment related to your care.The agency may contact you or your caregiver to provide appointment reminders.

Research:

If you give us written authorization, we will disclose treatment information to researchers conducting a study in which you have chosen to participate. We may disclose information about you to researchers conducting records-based studies that do not involve treatment without asking for an authorization if the research protocol has been reviewed to ensure your health information will remain private.

Funeral Directors:

We may disclose your health information to a funeral director, coroner and medical examiner as required under law so that they can carry out their duties.

Organ Procurement Organizations:

Consistent with your wishes and with applicable law, we may disclose health information to organ procurement organizations or other entities engaged in the procurement, banking, or transplantation of organs for the purpose of tissue donation or transplant.

Marketing:

We may contact you to provide appointment reminders or information about treatment alternatives or other health-related services that may be of interest to you.

Fund-Raising:

We may contact you as part of a fund-raising drive for this agency.

Food & Drug Administration (FDA):

As required by law, we may disclose your health information to the FDA if you should experience an adverse event with food, supplements, product and product defects, or information that will enable product recalls, repairs or replacement.

Workers Compensation:

We may disclose your health information that is necessary to comply with laws related to workers compensation or other similar programs established by law.

Public Health:

We may disclose your health information, as required by law, to public health or legal authorities responsible for certain public health functions. For example, we provide reports to assist public health officials with tracking births and deaths, and patient abuse as well as with preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability.

Correctional Institutions:

If you are or become an inmate of a correctional institution, we may disclose your health information to the institution or a representative of the institution. This health information is necessary for your health as well as the health and safety of others. An inmate does not have the right to the Notice of Privacy Practices.

Law Enforcement:

As required by law, we may disclose health information for law enforcement purposes or in response to a valid subpoena. Federal and state laws require release of information to appropriate health oversight agencies, public health authority or attorney. We may be obligated to disclose your health information if a staff member or Business Associate believes that we have engaged in unlawful conduct or have otherwise violated professional or clinical standards and are potentially endangering one or more patients, workers or the public.

Health Care Oversight:

We may disclose your health information as required by law to health care oversight agencies such as those that are involved in licensing and certifying home care agencies.

Compliance with Law:

We may use or disclose information about you whenever a law requires us to. For example, we must let the Health & Human Services Office of Civil Rights look at patient records if it needs to do so to see whether our agency is following the privacy practices in this notice.

Effective Date: 3/01/03

Version: 1

VISITING NURSE ASSOCIATION OF LONG ISLAND, INC.