Patient Privacy
As a health care provider, St. John’s Health System is strongly
committed to protect the right of privacy for patients and visitors. We
feel it is important for you to know how we handle your private health
information. If you have questions about patient privacy, please
download the information brochure below. If you have a patient privacy
complaint, please download the complaint form below.
Notice of Privacy Practices
The following
fully addresses the SJHS Notice of Privacy Practices.
You can either scroll through this document in its entirety,
or click on any of
the following bookmarks to go to individual topics of
interest:
Effective Date: April 14, 2003
St. John's Health System
NOTICE OF
PRIVACY PRACTICES
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW
MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED, DISCLOSED AND HOW
YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.
PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
This
notice will explain how we may use and disclose your medical
information, our obligations related to the use and disclosure
of your medical information and your rights related to any
medical information that we have about you. This notice
applies to the medical records that are generated in or
by St. John's hospitals, clinics, home care and nursing home
known hereafter as St. John's entities and facilities.
This
notice also describes the practices of St. John's and that of
any physician with staff privileges with respect to your
Protected Health Information (PHI) created while you are a
patient of St. John's. Physicians with staff privileges
and personnel authorized to have access to your medical chart
are subject to this notice. In addition, physicians with
staff privileges may share medical information with each other
for treatment, and payment of health care operations described
in this notice. Generally, we are required by law to
ensure that medical information that identifies you is kept
private. Further, we must give you this information
related to our legal duties and privacy with respect to any
medical information we create or receive about you. We
are required by law to follow the terms of the notice that is
currently in effect.
I
understand that the physicians participating in my care at St.
John's may not be employees or agents of St. John's and may
not be acting for or on behalf of St. John's but are
independent physicians who have been granted privileges to use
St. John's facilities for the care of their patients. I
understand that medical decisions regarding my care and
treatment at St. John's may be made by such physicians and not
by St. John's.
With a
few exceptions, we are required to obtain your authorization
for the use or disclosure of the information. We have
listed some of the reasons why we might use or disclose your
medical information and some examples of the types of uses and
disclosures below. Not every use or disclosure is
covered. However, all of the ways that we are allowed to
use and disclose information will fall into one of these
categories.
In
addition to hospital departments, clinic departments,
employees, physicians and other St. John's personnel, the
following persons will also follow the practices described in
this Notice of Privacy Practices:
-
Any
health care professional who is authorized to enter
information in your medical record.
-
Any
member of a volunteer group that we allow to help you while
you are at this site; any student, resident or intern.
All sites within St. John's will follow the terms of the
Notice of Privacy Practices. In addition, they may share
medical information for treatment, payment or healthcare
operations as they are described in this Notice of Privacy
Practices.
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Use and
Disclosure of Medical Information
We can
use or disclose medical information about you regarding your
treatment, payment for services or for healthcare operations.
We may also disclose your protected health care information
(PHI) for the treatment activities of another provider, the
payment activities of another provider or covered entity, and
certain limited healthcare operations of another covered
entity.
For
Treatment: To provide you with medical treatment or
services, we may need to use or disclose information about you
to doctors, nurses, technicians, healthcare students or other
healthcare personnel who are involved in your treatment.
For example, a doctor may need to know what drugs you are
allergic to before prescribing medications. Departments
within the hospital and clinics may share medical information
about you to coordinate your care. For instance, the
laboratory may request information to complete lab work.
We may also disclose medical information about you to people
who may be involved in your medical care after you leave the
hospital or the clinic, such as home health agencies, your
family, a friend, Hospice employees, long term care
facilities, and, if you request, your clergy member.
For
Payment: We may use and disclose your medical
information to bill and receive payment for the treatment that
you receive here. For example, we may use or disclose
your medical information to your insurance company about a
service you received at the hospitals, clinics, Mercy Villa,
or Home Care Division so that your insurance company can pay
us or reimburse you for the service. We may also ask
your insurance company for prior approval for a service to
determine whether the insurance company will pay for the
service.
For
Health Care Operations: We can use and disclose
medical information about you for health care operations.
These include uses and disclosures that are necessary to run
St. John's Health System and make sure that our patients
receive quality care. For example, we may use or
disclose medical information about you to evaluate the
performance of the doctors, nurses, technicians and students
caring for you. Medical information about you and other
St. John's patients may be combined to allow us to evaluate
whether St. John's should offer additional services or
discontinue other services and whether certain treatments are
effective. We may also compare this information with
other hospitals, clinics or services outside of St. John's to
evaluate whether we can make improvements in the care and
services that we offer. To best protect your privacy
when we are combining medical information, we will remove
information that identifies you known as "facially
de-identified information".
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Uses and Disclosures of Medical Information That Do Not Require
Your Authorization
We can
use or disclose health information about your without your
authorization when there is an emergency or when we are
required by law to treat you; when we are required by law to use or disclose
certain information, or when there are substantial
communication barriers to obtaining authorization from you.
Further, we may use or disclose your health information
without your authorization in any of the following
circumstances:
-
When necessary to contact you
to provide:
-
Appointment providers
-
Information about treatment alternatives or other health
related benefits of services that may be of interest to you
or,
-
Participation in a clinical trial or research protocol;
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When it
is required by law;
-
When it
involves use and disclosure for public health activities, such
as mandated disease reporting, etc.,
-
When
reporting information about victims of abuse, neglect or
domestic violence;
-
When
disclosing information for the purpose of health oversight
activities, such as audits, investigations, licensure or
disciplinary actions or legal proceedings or actions;
-
When
disclosing information to Business Associates for purposes of
creating a limited data set which may include zip codes, dates
of birth, or dates of service but may not contain
patient identifiers such as name, address, phone number or
social security number;
-
When
disclosing information for law enforcement purposes, for
instance, to locate or identify a suspect, fugitive, witness
or missing person or regarding a victim of a crime who can not
give authorization because of incapacity;
-
When
disclosing information about deceased persons to medical
examiners, coroners and funeral directors;
-
When
disclosing or using information for organ and tissue donation
purposes;
-
When
disclosing information related to a research project when a
waiver of authorization has been approved by the Institutional
Review Board;
-
When we
believe in good faith that the disclosure is necessary to
avert a serious health or safety threat to you or to the
public's safety;
-
When
required by law to notify a person subject to the jurisdiction
of the FDA for public health purposes related to the quality,
safety, or effectiveness of FDA regulated products or
activities such as collecting or reporting adverse events,
dangerous products and defects or problems with FDA regulated
products;
-
When
disclosure is necessary for specialized government functions,
such as military service, for the protection of the President
or for national security and intelligence activities; medical
suitability determinations and government programs providing
public benefits;
-
When
required by military command authorities, if you are a member
of the armed forces or if you are a foreign military member;
-
When you
are a prison inmate, information can released to the
correctional facility in which you reside for the following
purposes: (1) for the institution to provide you with
health care; (2) to protect the health and safety of
others; or (3) for the safety and security of the correctional
facility; and
-
When
disclosure is necessary to comply with Worker's Compensation
laws or purposes.
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Planned Uses or Disclosures to Which You May Object
-
We will
use or disclose your health information for any of the
purposes described in the above section unless you
affirmatively object to or otherwise restrict a particular
release. You must direct your written objections
or restrictions to the Privacy Site Coordinator or the
St. John's Corporate Privacy Officer, 1235 E. Cherokee
Springfield, MO 65804.
-
We may
use or disclose your health information in order to include
you in the hospitals, clinics, or long term patient care
directory. Directory information includes your name,
location in the hospital, clinic or long term care facility
and, if applicable, your general condition. We will only
disclose this information to people that you ask for by
name. Unless you affirmatively object, a member of
the clergy of your denomination only may obtain you religious
affiliation without asking for you by name.
-
We may
use health information about you to contact you in an effort
to raise money for the hospital. A Foundation related to
the hospitals or clinics may receive contact information,
which includes your name, address and phone number and the
dates that you received services from the hospitals, clinics,
or Hospice but will not receive medical information from your
medical records.
-
We may
release health information about you to a friend and/or family
member who is involved in your care. We can also give
this information to someone who will help you or is helping to
pay for your care.
-
We can
disclose health information about you to a public or private
entity that is authorized by law or its charter to assist in
disaster relief efforts, i.e., the American Red Cross,
for the purposes of your whereabouts and condition.
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Other Uses and
Disclosures
-
We
will not use or disclose your health information without your
written authorization except as described in this Notice of
Privacy Practices. It you provide us written
authorization to use or disclose information, you can change
your mind and revoke your authorization at any time, as
long as it is in writing. If you revoke your
authorization, we will no longer use or disclose the
information. However, we will not be able to take back
any disclosures that we have made pursuant to your previous
authorization.
Your Health
Information Rights
Although
your health record is the property of St. John's, you
have the right to:
-
Request Restrictions: You have the right to request
that we restrict any use or disclosure of your health
information. We are not required to agree to any
restriction that you request. If we do agree to
adhere to our restrictions, we will comply with your request
unless the information is needed to provide you treatment.
Any request to restrict uses or disclosures must be made in
writing to the Privacy Site Coordinator or the St. John's
Corporate Privacy Officer. Your request must indicate:
(1) what information you want limited; (2) whether you want to
limit our use, disclosure or both; and (3) to whom you want
the limits to apply.
-
Receive Information in Certain Form and Location:
You have the right to receive information about your health in
a certain form and location. For instance, you can
request that we contact you at work. To request
confidential communications, you must make your request in
writing to the Privacy Site Coordinator or the St. John's
Corporate Privacy Officer. The request must tell us how
and/or where you want to receive information. We will
attempt to accommodate reasonable requests.
-
Inspect and Copy Your Protected Health Information (PHI):
You have the right to inspect and copy your protected
health information that may be used to make decisions about
your care, with the exception of psychotherapy notes. If
you want to see or copy your medical information, you must
submit your request in writing to the Privacy Site Coordinator
or to the St. John's Privacy Officer. If you request
copies of information, we may charge a fee for any costs
associated with your request, including the cost of copies,
mailing, or other supplies.
***
In limited circumstances we can deny access to your health
information. If access is denied, you can request that
the denial be reviewed. Another licensed health care
professional chosen by the hospital, clinic, or home care will
review your request and the denial. We will adhere to
the decision of the reviewer.
-
Request Amendment to your Protected Health Information (PHI):
You have the right to request that your health information
be changed if you believe that it is correct or incomplete.
Your have a right to request changes for as long as the
information is kept by the hospitals, clinics, mercy Villa, or
Home Care. To request a change in you information, you
must submit it in writing to the Privacy Site Coordinator or
the St. John's Corporate Privacy Officer. In addition,
you must give the reason why you think the information is
incorrect or incomplete, and specify whom you want notified of
the change, such as your physician. We must notify you
within 60 days upon receipt of your written request. We
may extend the time for an additional 30 days provided we
notify you or our reason for delay and the date we expect to
complete our action on your request.
*** NOTE: We
can deny your request if it is not in writing and if it does
not include why the information should be changed. We
can also deny your request for the following reasons:
(1) the information was not created by St. John's or unless
the person or entity that did create the information is no
longer available; (2) the information is not part of the
medical record kept by or for St. John's , or (3) the
information is not part of the information that your would be
permitted to inspect and copy; or (4) we believe the
information is accurate and complete.
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Accounting of Disclosures: Even if you have agreed
to receive this notice in another form, you can still have a
paper copy of this notice. To obtain a paper copy of
this notice, contact the Privacy Site Coordinator or the St.
John's Corporate Privacy Officer.
-
Receive a copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices:
Even if you have agreed to receive this notice in another
form, you can still have a paper copy of this notice. To
obtain a paper copy of this notice, contact the Privacy Site
Coordinator, or the St. John's Corporate Privacy Officer.
You can obtain a copy of this notice at our Web site,
www.stjohns.com.
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Complaints
If you
believe that we have violated any of your privacy rights or
have not adhered to the information contained in this Notice
of Privacy Practices, you can file a complaint by putting it
in writing and sending it to the Privacy Site Coordinator or
the St. John's Corporate Privacy Officer, 1235 E. Cherokee,
Springfield, MO 65804. You may also file a complaint
with Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C.
20201. To acquire a copy of the complaint form from the
Office of Civil Rights please call 1-(800)-368-1019.
According to the law, you will not be retaliated against nor
intimidated for filing a complaint with any St. John's
hospitals, clinics, or entities, or the U.S. Department of
Heath and Human Services.
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Changes
To This Notice of Privacy Practices
We
reserve the right to change or modify the information
contained in this Notice of Privacy Practices. Any
changes that we can make can be effective for any health
information that we can have about you and any information
that we might obtain. Each time you receive services
form a St. John's entity we will offer to provide you the most
current copy of our Notice of Privacy Practices. The
most recent version of our Notice of Practices will be posted
in our building or can be obtained from the Privacy Site
Coordinator or the St. John's Corporate Privacy Officer whose
information is included on the first page of this Notice of
Privacy Practices.
If you
have any questions about the content of this Notice of Privacy
Practices, or if you need to contact someone
about any of the information contained in this Notice of
Privacy Practices, please contact:
Privacy Site Coordinator
or
St. John's Corporate Privacy Officer
1235 E. Cherokee, Springfield, MO 65804
(417) 885-6185 within Springfield
or toll free for areas outside of Springfield
(1-888-MOHIPAA or 1-888-664-4722).
To obtain a print friendly
copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices,
click here.
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