Privacy Policy

Notice of Privacy Practices

The Hospitalists Management Group organization values your privacy and the physician practice groups that we manage are committed to protecting medical information about you.

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.

PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY

State and Federal laws and regulations require the hospitalist physician practice groups to safeguard the privacy of your health information.  This Notice will provide you with information regarding our privacy practices and it applies to all of your personal health information created and/or maintained by the hospitalist physician practice groups, including any information that may be received from other health care providers or facilities. This Notice describes the ways in which the physician practice groups may use or disclose your protected health information.  It also describes your rights and our obligations concerning such uses or disclosures.

Protected health information is information that is created and obtained while providing professional hospitalist services to you.  This typically includes information concerning your symptoms, examinations, test results, diagnoses, treatment, and plans for future care and treatment. It also includes billing documents that are generate in order to bill for the professional services provided to you.

This Notice of Privacy Practices applies to all of the hospitalist physician practice groups that are managed by Hospitalists Management Group.  These groups provide professional hospitalist services at numerous hospitals throughout the United States.

The hospitalist physician practice groups participate in Organized Health Care Arrangements at the hospitals or facilities where they practice.  Organized Health Care Arrangements are made up of the various physicians and other health care providers who provide you with medical care and treatment while you are at the hospital or facility.

Each of the Organized Health Care Arrangements maintains a Joint Notice of Privacy Practices which is similar to this Notice of Privacy Practices.  The Joint Notice of Privacy Practices describes the ways in which the members of the Organized Health Care Arrangement may use or disclose your protected health information and it describes your rights with respect to that information.  Absent an emergent situation, a hospital or facility staff member will provide you or your personal representative with a copy of the Joint Notice of Privacy Practices at the time of registration.

The physician practice groups managed by HMG will abide by the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices and any Joint Notice of Privacy Practices that is in effect at the hospital or facility where you received medical care and treatment. We reserve the right to change the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices and to make the revised Notice effective for health information that the hospitalist practice groups already have about you as well as any information that may be received in the future.  You may also receive a copy of this Notice by mailing a request to our Privacy Officer at Hospitalists Management Group, 4535 Dressler Road, NW, Canton, Ohio 44718.

USES AND DISCLOSURES OF YOUR PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION

Your authorization.  Except as outlined below, the hospitalist physician practice groups will not use or disclose your personal health information for any purpose unless you have signed a form authorizing the use or disclosure.  You have the right to revoke the authorization in writing unless action has already been taken in reliance on the authorization.  To revoke an authorization, please write to the Privacy Officer.

Uses and Disclosures for Treatment.  With your signed consent for treatment, the hospitalist physician practice groups will make uses and disclosures of your personal health information as necessary for your treatment. For instance, doctors, nurses and other health care professionals involved in your care will use information in your medical record and information that you provide about your symptoms to plan a course of treatment for you that may include procedures, medications, lab tests, x-rays, etc.  Your personal health information may also be released to another health care facility or to a professional who is not a member of a hospitalist physician practice group or affiliated in the local Organized Health Care Arrangement but who is or will be providing treatment to you.  For instance, your personal physician or a subsequent health care provider may receive information from providers in the hospitalist physician practice groups in order to assist him or her in treating you after you are discharged from a hospital.

Uses and Disclosures for Payment.  With your signed consent for treatment, the hospitalist physician practice groups will make uses and disclosures of your personal health information as necessary to receive payment for the professional services provided to you.  We may seek payment from you, an insurance company, or another third party for the health care services you receive from us. For instance, we may forward information regarding your medical treatment to your insurance company to arrange payment for the services we provided to you, or we may use your information to prepare a bill to send to you or the person responsible for your payment.  This includes information concerning a diagnosis of alcoholism, drug abuse, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), AIDS Related Complex (ARC) or testing for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

Uses and Disclosures for Healthcare Operations.  The hospitalist physician practice groups will use and disclose your personal health information as necessary, and as permitted by law, for health care operations, which includes clinical improvement, professional peer review, business management, accreditation and licensing, and other matters.  For instance, your personal health information may be used and disclosed for purposes of improving the clinical treatment and care of patients.  The hospitalist physician practice groups may also disclose your personal health information to other members of an Organized Health Care Arrangement for such things as quality assurance and case management, but only if that hospital or facility also has or had a patient relationship with you.

Facility Directories.  The hospitals and facilities where the hospitalist physician practice groups provide medical care maintain facility directories listing each patient’s name, room number, general condition and, if you wish, religious affiliation.  Unless you choose to have your information excluded from the directory, except for your religious affiliation, it will be disclosed to anyone who requests it by asking for you by name.  Directory information, including your religious affiliation, may also be disclosed to any member of the clergy without them specifically being required to ask for you by name.

You have the right to have your information excluded form this directory.  You also have the right to restrict what information is provided and/or to whom information is provided.  You or your personal representative should notify the hospital’s registration staff at the time of registration, or any hospital or facility staff member providing care to you, if you would like to exercise these rights.  If you request exclusion from the directory, the staff will inform anyone inquiring about you that there is no record of you being a patient.

Family and Friends involved in your care.  With your approval, the hospitalist physician practice groups may from time to time disclose your personal health information to designated family, friends, and others who are involved in your care or payment for your care.  This is to help these individuals care for you or make payment arrangements for your care.  If you are unavailable, incapacitated or facing an emergency medical situation, it may be determined that a limited disclosure is in your best interest.  In this case, the hospitalist physician practice groups may share limited personal health information with such individuals without your approval or consent.  Limited personal health information may also be disclosed to a public or private entity that is authorized to assist in disaster relief efforts in order for that entity to locate a family member or other persons that may be involved in some aspect of caring for you.

Business Associates.  Certain aspects of the professional services provided to you are performed through contracts with outside persons or organizations.  These include electronic billing, auditing, legal and other services.  At times, it may be necessary to provide your personal health information to one or more of these outside persons or organizations.  In all cases, these business associates are required to contract with the hospitalist physician practice groups and provide assurance that they have appropriate safeguards in place to protect the privacy of your information.

Other Uses and Disclosures.  The hospitalist physician practice groups are permitted or required by law to make the following uses and disclosures of your personal health information without your consent or authorization:

For any purpose required by law

For public health activities, such as required reporting of disease, injury, birth and death, and for required public health investigations

To the Food and Drug Administration if necessary to report adverse events, product defects, or to participate in product recalls

To your employer when we have provided health care to you at the request of your employer; in most cases you will receive notice that information is disclosed to your employer

If required by law to a government oversight agency conducting audits, investigations, or civil or criminal proceedings

If required to do so by a court or administrative order, subpoena of discovery request; in most cases you will have notice of such release

To law enforcement officials as required by law to report wounds, injuries and crimes

To coroners and/or funeral directors consistent with law

If necessary to arrange an organ or tissue donation from you or a transplant for you

For certain research purposes when such research is approved by an institutional review board with established rules to ensure privacy

If you are a member of the military as required by armed forces services

To others who have provided care to you

To workers’ compensation agencies if necessary for your workers’ compensation benefit determination

Rights that you have:

Access to your Personal Health Information.  You have the right to copy or inspect much of the personal health information that was generated while providing you with medical care and treatment.  All requests for access must be made in writing and signed by you or your representative.  Because hospitalists practice within hospitals and other health care facilities, treatment records are maintained by the particular facility where you received treatment from a hospitalist physician practice group.  Therefore, your Request to Access treatment records should be mailed to both the Medical Records Department at the facility where you received treatment AND to HMP’s Privacy Officer.  Note that requests for billing records should only be directed to our Privacy Officer.

You will be charged a specific amount per page if you request a copy of this information from us.  You may also be charged for postage if you request a mailed copy.  These charges will be consistent with applicable state laws.  We may also charge for preparing a summary of the requested information if you request such a summary.

Amendment to your Personal Health Information.  You have the right to request that personal health information that was generated and/or is maintained about you be amended or corrected.  The hospitalist physician practice groups are not obligated to make requested amendments, but we will give each request careful consideration.  All amendment requests, in order to be considered by us, must be in writing, signed by you or your personal representative, and must state the reasons(s) for the amendment/correction request.  If an amendment or correction is made by us, we may also notify others who work with us and have copies of the uncorrected record if we believe such notification is necessary.

Your request for an Amendment must be mailed to the Medical Records Department at the hospital where you received treatment AND to our Privacy Officer.

Accounting for Disclosure of Personal Health Information.  You have the right to receive an accounting of certain disclosures of your personal health information that were made the hospitalist physician practice groups after April 14, 2003.  This does not include any disclosures of your personal health information that were made pursuant to legal requirements or for purposes of treatment, payment or our health care operations.  Requests must be make in writing and signed by you or your personal representative.  The first accounting in any 12-month period is free.  You may be charged a fee for each subsequent accounting you request within the same 12-month period.  Your Request for an Accounting must be sent to our Privacy Officer for consideration

Restrictions on Use and Disclosure of your Personal Health Information.  You have the right to request restrictions on certain of the uses and disclosures of your personal health information for treatment, payment or health care operations.  You also have the right to request a limit on the medical information the hospitalist physician practice groups disclose about you to someone who is involved in your care or the payment for your care, like a family member or friend.  We are not required to agree to your restriction request, but we will attempt to accommodate reasonable requests when appropriate.  We retain the right to terminate an agreed-to restriction if we believe such termination is appropriate.  In the event of a termination by us, we will notify you of such termination.  You also have the right to terminate, in writing or orally, any agreed-to-restriction that we have not already relied upon.  Your Request for a Restriction must be made in writing by you or your personal representative and sent to the attention of our Privacy Officer.

Requests to Receive Confidential Communications by Other Means or at Another Location.  We may contact you to discuss the care we provided to you or payment for the care.  You have the right to request that we communicate with you or your personal representative regarding your personal health information by alternative means or at another location.  We will not request an explanation from you concerning the reason for your request.  For instance, if you would like us to use a different address from the address you provided at the time you registered for treatment, we will accommodate reasonable requests.  You must request such confidential communication in writing and send your request to our Privacy Officer.

Complaints.  If you believe that your privacy rights have been violated , you can file a complaint in writing with us.  It must be sent to our Privacy Officer at Hospitalists Management Group, 4535 Dressler Road, NW, Canton, Ohio 44718. You may also file a complaint with the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, DC in writing within 180 days of a suspected violation of your rights. There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.  If you have questions or need further assistance regarding this Notice, you may contact the office of our Privacy Officer at (330) 492-6400 or via facsimile at(330) 244-0715.  As a patient, you retain the right to obtain a paper copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices, even if you have requested such a copy by e-mail or other electronic means.

EFFECTIVE DATE

This Notice of Privacy Practices is effective April 14, 2003.