How May We Use or Disclose Your Medical Information?
We may use and disclose your Medical Information without your consent or authorization for treatment, payment, and health care operations as explained below:
For Treatment: We may use and disclose your Medical Information to the JFCS personnel, staff, volunteers, students and trainees located at each of our facilities who provide, coordinate or manage your health care and any related services. For example, your Medical Information may be used and shared by your service planner and other treatment team members that are involved in your care and treatment for the purpose of providing services to you. We may also disclose your Medical Information to another health care provider who is not located at one of our facilities, at his/her request, for the purpose of your treatment. For example, your Medical Information may be provided to another health care or mental health provider who is diagnosing or treating you.
For Payment: We may use and disclose your Medical Information to bill and collect payment for the treatment and services provided to you. This Medical Information may include dates of service, symptoms, diagnosis and other necessary information. For instance, JF&CS may:
• Provide portions of your Medical Information to your health insurance plan to get paid for the health care services we provided to you;
• Disclose your Medical Information to your health insurance plan to permit it to make a determination of eligibility or coverage for insurance benefits, to review the services we provided to you for medical necessity, and to perform utilization review activities;
• Disclose your Medical Information to the responsible party for your account (i.e., if you are listed as a dependent on another person's insurance policy, financial information regarding medical care provided may be mailed to that responsible party);
• Disclose the minimum necessary Medical Information about you to a collection agency in the event that you do not pay JFCS in a timely way for the health care services it provided to you; or
• Disclose your Medical Information to other health care providers, health plans or health care clearinghouses for their payment activities.
For Health Care Operations: We may use and disclose your Medical Information in order to support our business activities, such as quality assessment and improvement activities, employee review activities, training of students, licensing, preparing for and participating in state and federal regulatory reviews, and conducting or arranging for our other business activities. For example, we may use your Medical Information to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you. We may also disclose your Medical Information for training purposes to students who see patients at our facilities. In addition, we may use and disclose your Medical Information to other health care providers, health plans or health care clearinghouses for their limited health care operations, such as quality assessment activities, licensing, and other health care compliance and business activities.
Business Associates: We may disclose your Medical Information to our business associates that assist us in our delivery of services, such as billing companies, lawyers, and accountants. We are required to have a written contract with them that will require them to agree to maintain the privacy of your Medical Information in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations.
Patient Contacts: We may access and use your Medical Information, including your name, address and general medical condition to contact you to set-up appointments, provide appointment or treatment reminders, provide information about treatment, provide additional health care information that may be of interest to you, and disclose health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.
Philanthropy: We may also use and disclose your Medical Information to contact you to raise funds and sustain the JFCS mission. For example, you may receive letters or other publications asking you to consider making a tax-deductible donation as part of JFCS fundraising activities. JFCS does not sell or rent your name, address or any Medical Information to any organization outside of JFCS and is committed to protecting your privacy. If you do not wish to be contacted for fundraising, you have the right to opt out by notifying us in writing at any time.
We may also use and disclose your Medical Information without your consent or authorization in the following less common circumstances:
Uses and Disclosures Required by Law. We may use or disclose your Medical Information as required by law, but must limit such use or disclosure to relevant information and otherwise comply with applicable legal requirements.
Public Health Activities. We may use or disclose your Medical Information to public health authorities responsible for collecting information for public health activities. For example, we may disclose your Medical Information to public health authorities for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease.
Abuse, Neglect, or Domestic Violence. We may use or disclose your Medical Information to law enforcement if we reasonably believe that you are a victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, in accordance with applicable law.
Health Oversight Activities. We may use or disclose your Medical Information for certain health oversight activities, including, for example, inspections and licensure of health care facilities.
Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. We may use or disclose your Medical Information under some circumstances in response to a subpoena, valid order by a court or administrative tribunal, certain discovery request or other lawful legal process
Law Enforcement Purposes. We may use or disclose your Medical Information to report to law enforcement officials. For example, we may disclose your Medical Information to law enforcement for the purpose of identifying suspects or where a crime has been committed on our premises or reporting a death believed to be a result of criminal conduct.
Decedents. We may use or disclose your Medical Information to coroners, medical examiners and funeral directors to the extent necessary for such person to conduct his or her duties.
Research. In limited circumstances, we may use and disclose your Medical Information to conduct research.
Serious Safety Threat. We may use or disclose your Medical Information where we believe it is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to the safety of you, another person or the public.
Specialized Government Functions. We may use or disclose your Medical Information for specialized government functions, including those related to the armed forces, national security, and intelligence.
Workers' Compensation. We may use or disclose your Medical Information in order to comply with laws related to workers' compensation and similar programs as authorized by applicable law.
Personal Representatives. We may disclose your Medical Information to your personal representatives that are appointed by you or authorized by applicable law.
Inmates. If you are an inmate of a correctional institutional or under the custody of a law enforcement official, we may release Medical Information about you to the correctional institution or law enforcement official. We may release such information for purposes that include (1) providing you with health care; (2) protecting your health and safety or the health and safety of others; or (3) protecting the safety and security of the correctional institution.
Military Activity and National Security. When the appropriate conditions apply, we may use or disclose your Medical Information if you are Armed Forces personnel (1) for activities deemed necessary by appropriate military command authorities; (2) for the purpose of a determination by the Department of Veterans Affairs for your eligibility for benefits; or (3) to foreign military authority if you are a member of that foreign military service. We may also disclose your Medical Information to authorized federal officials for conducting national security, intelligence and counterintelligence activities authorized by law.
Special Protections for Psychotherapy Notes: We will not disclose your psychotherapy notes except as required by law or as otherwise authorized in writing by you. Please note, however, that there are certain legal exceptions to this authorization (e.g., for treatment, student training, or defense of a legal action brought by you, or for a coroner or medical examiner to exercise his or her duties). We will maintain your psychotherapy notes separately from your case file.
Special Protections for Certain Types of Health Care Services: Certain types of Medical Information may be subject to additional protections under federal and/or state law. For example, Medical Information about HIV/AIDS and genetic testing results are treated differently than other types of Medical Information under certain law and circumstances. Similarly, federally assisted alcohol and drug treatment programs are subject to special restriction on the use and disclosure of alcohol and drug abuse treatment information. To the extent that your Medical Information is subject to special protections under federal and/or state law, JFCS will seek your written authorization for applicable access, use and disclosure.
Uses and Disclosures for Which You Have An Opportunity to Agree or Object: We may disclose your medical information to a family member, friend or other person that you indicate is involved in your care or the payment for your health care, unless you object in whole or in part. The opportunity for you to agree or object may be given retroactively in emergency situations.
Your Authorization Is Needed for Other Uses and Disclosures: Uses and disclosures of your Medical Information for marketing purposes and disclosures that constitute a sale of PHI require your written authorization, which can be revoked. In addition, we will not use or disclose your Medical Information for any other purpose other than those identified in this notice unless you give us written authorization to do so. If you give us written authorization to use or disclose your Medical Information for a purpose that is not described in this notice, then, in most cases, you may revoke it in writing at any time. Your revocation will be effective for all your Medical Information that we maintain, unless we have taken action in reliance on your authorization or you otherwise limit the type of Medical Information that is not covered by your revoked authorization.