- To notify a person who may have been exposed to a disease or may be at risk for contracting or spreading the disease
- To notify the appropriate government authority if we believe an adult patient has been the victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence. We will only make this disclosure if you agree or when required by law.
- To support public health surveillance and combat bioterroism.
Health Oversight Activities. We may. disclose your health information to a federal or state oversight agency that is authorized by law to oversee our operations. Law Enforcement. We may release health information if asked to do so by a law enforcement official and such release is required or permitted by law. For example, we may disclose your protected health information to report a gunshot wound. However, if you request treatment and rehabilitation for drug dependence from us, your request will be treated as confidential and we will not disclose your name to any, law enforcement officer unless you give consent. . Lawsuits and Disputes. If you are involved' in a lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose your health information in response to a court or an administrative order. We may also disclose your health information in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute. Research. Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose medical information about you for research purposes. All research projects, however, are subject to a special approval process. Before we use or disclose medical information for research, the project will have been approved through this research approval process. We may, however, use medical information about you in preparing to conduct a research project, for example, to look for patients with specific needs, so long as the medical information reviewed dots not leave our entity. Specialized Government Functions. We may disclose protected health information about you if it relates to military and veterans' activities, national security and intelligence activities, protective services for the President, and medical suitability or determinations of the Department of State. Workman's Compensation. We may release your health information for workers' compensation or similar programs. These programs provide benefits for work-related injuries or illnesses. Inmates. If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or under the custody of a law enforcement official, we may release your health information to the correctional institution or law enforcement official. This release is required: (1) for the institution to provide you with health care; (2) to protect your health and safety or the health and safety of others; and (3) for the safety and security of the correctional institution.
OTHER USES OF HEALTH INFORMATION
Other uses and disclosures of health information not covered by this notice or the laws that apply to us will be made only with your written permission. Also, when consent to disclosure is required by state law, your consent will be obtained prior to such disclosure. If you provide us permission to use or disclose your health information, you may revoke that permission, in writing, at any time. If you revoke your permission, we will no longer use or disclose your health information for the reasons covered by your written authorization. We are unable to take back any disclosures that we have already made with your permission. We are required to retain records of the care that we provided to you. North Carolina Law. In the event that North Carolina Law requires us to give more protection to your health information than stated in this Notice or required by Federal Law, we will give that additional protection to your health information. For example, we will comply with additional sate law confidentiality protections relating to communicable diseases, such as HIV and AIDS. We will also comply with additional state law confidentiality protections relating to treatment for mental health and drug or alcohol abuse. Those laws generally require that we obtain your written consent before we disclose information related to your mental health, developmental disabilities or substance abuse services, subject to certain exceptions permitted by law, such as disclosure to other facilities or professionals when necessary to coordinate your care or treatment or to a health care provider in an emergency. Also, state law permits a hospice, home health, ambulatory surgery or outpatient cardiac rehabilitation patient to object in writing to having state licensing inspectors review their health information during a licensure survey, and we will comply with such written objection.
Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to request that we restrict the use and disclosure of your protected health information. We are not required to agree to your requested restrictions. And, if we agree to your request, there are certain situations when we may not be able to comply with your request. These situations include emergency treatment, disclosures to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and uses and disclosure that do not require your authorization.
Right to Request Alternative Ways of Communication. You have the right to request how and where we contact you about your medical matters. For example, you may request that we contact you at your work address or phone number. Your request must be in writing. We will accommodate reasonable requests, but when appropriate, may condition that accommodation on your providing us with information regarding how payment, if any, will be handled and your specifications of an alternative address or other method of contact.
Right to Paper Copy this Notice. We will provide a paper of this notice to you no later than the date you first receive service from us. Contact for Questions or Complaints. Please call our office at (919) 484-9551 .
Changes to this Notice. We reserve the right to change the terms in this Notice and to make new notice provisions effective for all protected health information that we maintain by:
- Posting the revised notice at our facilities.
- Making copies of the revised notice available upon request.