I. What is Parents as Teachers?
Parents as Teachers (PAT) is an early childhood home visiting program designed to help you learn more about parenting and health, support your child’s development, and help with the challenges of parenting. Our services are available to your family until your child turns 3 years old.
Your participation is voluntary and there is no cost to your family.
II. What can you expect?
First, we will get to know you better by learning about your family. We call this family-centered assessment. We will also partner with you to set goals that are meaningful to you and your family.
- You will receive home visits each month by a certified parent educator to support you in your parenting role and provide child development information.
- You will be able to engage in group connections with other families.
- Within the first 90 days and then as needed your child(ren) will receive developmental screening and a review of health, hearing, and vision that can identify potential developmental delays.
- We will help you connect to resources in the community based on the interests and needs of your family.
III. What will we ask of you?
- Be present for and participate actively in all scheduled visits.
- If you need to cancel or reschedule, contact your parent educator at least 24 hours in advance.
- If you miss more than 2 visits in a row without cancelling and rescheduling, we will terminate your services with our program.
- Attend group connections.
- Share your observations of your child each visit and during screenings.
IV. Limits to our services
Parent educators are not a replacement for regular medical, dental, or mental health care. We do not diagnose medical, developmental, or psychological conditions. However, we can help you connect to qualified professionals and resources.
Parent educators are not available 24 hours a day or 7 days per week.
- Typical work day hours are 8am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday; however, hours can often deviate from this. Please discuss availability directly with your parent educator.
- We will do our best to respond to phone calls and text messages within 24 hours during typical work days.
- We are not an emergency service.
V. Wood County Notice of Privacy Practices
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
WOOD COUNTY must maintain the privacy of your personal health information and give you this notice that describes our legal duties and privacy practices concerning your personal health information. In general, when we release your health information, we must release only the information we need to achieve the purpose of the use or disclosure. However, all of your personal health information that you designate will be available for release if you sign an authorization form, if you request the information for yourself, to a provider regarding your treatment, or due to a legal requirement. We must follow the privacy practices described in this notice. However, we reserve the right to change the privacy practices described in this notice, in accordance with the law. Changes to our privacy practices would apply to all health information we maintain. If we change our privacy practices, you will receive a revised copy.
Without your written authorization, we can use your health information for the following purposes:
***Please note this is not the complete list of purposes, but these may be used within this program. For the complete list of purposes please view our Privacy Notice.***
1. Treatment.
We will use and disclose your protected health information to provide, coordinate, or manage your health care and any related services. This includes the coordination or management of your health care with a third party. The treatment selected will be documented in your medical record, so that other health care professionals can make informed decisions about your care.
2. Health Care Operations.
We may use or disclose, as needed, your protected health information to support the daily activities related to health care. We may need your diagnosis, treatment, and outcome information in order to improve the quality or cost of care we deliver. These quality and cost improvement activities may include evaluating the performance of health care professionals, or examining the effectiveness of the treatment provided to you when compared to clients in similar situations. In addition, we may want to use your health information for appointment reminders. Or, we may look at your medical information and decide that another treatment or a new service we offer may interest you.
For certain services, such as Prenatal Care Coordination, we may enter your personal data into a secure database. Limited information may be viewable by other professionals who have been granted approval to access the database. The database is for the purpose of tracking client intervention, activities and outcomes.
3. As required or permitted by law.
Sometimes we must report some of your health information to legal authorities, such as law enforcement officials, court officials, or government agencies. For example, we may have to report abuse, neglect, domestic violence or certain physical injuries, or to respond to a court order.
4. For public health activities.
We may be required to report your health information to authorities to help prevent or control disease, injury, or disability. This may include using your medical record to report certain diseases, injuries, birth or death information, information of concern to the Food and Drug Administration, or information related to child abuse or neglect. We may also have to report to your employer certain work-related illnesses and injuries so that your workplace can be monitored for safety.
5. For health oversight activities.
We may disclose your health information to authorities so they can monitor, investigate, inspect, discipline or license those who work in the health care system or for government benefit programs.
6. For research.
Under certain circumstances, and only after a special approval process, we may use and disclose your health information to help conduct research. Such research might try to find out whether a certain treatment is effective in curing an illness.
7. To avoid a serious threat to health or safety.
As required by law and standards of ethical conduct, we may release your health information to the proper authorities if we believe, in good faith, that such release is necessary to prevent or minimize a serious and approaching threat to your or the public’s health or safety.
NOTE: Except for the situations listed above, we must obtain your specific written authorization for any other release of your health information. If you sign an authorization form, you may withdraw your authorization at any time, as long as your withdrawal is in writing. If you wish to withdraw your authorization, please submit your written withdrawal to the Health Officer at 111 W Jackson St, 3rd Floor, Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54495.
Your Rights
You have several rights with regard to your health information. If you wish to exercise any of the following rights, please contact the Health Officer. Specifically, you have the right to:
1. Inspect and copy your health information.
With a few exceptions, you have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of your health information. However, this right does not apply to psychotherapy notes or information gathered for judicial proceedings, for example. In addition, we may charge you a reasonable fee if you want a copy of your health information.
2. Request to correct your health information.
If you believe your health information is incorrect, you may ask us to correct the information. You may be asked to make such requests in writing and to give a reason as to why your health information should be changed. However, if we did not create the health information that you believe is incorrect, or if we disagree with you and believe your health information is correct, we may deny your request.
3. Request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures.
You have the right ask for restrictions on how your health information is used or to whom your information is disclosed, even if the restriction affects your treatment or our payment or health care operation activities. Or, you may want to limit the health information provided to family or friends involved in your care or payment of medical bills. You may also want to limit the health information provided to authorities involved with disaster relief efforts. However, we are not required to agree in all circumstances to your requested restriction.
If you receive certain medical devices (for example, life-supporting devices used outside our facility), you may refuse to release your name, address, telephone number, social security number or other identifying information for purpose of tracking the medical device.
4. As applicable, receive confidential communication of health information.
You have the right to ask that we communicate your health information to you in different ways or places. For example, you may wish to receive information about your health status in a special, private room or through a written letter sent to a private address. We must accommodate reasonable requests.
5. Receive a record of disclosures of your health information.
The County must keep a record of whom your information is disclosed to, and you have a right to see the disclosure record. You may request this information from the Wood County Health Department.
6. Obtain a paper copy of this notice.
Upon your request, you may at any time receive a paper copy of this notice, even if you earlier agreed to receive this notice electronically at www.woodcountywi.gov
7. Complaints.
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us and with the federal Department of Health and Human Services. We will not retaliate against you for filing such a complaint. To file a complaint with either entity, please contact the Wood County Health Officer at 715-421-8911, who will provide you with the necessary assistance and paperwork.
Again, if you have any questions or concerns regarding your privacy rights or the information in this notice, please contact Wood County Health Officer at 715-421-8911.
This Notice of Medical Information Privacy is Effective April 14, 2003.