Notice of Privacy Practices

Get a copy of your medical record

• You can ask in writing to get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and the other health information we have about you. Reach out to the Medical Department to do this.
• We will provide a copy or summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge fees as allowed by the state.

Ask us to correct your medical record

• You can ask us in writing to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. Reach out to the Medical Department to do this.
• We will respond to the request in writing within 60 days of the request. We may deny the request in some cases.

Request confidential communications

• You may ask us to contact you in a specific way, for example, you can request that we contact you on your home or office phone, or ask that we send mail to a different address. We will say “yes” to all reasonable requests.

Ask us to limit what we use or share

• You can ask us in writing not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree to your request and we may say “no” if it would affect your care. Reach out to the Medical Records Department to do this.
  If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us in writing not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer. We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information.

Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared information

• You can ask us for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your health information for six years prior to the date you asked, who we shared it with, and why.
• We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, health care operations, and other disclosures you have requested. We’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.

Get a copy of the privacy notice

• You can ask us for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly. 
• You can ask staff questions about this notice.

Choose someone to act for you

• If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information.
• We will make sure they have this authority and can act for you before we take any action.

You can file a complaint

• If you feel we have violated your rights, please contact our Privacy Officer.
• You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Ave SW, Room 509F HHH Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20201, or by visiting https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/filing-a-complaint/index.html
• We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

For certain health information, you can tell us your choice in what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions. 

In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to:

• Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care
• Share information in a disaster relief situation
• In the case of fundraising, we may contact you for fundraising efforts, but you can tell us not to contact you again.

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example, if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

We will never share your information unless you give us written permission in the following situations:

• Marketing purposes
• Sale of your information

In the case of fundraising:

• We may contact you for fundraising efforts, but you can tell us not to contact you again.

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways:

• Treat you — We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you.
• Run our organization — We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary.
• Bill for your services — We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities.
• Business Associates — We may contract with third parties to perform functions or activities on behalf of our patients. These functions include payment and healthcare operational activities. Such contracts include provisions that require our business associates to comply with the same HIPAA privacy standards that New Bedford Community Health follows to safeguard patient PHI.

We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html.

Demographics

As a part our our efforts to provide comprehensive and inclusive care, we collect demographic information, including: race, ethnicity, preferred language, disability, gender identity, and sexual orientation. This information helps us better understand and meet the diverse needs of our community as well as tailor services. Demographic information will never be used to discriminate against or stigmatize any individual or group. Access is restricted to authorized personnel only. We will not disclose your demographic information to any third-parties without your explicit consent, expect as required by the law.

Health-Related Services

We may send you information related to your healthcare needs, such as appointment reminders, follow-up reminders, educational materials, and information about upcoming New Bedford Community Health events. We may use your PHI to tell you about our health-related products or services that may be of interest to you. If you do not want New Bedford Community Health to contact you about these health-related services, please notify the New Bedford Community Health Privacy Officer in writing.

Identity Verification

New Bedford Community Health may photograph you for identification purposes and store the photograph in your medical record. This is for your protection and safety, but you may opt-out.

Health Information Exchanges

We may share information electronically that we obtain or create about you with other healthcare providers or entities for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations through a Health Information Exchange (HIE).

Specific types of PHI

There are stricter requirements for the use and disclosure of some types of PHI which includes drug and alcohol abuse patient information, HIV tests, and mental health information. However, there are still circumstances in which these types of information may be used or disclosed without your authorization.
Examples:  genetic information, mental health, psychiatric, psychotherapy notes, substance use treatment, HIV/AIDS and STI testing, reproductive health information.

Communications with Family Members and Others Involved in Care or the Payment of Care

Unless you specifically tell us in advance not to do so, we may disclose medical information to a friend or family member who is involved in your care or who helps pay for care. There may be times when it is necessary to disclose PHI because there is an emergency, you are not present or you lack the capacity to agree or object. In those instances, we will use our professional judgment to determine if disclosure is in your best interest. If so, we will limit disclosure to the PHI directly relevant to the person’s involvement in your care.

Disaster Relief Organizations

We may disclose medical information to organizations assisting in a disaster relief effort (such as the Red Cross) so that your family can be notified of your condition, status, and location. We may disclose your name, city of residence, age, gender, and general condition to a public or private disaster relief organization to assist with disaster relief efforts unless you object at the time.

Disclosures to Parents as Personal Representatives of Minors

In most cases, we may disclose your minor child’s PHI to you. In some situations, however, we are permitted or even required by law to deny your access to your minor child’s PHI. An example is when your child has the right to independently seek medical advice about family planning or treatment for sexually transmitted infections.

To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety

New Bedford Community Health may use and disclose PHI when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or to the health and safety of the public or another person. Any disclosure will be to someone able to help prevent harm to the health or safety of you, another person, or the public.

We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information see: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/index.html

Emergencies

We may use or disclose your PHI if you need emergency treatment or if we are required by law to treat you but are unable to obtain your consent. If this happens, we will try to obtain your consent as soon as we reasonably can after we treat you.

Public Health Activities

We can share health information about you for certain situations like:

• Preventing disease
• Helping with product recalls
• Reporting adverse reactions to medications
• Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
• Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety.

Health Oversight Agencies and Public Health Authorities 

We may disclose health information, including treatment records, in response to a written request by any federal or state governmental agency to perform legally-authorized functions, such as management audits, financial audits, program monitoring and evaluation, and facility or individual licensure or certification.

Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

Under the HIPAA privacy standards, we must disclose your health information to DHHS as necessary for them to determine our compliance with those standards.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

We may disclose to the FDA health information relative to adverse effects, events with respect to food, drugs, supplements, product or product defects, or post marketing sign or in as information to enable product recalls, repairs or replacement.

Do research

We can use or share your information for health research.

Comply with the law

We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.

Respond to organ and tissue donation requests

We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.

Work with a medical examiner or funeral director

We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies.

Fundraising

We may contact you for fundraising efforts, using demographic information, dates of service, department of service, treating physician, and outcome status, but you can tell us not to contact you again. To opt out of fundraising on behalf of New Bedford Community Health, contact the Privacy Office. We will never condition treatment or payment on your choice to opt-out.

Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests

We can use or share health information about you:

• For workers’ compensation claims
• We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena. 
• We will share information about you when required to do so by state, local or federal laws, including disclosures to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• We may disclose medical information in connection with state mandatory reporting laws, such as those requiring reporting of suspected abuse and neglect of children and elderly or incapacitated adults.
• With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law
• Should you be an inmate of a correctional institution, we may disclose to the institution or agents thereof health information necessary for your health and the health and safety of other individuals, as required by law.
• For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services

Military and Veterans

If you are in the Armed Forces, we may disclose your PHI to appropriate military command authorities for activities they deem necessary to carry out their military mission. We may also release health information about foreign military personnel to the appropriate foreign military authority.

Facility Directory Information

Unless you notify us that you object, we will use your name, location in the facility, and general condition for directory purposes. This information may be provided to our staff or others to help expedite your treatment or help in health care operations.

Our responsibility to protect your PHI

New Bedford Community Health is required by federal and state law to maintain the privacy of your health information.

By law, New Bedford Community Health must:

• Maintain the privacy of your health information, including implementing reasonable and appropriate physical, administrative, and technical safeguards to protect the information.
• Provide you with this notice as to our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to individually identifiable health information we collect and maintain about you.
• Abide by the terms of this notice. We reserve the right to change the terms of our notice at any time and to make the new notice provisions effective for all PHI we maintain. Revised copies are available upon request.
• Train our staff on privacy and confidentiality.
• Implement a sanction policy to discipline those who breach privacy and confidentiality or our policies with regard thereto.
• Mitigate (lessen the harm of) any breach of privacy and confidentiality.
• This notice will also be listed on-site and on our website.