THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU CAN BE USED AND DISCLOSED, AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

If you have any questions, please contact our Privacy Officer at 573-341-4284

Who will follow this Notice?

Professional and Administrative Staff in the Student Health Services Department will follow the outlined practice for keeping your medical record private.
This includes: Doctors, Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Nurses, Athletic Trainers, Psychologists, Counselor, and Administrative Staff.  Student workers, contractors, and volunteers are also covered.

What is this Notice?

We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information.  We are also required by law to give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices regarding your health information.  We are required to notify you if there is a breach of your unsecured protected health information.  We are required to follow the terms of the current Notice of Privacy Practices

 

How we may use and disclose your health information

We may use and disclose your health information for:

 Treatment:  We may use and disclose health information for your medical treatment and services. For example, we may disclose your health information to a physician or facility to provide you with continued medical treatment.

Payment: We may use and disclose health information to bill for and receive payment for the services provided to you.  For example, we may send health information to your insurance company so they will pay for treatment.

Health Care Operations:  We may use and disclose health information for purposes of health care operations.  Health care operations include quality assessment and improvement activities, reviews of the competence or qualifications of our health care providers, and business planning and development.  

 

Other uses and disclosures: We may use and disclose health information for the following purposes:

 Appointment Reminders: To remind you that you have an appointment scheduled with us. 

 As required by Law: When required to do so by applicable law.

To prevent a Serious Threat to Health or Safety: To prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of others. Individuals Involved in your Care: Unless you object, to friends, family members or others involved in your medical care or who may be helping pay for your care.

Organ and Tissue Donation: Organ or tissue donation to organizations that handle organ procurement and transplant.

Public Health Activities: For public health activities such as preventing or control of disease, reporting births and deaths, and reporting child abuse and neglect.

Health Oversight Activities: To governmental agencies and boards as authorized by law such as licensing and compliance purposes.

Lawsuits and Disputes: In response to a warrant, court order, or other lawful process.

Business Associates: Business Associates are directly liable for violations of the HIPAA/HITECH Act. Subcontractors of a business associate that create, receive, maintain or transmit PHI on behalf of the business associate are likewise HIPAA business associates, and subject to the same requirements that the first business associate is subject to.

Breach Notification: Uses or disclosures of PHI that are not permissible are now presumed to be a Breach, unless it can be demonstrated a “low probability” exists that your PHI has been compromised or that an exception applies.

 

Your Rights Regarding Your Health Information

In most cases, you may make a written request to look at, or get a copy of your health information. If you request copies, we may charge a fee for the cost of copying, mailing or other related supplies. If we deny your request to review or obtain a copy, you have the right to have that denial reviewed by a licensed health care professional who was not directly involved in the denial of your request, and we will comply with the outcome of that review.

If your health information is maintained in electronic format, you have the right to request an electronic copy of your health information.  If your health information is not readily producible in the format you request, it will be provided either in our standard electronic format or as a paper document.   We may charge you a reasonable cost based fee for the labor associated with transmitting electronic health information.

If you feel your health information is incorrect or incomplete, you have the right to request that we amend your information. You must submit a written request providing your reason for requesting the amendment to the Health Information Services department. Your request to amend your health information may be denied if it was not created by us; if it is not part of the information maintained by us; or if we determine that the information is correct. You may submit a written appeal if you disagree.  Your request for amendment will be included as a part of your health information.

You have the right to a paper copy of this notice.  You may ask us to give you a copy of this notice at any time.

You have the right to request that your health information be given to you in a confidential manner. You have the right to request that we communicate with you in a certain way or at a certain location, such as by mail or at your workplace.

You have a right to ask that we not disclose your health information to your health plan if the disclosure is for the purpose of carrying out payment or healthcare operations and is not otherwise required by law. Such restricted disclosure must pertain solely to a healthcare item or service for which you, or someone on your behalf, have paid us in full. 

You may request, in writing, that we not use or disclose your health information for treatment, payment or healthcare operations; or to persons involved in your care; when required by law; or in an emergency. All written requests or appeals should be submitted to our Compliance Office listed at the end of this notice.  We are not required to agree with the requested restrictions.

You have the right to be notified if there is an unauthorized use or disclosure of your unsecured protected health information unless we determine that there is a low probability that your information has been compromised.

Complaints

You may register a complaint at the Student Health Complex with the Privacy Officer.

You may also contact Missouri Department of Health, Bureau of Health Facility Regulation: and/or the State Attorney General’s Office
You may file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights.

We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.  

Changes to this Notice

If we change our policies regarding our use and/or disclosure of your protected health information, we will change our Notice of Privacy Practices and make the revised notice available to you on our website and our practice locations.

 

This notice will be available to you at the SHS registration desk.  We ask that you read it and acknowledge that you are aware of it. You may request a paper copy.  This notice will also be on your patient portal.

 

You have the RIGHT to:

HIPAA is The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.  HIPAA is a federal law that protects the privacy of health information.   Read more about HIPAA here

FERPA is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.  FERPA is a federal law that protects the privacy of educational records.   Read more about FERPA here.