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 THIS NOTICE
CAREFULLY.
TCC makes a record of the health care that we provide.
TCC respects your privacy, and the law says that TCC
must keep information about you confidential.
This Notice tells you how TCC uses and shares your
medical information and how you can get access to your health
records. TCC is required by law to do the things we say in this Notice.
This Notice applies to your records at Chief Andrew Isaac Health
Clinic, the Counseling Center, the Dental Clinic, the Eye
Clinic, at the village health clinics, and anywhere else that
TCC keeps health information about you.
How TCC Uses and Shares Your Medical Information.
TCC uses your medical information for treatment. TCC shares this information
with other providers when it is needed to decide what care is best for you.
For example, a doctor at TCC might ask if you have high
blood pressure. This
information lets the doctor avoid giving you medicine that
could make your blood pressure worse.
TCC shares this information with nurses, pharmacists,
and other health care providers so that they also can avoid
doing things that might make your blood pressure worse.
TCC
uses your medical information to obtain payment for your
health care. TCC
sends bills to Medicaid, other government programs, and
private insurance. For
example, insurance companies often need information about your
visit with the doctor in order to decide if the visit is
covered by insurance. TCC
shares information with the State of Alaska to apply for payments from
Medicaid.
TCC
uses your medical information to improve the health care we
provide. For
example, TCC might use your information to evaluate how well
our employees are doing their jobs.
Some
laws say that TCC must report some kinds of health
information. Even
if you do not agree, TCC reports this information:
- Contagious
diseases, birth defects, and cancer
- Injuries
from guns, knives, and beatings, and other similar
injuries
- Bad
reactions to medicines, or defective medical equipment
- To
the police when required by law
- When
a judge orders TCC to produce information
When the government needs to see
medical information to decide how well TCC programs are
working.
- To
a medical provider or insurance company that needs to know
if you are enrolled in one of our programs
- To
workers compensation, if you were injured at work
- Births,
deaths, and immunizations
- To
the federal government when they are investigating
something to protect our country, the president, or other
government workers
- Coroners
and funeral directors, if someone has died or might die
soon
- Abused
or neglected children,or
domestic violence.
TCC
might share your health information with TCC's business
associates. For
example, an organization that evaluates the quality of TCC's
health care might want to see some of the medical records we
keep on TCC patients.
A
special law protects information about alcohol and drug
treatment. This
law describes when TCC must obtain your consent to share these
records, and what other people must do if they want to see
these records. TCC
will follow the requirements of this law.
TCC
will use medical information about you to remind you of
appointments or other possible treatments or benefits for you.>
Except
for the purposes described in this Notice, TCC will share your
medical information with other health care providers only if
you agree. Even
when you agree, you can change your mind later and revoke your
consent. However,
if TCC has already shared information based on your consent,
TCC does not have to try to get that information back.
Your rights
The
law gives you many rights concerning your health care
information at TCC.
You
may inspect and copy your health records. You do not have a right to see psychotherapy notes, any
information prepared for a legal proceeding, or any
information that might have other legal restrictions against
disclosure. You
might be charged a small amount for copying costs. If TCC refuses to give you certain records, you can
appeal this decision to the Privacy Officer.
You
may ask TCC to limit how we use and share your health
information. You
may ask TCC not to share medical information about you. You may ask TCC not to use information about you for
treatment, payment, or operation of our health care
facilities. You
may ask that TCC not share information about you with family
or friends who are helping you with your health care. When you request such restrictions, you must name the
person or the organization who
cannot have your health care information, and you must give a
reason for the restriction you want. If you want to put limits on the use or disclosure or
your health care information, contact the TCC Privacy Officer. TCC does not have to agree with the restrictions you
want; if TCC refuses, you can appeal to the Privacy Officer.
You
have the right to change your health care information. TCC might deny this request. If TCC denies the request, we will explain why. When you receive TCC's denial, you may appeal to the
Privacy Officer, and TCC might reply. If you want to change information in your health
records, please contact the TCC Privacy Officer.
You
can tell TCC how you want your health care information given
to you. You can
tell TCC how to give you the information and where you want us
to send it.
You
have the right to know how TCC has used or shared health care
information about you. When
you ask, TCC must tell you when we have used or shared
information about you for some purpose besides the following:
your treatment, payment for services, health care operations, disclosures
about you to family members or friends, or notices of
appointments. This
right applies to use and disclosure of information after April
14, 2003.
You
may have a paper copy of this Notice.
Policy Changes
You
may keep this Notice. If
you want to know when TCC makes important changes to this
notice, you can ask the Privacy Officer to send you a copy.
Questions, Comments, and
Complaints
You
may talk to the TCC Privacy Officer if you have any questions,
complaints, or if TCC has refused to do something that you
want. The Privacy
Officer is on the 4th Floor, Chief Andrew Isaac Health Center, 1408 19th Ave,
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701, (907) 451-6682, phone extension
3630. You can also
complain to the federal government by writing to the
Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil
Rights, 2201 Sixth Ave #900, Seattle, WA 98121-1831. The Office of Civil Rights has a Hotline at (800)
368-1019. Your health care will not be affected by any complaints
that you make to the Privacy Officer or to the Office of Civil
Rights. TCC will
not retaliate against you or anyone else if you make a
complaint.
