Notice of Privacy Practices

Effective: March 1, 2025

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.

At our hospital, we are committed to treating and using protected health information about you responsibly. This Notice of Privacy Policies describes the personal information we collect, and how and when we used or disclose that information. It also describes your rights as they relate to your protected health information. This Notice is effective April 14, 2003, and applies to all protected health information as defined by federal regulations.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR HEALTH RECORD

Each time you visit our hospital, a record of your visit is made. Typically, this record contains your symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment, and a plan for future care or treatment. This information, often referred to as your health or medical record, serves as a:

• Basis for planning your care and treatment,
• Means of communication among the many health professionals who contribute to your care,
• Legal document describing the care you received,
• Means by which you or a third-party payer can verify that services billed were actually provided,
• Tool in educating health professionals,
• Source of data for medical research,
• Source of information for public health officials charged to improve the health of the state and nation,
• Source of data for our planning and marketing, and
• Tool by which we can assess and continually work to improve the care we render and outcomes we

Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to: ensure its accuracy; better understand, what, when, where and why others may access your health information; and make more informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to others.

YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION RIGHTS

Although your health record is the physical property of our hospital, the information belongs to you. You have the right to:

• Obtain a paper or electronic copy of your medical record,
• Receive a copy this notice of privacy policies upon request,
• Inspect and copy your health record,
• Make corrections to your health record,
• Choose someone to act on your behalf in exercising these rights,
• Obtain an accounting of disclosures of your health information,
• Request confidential communications of your health information, and
• Request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your Dependent on specifics of request, our hospital may not be required by law to agree to a requested restriction.

OUR RESPONSIBILITIES

Our hospital is required to:

• Maintain the privacy of your health information,
• Inform you promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information,
• Provide you with this notice as to our legal duties and privacy hospitals with respect to information we collect and maintain about you,
• Abide by the terms of this notice,
• Notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction, and
• Accommodate reasonable requests you may have to communicate your health

We reserve the right to change our hospitals privacy practice and to make the new provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain. We will keep a posted copy of the most current notice in our facility containing the effective date. In addition, each time you visit our facility for treatment, you may obtain a copy of the current notice in effect upon request.

We will not use or disclose your health information in a manner other than described in the section regarding Examples of Disclosures for Treatment, Payment, And Health Operations, without your written authorization, which you may revoke as provided by 45 CFR 164.508(b)(5), except to the extent that action has already been taken. Covered entities and business associates that receive records as per this notice may redisclose your health information in accordance with the HIPAA regulations.

Federal law makes provision for your health information to be released to an appropriate health oversight agency, public health authority, or attorney, provided that a work force member or business associate believes in good faith that we have engaged in unlawful conduct or have otherwise violated professional or clinical standards and are potentially endangering one or more patients, workers, or the public.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REPORT A PROBLEM

If you have questions, would like additional information, or you believe your privacy rights have been violated and would like to file a complaint, please contact our hospital’s Facility Privacy Officer at (318) 371-3233, or our organization’s Corporate Privacy Officer at (318) 226-8202.

Alternately, you may choose to file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OCR). The address for the OCR is as follows:

Office for Civil Rights

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 200 Independence Avenue, S.W.

Room 509F, HHH Building Washington, D.C. 20201

There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint with either our Privacy Officer(s) or the OCR. EXAMPLES OF DISCLOSURES FOR TREATMENT, PAYMENT, AND HEALTH OPERATIONS

We will use your health information for treatment.

For example:

Information obtained by a nurse, physician, or other member of your health care team will be recorded in your record and used to determine the course of treatment that should work best for you. Your physician will document in your record his or her expectations of the members of your health care team. Members of your health care team will then record the actions they took and the observations. In that way, the physician will know how you are responding to treatment.

We will use your health information for payment. For example:

A bill may be sent to your or a third-party payer. The information on or accompanying the bill may include information that identifies you, as well as your diagnosis, procedures, and supplies used.

We will use your health information for regular health operations.

For example:

Members of the medical staff, the risk or quality improvement manager, or members of the quality improvement team may use information in your health record to assess the care and outcomes in your case and others like it. This information will then be used in an effort to continually improve the quality and effectiveness of the healthcare and service we provide.

EXAMPLES OF OTHER DISCLOSURES

Business Associates

There are some services provided in our organization through contacts with business associates. Examples include physician services in the emergency department and radiology, certain laboratory tests, and a transcription service we use to transfer dictated patient care into the medical record. Due to the nature of business associates’ services, they must receive your health information in order to perform the jobs we have asked them to do. To protect your health information, however, when these services are contracted, we require the business associate to appropriately safeguard your information.

Research

We may disclose information to researchers when their research has been approved by an institutional review board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your health information.

Medical Examiners and Funeral directors

We may disclose health information to funeral directors to carry out their duties consistent with applicable law.

Organ Procurement Organizations

Consistent with applicable law, we may disclose health information to organ procurement organizations or other entities engaged in the procurement, banking, or transplantation of organs for the purpose of tissue donation and transplant.

Fundraising

We may contact you as part of a fund-raising effort.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

We may disclose to the FDA health information relative to adverse events with respect to food, supplements, product and product defects, or post marketing surveillance information to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacement.

Workers Compensation, Military and Governmental Agencies

We may disclose health information to the extent authorized by and necessary to comply with laws relating to workers compensation, special government functions or other similar programs established by law.

Public Health and Safety

As required by law, we may disclose your health information to public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability.

Appointment Reminders

We may contact you or a family member at the phone number you have provided to use as a reminder that you have an appointment.

Marketing

We may contact you to provide information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.

Directory

Unless you notify us that you object, we will use your name, location in the facility, and general condition for our directory purposes. This information may be provided to members of your family and to other people who ask for you by name.

Notification

We may use or disclose information to notify or assist in notifying a family member or personal representative (or other person responsible for your care) of your location and general condition.

Communication With Family

Health professionals, using their best judgement, may disclose to a family member, other relative or close friend (or any other person you identify) health information relevant to that person’s involvement in your care or payment related to your care.

Legal Action

We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.

Law Enforcement

We may disclose health information for law enforcement purposes as required by law or in response to a valid court order.

DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION RELATED TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE

The Final Rule “HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy” strengthened the Privacy Rule by prohibiting the disclosure of protected health information (PHI) related to lawful reproductive health care in certain circumstances.

Covered entities and their business associates are prohibited from disclosing your health information for the following purposes:

• To conduct a criminal, civil or administrative investigation or to impose criminal, civil or administrative liability on any person for the mere act of seeking, obtaining, providing, or facilitating lawful reproductive health care.
• To identify any person for the purpose described above.

Our facility will obtain an attestation for the party requesting PHI related to reproductive health care to ensure the use or disclosure is not for a prohibited purpose.

The prohibition does not prohibit other uses and disclosure related to reproductive healthcare. Our facility may disclose PHI as required by law (limited to a mandate contained in law that compels an entity to make use or disclosure of PHI and is enforceable in a court of law).