Bayview Center for Mental Health

Bayview Center for Mental Health, Inc.

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBRES HOW HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

This Notice is to inform you about our privacy practices and legal duties related to the protection of the privacy of your protected health information ("PHI"). Your PHI includes information, which we create or receive regarding your health condition and the care and treatment you receive from Bayview Center for Mental Health, Inc. (the "Center"). Generally, we are required by federal and state law to ensure that health information that identifies you is kept private and to follow the terms of the Notice that is currently in effect.

This Notice will explain how we may use and disclose your health information, our obligations related to the use and disclosure of your health information, and your rights related to any health information that we have about you. This Notice applies to the health records that are generated in or by this Center.

We may obtain your consent for the use or disclosure of your protected health information for treatment, payment or health care operations. We are required to obtain your authorization for the use or disclosure of your information for other specific purposes or reasons. We have listed some of the types of uses or disclosures below. Not every possible use or disclosure is covered, but all of the ways that we are allowed to use and disclose information will fall into one of the categories.

If you have any questions about the content of this Notice of Privacy Practices, or if you need to contact someone at the Center about any of the information contained in this Notice of Privacy Practices, the contact person is the Privacy Officer:

Bayview Center for Mental Health, Inc
111 NW 183rd Street. Suite 500 Miami Gardens, FL 33169
Phone: (305) 892-4772

In addition to Center departments, employees, staff and other personnel, the following people will also follow the practices described in this Notice:

Any health care professional who is authorized to enter information in your health record;
Any member of a volunteer group that we allow to help you while you are in the Center;
All providers that the Center contracts with to provide services to our clients.

These other individuals or providers are considered part of the Center and must follow the terms of this Notice. In addition, individuals and providers working for or contracting to the Center may share health information with each other for the purpose of treatment, payment, or health care operations as those terms are described in this Notice. These other individuals and providers are included throughout this document whenever we use the term "Center."

How We May Use And Disclose Health Information About You:
The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose health information. For each category of uses or disclosures, we will explain what we mean and try to give some examples. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories

Use and Disclosure of Health Information that Requires Your Consent:
We can use or disclose health information about you regarding your treatment, payment for services, or for Center operations, and we will have you sign an acknowledgment when you receive your copy of this Notice.

Treatment:
We may use health information about you to provide you with treatment or services. We may disclose health information about you to healthcare professionals or other Center personnel who are involved in providing, coordinating, planning and managing services for you at the Center, or interpreters needed in order to make your treatment accessible to you. For example, your treatment team members will internally discuss your health information in order to develop and carry out a plan for your services. Different departments of the Center also may share health information about you in order to coordinate the different things you need, such as prescriptions, health tests, personal assistance, etc. We also may disclose health information about you to people outside the Center who may be involved in your health care after you leave the Center, such as laboratory services or outside pharmacies we use to provide services that are part of your care, but only the minimum necessary amount of information will be used or disclosed to carry this out.

Payment:
We may use and disclose health information about you so that the treatment and services you receive at the Center may be billed to and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company or a third party. For example, we may need to provide your insurance plan information about psychiatric treatment you received at the Center so your insurance plan, or any applicable Medicaid or Medicare funds, will pay us for the services. We may also tell your insurance plan or other payor about a service you are going to receive in order to obtain prior approval or to determine whether the service is covered. In addition, in order to correctly determine your ability to pay for services, we may disclose your information to the Social Security Administration, the Department of Employment Security, or the Department of Social Services.

Health Care Operations:
We may use and disclose health information about you for Center operations. These uses and disclosures are necessary to run the Center and make sure that all of our clients receive quality care. For example, we may use health information for quality improvement to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you. We may combine health information about many Center clients to decide what additional services the Center should offer, what services are not needed, and whether certain new treatments are effective. We may also disclose information to doctors, nurses, therapists, case managers and other Center personnel as listed above for review and learning purposes. We may combine the health information we have with health information from other facilities to compare how we are doing and see where we can make improvements in the care and services we offer. It may be necessary to obtain or exchange your information with Department of Human Services, Department of Family and Child Services, or other Florida state agencies. We may remove information that identifies you from this set of health information so others may use it to study health care and health care delivery without learning your identity or that of other clients.

Uses and Disclosures of Health information That Do Not Require Your Consent or Authorization:
We can use or disclose health information about you without your consent or authorization when there is an emergency or when we are required by law to treat you, when we are required by law to use or disclose certain information, or when there are substantial communication barriers to obtaining consent from you.

Appointment Reminders:
We may use and disclose health information to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for treatment or services at the Center.

Treatment Alternatives and Health-Related Benefits and Services:
We may use and disclose health information to tell you about or recommend possible treatment options or alternatives or health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.

Individuals Involved in Disaster Relief:
Should a disaster occur, we might disclose health information about you to any Federal, State or local Agency assisting in a disaster relief effort so that your family can be notified about your condition, status and location.

Research:
Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose health information about you for research purposes when a waiver of authorization has been approved by the Institutional Review Board, or Privacy Committee. For example, a research project may involve comparing the health and recovery of all clients who received one treatment to those who received another treatment for the same condition. All research projects, however, are subject to a special approval process under Florida law. This process evaluates a proposed research project and its use of health information, trying to balance the research needs with clients' need for privacy of their health information. Before we use or disclose health information for research, the project will have been approved through this research approval process...

As Required By Law:
We will disclose health information about you when required to do so by federal, state or local law.

To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety:
We may use and disclose health information about you when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety of you, the public's, or any other person's health or safety. However, any such disclosure would only be to someone able to help prevent the threat.

SPECIAL SITUATIONS

Organ and Tissue Donations:
If you are an organ donor, we may release health information to organizations that handle organ procurement or organ, eye or tissue transplantation or to an organ donation bank, as necessary to facilitate organ or tissue donation and transplantation.

Military and Veterans:
If you are a member of the military, we may release health information about you as required by military command authorities. We may also release health information about foreign military personnel to the appropriate foreign military authority.

Workers' Compensation:
When disclosure is necessary to comply with Workers' Compensation laws or purposes, we may release health information about you for workers' compensation or similar programs. These programs provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness.

Public Health Risks:
We may disclose health information about you for public health activities. These activities generally include the following: To prevent or control disease, injury or disability, to report births and deaths, to report child abuse or neglect, to report reactions to medications or problems with products, to notify people of recalls of products you may be using, to notify a person who may have been exposed to a disease or may be at risk for contracting or spreading a disease or condition, to notify the appropriate government authority if we believe a client has been the victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence. We will only make this disclosure if you agree or when required or authorized by law.

Health Oversight Activities:
We may disclose health information to a health oversight committee for activities authorized by law. These oversight activities include, for example, audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure. These activities are necessary for the government to monitor the health care system, government programs, and compliance with civil rights laws.

Lawsuits and Disputes:
If you are involved in a lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose health information about you in response to a court or administrative order.

Law Enforcement:
We may release limited health information to law enforcement in the following situations: (1) If you are a victim of a crime if, under certain limited circumstances, we are unable to obtain the your consent; (2) about a death we believe may be the result of criminal conduct; (3) about criminal conduct at the Center; (4) if you commit or threaten to commit a crime on the premises or against program staff (in which case we may release your name, address, and last known whereabouts), and (5) in emergency circumstances, to report a crime, the location of the crime or victims, and the identity, description and/or location of the person who committed the crime.

Coroners, Health Examiners and Funeral Directors:
We may release health information to a coroner or health examiner. This may be necessary, for example, to identify a deceased person or determine the cause of death. We may also release health information about clients of the Center to funeral directors as necessary to carry out their duties. National Security and Intelligence Activities We may release health information about you to authorized federal officials for intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities authorized by law.

Protective Services for the President and Others:
We may disclose health information about you to authorized federal officials so they may conduct special investigations or provide protection to the President of the United States and other authorized persons or foreign heads of state.

Inmates:
If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or under the custody of a law enforcement official, we may release health information about you to the correctional institution or law enforcement official if the release is necessary (1) for the institution to provide you with health care, (2) to protect your health and safety or the health and safety of others, or (3) for the safety and security of the correctional institution.

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU

You have the following rights regarding health information we maintain about you:

Right to Inspect and Copy:
You have the right to inspect and copy your health information with the exception of psychotherapy notes and information compiled in anticipation of litigation. To inspect and copy your health information, you must submit your request in writing to this Center's Privacy Officer or designee. If you request a copy of the information, we may charge a fee for the costs of copying, mailing or other supplies associated with your request. We may deny your request to inspect and copy in certain very limited circumstances. If you are denied access to your health information, you may request that the denial be reviewed. Another licensed healthcare professional chosen by the Center will review your request and the denial. The person conducting the review will not be the person who denied your request. The Center will comply with the outcome of the review.

Right to Request an Amendment:
If you feel that health information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information. You have the right to request an amendment for as long as the information is kept by or for the Center.
Requests for an amendment must be made in writing and submitted to the Privacy Officer or designee. You must provide a reason to support your request for an amendment. We may deny your request if it is not in writing or if it does not include a reason supporting the request. In addition, we may deny your request if you ask us to amend information that:
" Was not created by us, unless the person or entity that created the information is no longer available to make the amendment; " Is not part of the health information kept by or for the Center; " Is not part of the information which you would be permitted to inspect and copy; or " Is accurate and complete.

Right to an Accounting of Disclosures:
You have the right to request an "accounting of disclosures", a list of the disclosures made by the Center of your health information. We are not required to include in this accounting any disclosures required to carry out treatment, payment and healthcare operations, any disclosures previously made to you, and disclosures made for national security or law enforcement purposes. To request an accounting of disclosures, you must submit your request in writing to this Center's Privacy Officer or designee. Your request must state a time period which may not go back more than six years and may not include dates before April 14, 2003. Your request should indicate in what form you want the list (for example, on paper or electronically). The first list you request within a twelve-month period will be free. For additional lists in a twelve-month period, we may charge you for the cost of providing the list. We will notify you what that cost will be and give you an opportunity to withdraw or modify your request before you are charged.

Right to Request Restrictions:
You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the health information we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment or health care operations. For example, you could ask that we not use or disclose information about your family history to a particular community provider. We are not required to agree to your request. If we do agree, we will comply with your request unless the information is needed to provide you emergency treatment. To request a restriction on the use or disclosure of your health information for treatment, payment or health care operations, you must make your request in writing to the Center's Privacy Officer or designee. In your request, you must tell us (1) what information you want to limit, (2) whether you want to limit our use, disclosure or both, and (3) to whom you want the limits to apply (for example, disclosures to your spouse).

Right to Request Confidential Communications:
You have the right to request that we communicate with you about health matters in a certain way or at a certain location. For example, you can ask that we only contact you at work or by mail. To request confidential communications, you must make your request in writing to the Center's Privacy Officer or designee. Your request must specify how or where you wish to be contacted. We will not ask you the reason for your request and will accommodate all reasonable requests.

Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice:
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 by contacting the Center's Privacy Officer or designee.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact:
Privacy Officer, Bayview Center for Mental Health, Inc, 111 NW 183rd Street. Suite 500, Miami Gardens, Fl 33169 (305) 892-4772

Changes To This Notice:
We reserve the right to change this Notice. We may make the revised Notice effective for health information we already have about you as well as any information we receive in the future. We will post a copy of the current Notice throughout the Center. The Notice will contain on the first page, in the top right-hand corner, the effective date. In addition, each time you register at or are admitted or apply for services to the Center for treatment or services, we will offer you a copy of the current Notice in effect. If you want to request any revised Notice of Privacy Practice, you may ask us to give you a copy at any time by contacting the Center's Privacy Officer or designee.

Complaints:
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated:

You may file a complaint with the Center or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, by calling 877.696.6775 or writing to 200 Independence Ave. S.W., Washington, DC, 20201.
You may file a grievance with the Office of Civil Rights by calling (866) OCR-PRIV (866.627.7748), or (886) 788-4989 TTY.
To file a complaint with the Center, contact: Privacy Officer, Bayview Center for Mental Health, Inc, 111 NW 183rd Street. Suite 500, Miami Gardens, Florida 33169 Telephone (305) 892-4772.
All complaints must be submitted in writing. You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.

Other Uses Or Disclosures Of Health Information:
Uses or disclosures not covered in this Notice of Privacy Practices will not be made without your written authorization. If you provide us written authorization to use or disclose information, you can change your mind and remove your authorization at any time, as long as it is in writing. If you revoke your authorization, we will no longer use or disclose the information. However, we will not be able to take back any disclosures that we have made pursuant to your previous authorizations.