Privacy Statement

First Choice In-Home Care Notice of Privacy Practices for Medical Information

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. 

First Choice In-Home Care is required by law to provide you with this Notice explaining the Company’s privacy practices with regard to your medical information and how we may use and disclose your protected health information (“PHI”) for treatment, payment and for health care operations, as well as for other purposes that are permitted or required by law.  You have certain rights regarding the privacy of your PHI and we also describe those rights in this Notice.

First Choice In-Home Care reserves the right to change the provision of our Notice and make new provisions effective for all PHI we maintain.  If First Choice In-Home Care makes a material change to our Notice, we will post the changes promptly on our website at www.fcihc.com.

Effective Date of This Notice:  July 17, 2007, as amended September 22, 2015

What is PHI?

Protected health information (“PHI”) consists of individually identifiable health information, which may include demographic information First Choice In-Home Care collects from you or creates or receives from another health care provider, a health plan, or a health care clearing house and that relates to (1) your past, present or future physical or mental health or condition; (2) the provision of health care to you; or (3) the past, present or future payment for the provision of health care to you.

HITECH Amendments

HITECH Notification Requirements

Under HITECH, First Choice In-Home Care is required to notify its clients whose PHI has been breached.  Notification must occur by first class mail within 60 days of the breach incident.  A breach occurs when an unauthorized use or disclosure that compromises the privacy or security of PHI poses a significant risk for financial, reputational or other harm to the individual.  This notice must (1) contain a brief description of what happened, including the date of the breach and date of discovery; (2) the steps that the individual should take to protect themselves from potential harm resulting from the breach; and (3) a brief description of what First Choice In-Home Care is doing to investigate the breach, mitigate losses, and to protect against further breaches. 

Business Associates

Effective February 2010, First Choice In-Home Care’s Business Associate Agreements have been amended to provide that all HIPAA security administrative safeguards, physical safeguards, technical safeguards and security policies, procedures, and documentation requirements apply directly to the Business Associate.

Cash Payments

HITECH states that if a client pays in full for their services out of pocket they can demand that the information regarding the service not be disclosed to the client’s third party payor since no claim is being made against the third party payor.

Access to E-Health Records

HITECH expands this right, giving individuals the right to access their own e-health record in an electronic format and to direct First Choice In-Home Care to send the e-health record directly to a third party.  First Choice In-Home Care may only charge for labor costs under the HITECH rules.

Accounting for E-Health Records for Treatment, Payment and Health

First Choice In-Home Care does not currently have to provide an accounting of disclosures of PHI to carry out treatment, payment and health care operations.  Starting January 1, 2014, HITECH will require First Choice In-Home Care to provide an accounting of disclosures through an e-health record to carry out treatment, payment and health care operations.  This new accounting requirement is limited to disclosures within the three (3) year period prior to the individual’s request.

First Choice In-Home Care must either (1) provide an individual with an accounting of such disclosures it made and its business associate disclosures; or (2) provide an individual with an accounting of the disclosures made by First Choice In-Home Care and a list of business associates, including their contact information, who will be responsible for providing an accounting of such disclosures upon the individual’s request.

How First Choice In-Home Care May Use or Disclose Your Health Information

First Choice In-Home Care collects health information about you and stores it in a chart which is your medical record.  We need this information to provide you with quality care and to create a record of the care and services you receive at First Choice In-Home Care.  First Choice In-Home Care is committed to protecting the privacy of your PHI.  The law permits First Choice In-Home Care to use or disclose your PHI for the following purposes. 

Treatment.  We may use PHI about you to provide you with medical treatment or services.  We may disclose PHI about you to doctors, psychologists, pharmacists, nurses, social workers, therapists, technicians, or other personnel involved in providing services to you.  Different departments of First Choice In-Home Care may also share PHI about you in order to coordinate the different services you need.

Payment.  We may use and disclose PHI about you so that the treatment and services you receive at First Choice In-Home Care or other providers from whom you receive treatment or services, may be billed to, and payment may be collected from, you, an insurance company, a third party, Medicaid or other payor.  To the extent possible, our staff and outside contractors or consultants will make reasonable efforts to assure that the use and disclosure of your PHI is conducted in a secure and confidential manner.

Health Care Operations.  First Choice In-Home Care may use and disclose PHI about you for agency operations.  These uses and disclosures are necessary to manage the operation and to monitor your quality of care.  For example, we may use PHI to evaluate our agency’s services, including the performance of our staff.  We may also use PHI for training purposes or to develop new policies, procedures, or programs that may benefit you or other individuals we support.  Your PHI may be shared with survey reviewers and other accreditation bodies in accordance with current and on-going operating procedures.

Information provided directly to you.

Notification and communication with family.  We may disclose your PHI to notify or assist in notifying a family member, your personal representative, a friend or another person responsible for your care about your location, your general condition or in the untimely event of your death.  If you are able and available to agree or object, we will give you the opportunity to do so prior to making this notification.  If you are unable or unavailable to agree or object, our health professionals will use their best judgment in communication with your family and others, but will tell you about it after the emergency and give you the opportunity to object to future disclosures to those persons.

Required by law.  As required by law, we may use and disclose your PHI as described below:

Public health.  We may disclose your PHI to public health authorities for purposes related to:  preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability; reporting child abuse or neglect; reporting domestic violence; reporting to the Food and Drug Administration problems with products and reactions to medications; and reporting disease or infection exposure.

Health oversight activities.  We may disclose your PHI to health agencies during the course of audits, investigations, inspections, licensure and other proceedings.

Judicial and administrative proceedings.  We may disclose your PHI in the course of any administrative or judicial proceeding as required by a court order or subpoena.

Law enforcement.  We may disclose your PHI to a law enforcement official for purposes such as identifying or locating a suspect, fugitive, material witness or missing person, complying with other law enforcement purposes.

Deceased person information.  We may disclose your PHI to coroners, medical examiners and funeral directors.

Public safety.  We may disclose your PHI to appropriate persons in order to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a particular person or the general public.

Specialized government functions.  We may disclose your PHI for military, national security, and prisoner purposes.

Worker’s compensation.  We may disclose your PHI as necessary to comply with worker’s compensation laws.

Facility Directories.  If you do not object, we may include your name, photo or other PHI in a facility directory.

Marketing.  We will use and disclose PHI for marketing purposes only with the individual’s authorization.  We will use and disclose PHI that constitutes the sale of PHI only with the individual’s authorization.

Only the minimum necessary PHI will be disclosed to accomplish the above purposes.

When First Choice In-Home Care May Not Use or Disclose Your Health Information

Except as described in this Notice, First Choice In-Home Care will not use or disclose your PHI without your written authorization.  If you do authorize First Choice In-Home Care to use or disclose your health information for another purpose, you may revoke your authorization in writing at any time.  Disclosures made in reliance on an authorization prior to a revocation are not affected by the revocation. 

Your Rights Related to Protected Health Information

1. You have the right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your health information.  First Choice In-Home Care is not required to agree to the restriction that you requested.  We ask that such requests be made in writing. We are not required to agree to your request if First Choice In-Home Care believes it is in your best interest to use or disclose that information.

2. You have the right to inspect and copy your health information.  Any psychotherapy notes that may be included in records we have or received about you are not available for your full inspection or copying, by law.  We may charge you a fee for the costs of copying, mailing or other supplies used to fulfill your request.  If you wish to inspect or copy your PHI, you must submit a request in writing to First Choice In-Home Care’s Privacy Officer.  First Choice In-Home Care has thirty (30) days to respond to your request.  If the information is stored off-site, we are allowed up to 60 days to respond, but must inform you of the delay. 

3. You have a right to request that First Choice In-Home Care amend your health information that is incorrect or incomplete.  First Choice In-Home Care is not required to change your health information and will provide you with information about First Choice In-Home Care’s denial and how you request a review.  We ask that such requests be made in writing and clearly state what information is incomplete or inaccurate and the reasons for your request.

4. You have a right to receive an accounting of disclosures of your health information made by First Choice In-Home Care, except that First Choice In-Home Care does not have to account for the disclosures related to treatment, payment of health care operations.  Your request must be in writing and must state the time period for the requested information.  You may not request information for any dates prior to July 17, 2007 or for a period greater than six (6) years, which is the legal obligation to retain that information.

5. You have the right to request how First Choice In-Home Care communicates with you to preserve your privacy.  For example, you may request that we call you only at work or by mail at a special address or PO Box.  Your request must be in writing and must specify how or where we should contact you.  First Choice In-Home Care will accommodate all reasonable requests.

6. You have a right to a paper copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices.

If you would like to have a more detailed explanation of these rights or if you would like to exercise one or more of these rights, please contact:

Privacy Officer
First Choice In-Home Care, Inc.
15015 Main Street, STE 209
Bellevue, WA 98007

Complaints

Complaints about this Notice of Privacy Practices or how First Choice In-Home Care’s handles your PHI must be in writing within 180 days of the suspected violation and directed to:

Privacy Officer
First Choice In-Home Care, Inc.
15015 Main Street, STE 209
Bellevue, WA 98007

Complaints must provide as much detail as possible about the suspected violation.  We will not retaliate in any way if you choose to file a complaint with us or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

If you are not satisfied with the manner in which this office handles a complaint, you may submit a formal complaint to: 

Department of Health and Human Services
Office of Civil Rights
Hubert H. Humphrey Bldg.
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Room 509F HHH Building
Washington, DC  20201

You may also address your compliant to one of the regional Offices for Civil Rights.  A list of these offices can be found online at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/regmail.html.

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