Georgia: 706-602-4975
Toll-Free: 877-444-0330
At Peace Hospice Care Privacy Notice
Introduction
At Peace Hospice Care respects your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information. At Peace Hospice Care may use and/or disclose your Protected Health Information (PHI) for the purposes of treatment, payment or other health care operations. PHI includes name, date of birth, social security number and other data elements that would identify an individual. At Peace Hospice Care collects a variety of information in order to develop and administer a hospice and palliative plan of care. This notice also sets out At Peace Hospice Care’s legal obligations concerning your PHI, and describes your rights to access and control your protected health information.
Definitions
Your Hospice Plan of Care uses and discloses your PHI for treatment, payment and health care operations.
Treatment, as defined by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) "means the provision, coordination, or management of health care and related services…" Example: Your primary physician may contact the At Peace Hospice Care Medical Director and recommend a specific pain medication.
Payment, as defined by HIPPA means, "the activities undertaken by a health plan to obtain premiums or to determine or fulfill its responsibility for coverage and provision of benefits under the health plan, or a covered health care provider or health plan to obtain or provide reimbursement for the provision of health care." Example: A private insurance provider may remit payment to At Peace Hospice Care for payment along with an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) for services rendered on your behalf. The EOB will contain PHI for the purpose of identifying you as the individual for whom remittance has been made.
Health Care Operations, according to HIPPA means “conducting quality assessment and improvement activities…population based activities relating to improving health or reducing health care costs…case management and care coordination…accreditation, certification, licensing, or credentialing activities, underwriting, premium rating, and other activities relating to the creation, renewal or replacement of a contract of health insurance or health benefits, and ceding, securing, or placing a contract for reinsurance of risk relating to claims for health care, conducting or arranging for medical review, legal services, and auditing functions, including fraud and abuse detection and compliance programs, business planning and development, such as conducting cost-management and planning-related analysis related to managing and operating the entity, business management and administrative activities of the entity, including, but not limited to customer service, including the provision of data analyses for policy holders, plan sponsors, or other customers or other customers, provided that protected health information is not disclosed to such policy holder, plan sponsor or customer of resolution of internal grievances. Example: At Peace Hospice care may be required to provide your PHI to a state agency as part of routine medical review procedures.
Other uses and disclosures of protected health information
In addition At Peace Hospice Care may be required to use or disclose PHI to other entities such as Federal, State or Local officials as required by law. As a covered entity At Peace Hospice Care may have to release certain information for reasons such as public health activities: abuse, neglect or domestic violence; health oversight activities; judicial or administrative proceedings; law enforcement purposes; decedents, to avert a serious threat to health or safety; specialized government functions and workers compensation. The usage and disclosure will be limited to the relevant requirements of such law. Under no circumstances will At Peace Hospice Care disclose (to a third party) personal information about individual information or conditions, except when we believe in good faith that the law requires it.
At Peace Hospice Care contracts with various service providers to perform various functions or services on your behalf. To perform these functions or to provide the services, our service providers will receive, create, maintain, use or disclose PHI, but only after we require service providers to agree in writing to contract terms designed to appropriately safeguard your information. Example: At Peace Hospice Care may contract with a medical equipment supplier to provide you with a hospital-style bed for your home use.
Other than the requirements listed above, At Peace Hospice Care will not release your PHI without your individual written authorization and respects your right to revoke such authorization.
This revocation of authorization must be in writing except to the extent that At Peace Hospice Care has taken action in reliance thereon.
Individual rights
At Peace Hospice Care acknowledges your individual rights with respect to your individually identifiable health information. Accordingly, we have listed the following rights that you are entitled to under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
- You have the right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of protected health information.
- You have the right to receive confidential communications.
- You have the right to inspect and copy protected health information.
- You have the right to amend protected health information.
- You have a right to receive an accounting of disclosures of protected health information.
- You have the right to obtain a paper copy of the notice, if you have agreed to receive such notice in an electronic format.
At Peace Hospice Care is required to maintain the privacy of PHI and to provide individuals with this notice of its legal duties and privacy practices. At Peace Hospice Care is required to abide by the privacy notice that is currently in effect and if at any time changes it’s privacy practices, it must notify you of the changes in either written or electronic format within sixty days.
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you have the right to complain to the Privacy Officer of At Peach Hospice Care and or to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The complaint must be submitted in either written or electronic form detailing your concerns. All complaints are confidential and the law prohibits retaliation against any person filing a complaint. Contact us: At Peace Hospice Care, 216B Newtown Road, Calhoun, Georgia 30701, or call us at 706-602-4976.