Notice of Privacy Practices
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW IDENTIFIABLE MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
If you have any questions about this notice, please contact the Privacy Officer of Lexington Center at 773-7931.
Our Privacy Commitment to You
At Lexington Center, we understand that information about you and your family is personal. We are committed to protecting your privacy and sharing information only with those who need to know and are allowed to see the information to assure quality services for you. This notice tells you how Lexington Center uses and discloses information about you. It describes your rights and what Lexington Center’s responsibilities are concerning information about you. Lexington Center collects health information from you and stores it in a chart and/or on a computer. The medical record is the property of Lexington Center, but the information in the medical record belongs to you. Lexington Center protects the privacy of your health information.
1. Who will follow this notice: All people who work for Lexington Center in our residences, in our day (non-residential) services programs, and in our administrative offices will follow this notice. This includes employees, persons Lexington Center contracts with (contractors) who are authorized to enter information in your medical record or need to review your record to provide services to you, and volunteers that Lexington Center allows to assist you.
2. What information is protected: All information that we create or keep that relates to your health or care and treatment, including your name, address, birth date, social security number, your medication information, your individualized service plan and other information (including photographs and other images) about your care in our programs. In this Notice, we refer to protected information as “health information”.
Your Health Information Rights
You have the following rights concerning your health information. When we use the word “you” in this notice we also mean your personal representative. Depending on your circumstances and in accordance with state law, this may be your guardian, your health care proxy or your involved parent, spouse or adult child.
You have a right to see or inspect your medical information and obtain a copy. Some exceptions apply, such as records regarding incident reports and investigations, and information compiled for use in court or administration
If we deny your request to see your medical information, you have the right to request a review of that denial. Professionals chosen by Lexington Center who were not involved in denying your request will review the record and decide if you may have access to the record
You have the right to ask Lexington Center to change or amend health information that you believe is incorrect or incomplete. We may deny your request in some cases, for example, if the record was not created by Lexington Center or if after reviewing your request, we believe that the record is accurate and complete
You have the right to request a list of the disclosure Lexington Center has made of your health information. The list, however, does not include certain disclosures, such as those made for treatment, payment and health care operations, or disclosures made to you or made to others with your permission
You have the right to request a restriction on uses or disclosures of your health information related to treatment, payment, health care operations and disclosures to involved family. Lexington Center, however, is not required to agree to your request
You have the right to request that Lexington Center communicates with you in any way that will keep your information confidential
You have the right to receive a paper copy of this notice. You may ask Lexington Center staff to give you another copy
To request access to health information or to request any of the rights listed here, you may contact the Privacy Officer at 773-7931
Lexington Center’s Responsibilities For Your Health Information
Lexington Center is required to:
How Lexington Center Uses and Discloses Health Information
Lexington Center may use and disclose health information without your permission for the purposes described below. For each of the categories of uses and disclosures, we explain what we mean and offer an example. Not every use or disclosure is described, but all of the ways we will use or disclose information will fall within these categories.
Appointment Reminders: We may use and disclose medical information to contact you or your caregiver as a reminder that you have an appointment for treatment or services
· Payment: Lexington Center will use your health information so that we can bill and collect payment from you, a third party, an insurance company, Medicare or Medicaid or other government agencies. For example, we may need to provide the NYS Department of Health (Medicaid) with information about services you received in our facility or through one of our programs so they will pay us for the services. In addition, we may disclose your health information to receive prior approval for payment for services that you may need. Also, we may disclose your health information to the US Social Security Administration, or the Department of Health to determine your eligibility for coverage or your ability to pay for services.
· Health Care Operations: Lexington Center will use health information for administrative operations. These uses and disclosures are necessary to operate Lexington Center programs and residences and to make sure that all consumers receive appropriate, 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 also disclose information to clinicians and other personnel for on-the-job training. We will share your health information to other Lexington Center staff for the purposes of obtaining legal services, conducting fiscal audits, and for fraud and abuse detection and compliance by Lexington Center's Quality Assurance program. We will also share your health information with Lexington Center staff to resolve complaints or objections to your services. We may also disclose health information to our business partners who need access to the information to perform administrative or professional services on our behalf.
Other Uses and Disclosures that Do Not Require Your Permission
In addition to treatment, payment and health care operations, Lexington Center will use your health information without your permission for the following reasons:
When we are required to do so by federal or state law;
For public health reasons, including prevention and control of disease, injury or disability, reporting births and deaths, reporting child abuse or neglect, reporting reactions to medication or problems with products, and to notify people who may have been exposed to a disease or are at risk of spreading the disease;
To report domestic violence and adult abuse or neglect to government authorities if you agree or if necessary to prevent serious harm;
For health oversight activities, including audits, investigation, surveys and inspections and licensures. These activities are necessary for the government to monitor the health care system, government programs and compliance with civil rights laws. Health oversight activities do not include investigations that are not related to the receipt of health care or receipt of government benefits in which you are the subject;
For judicial and administrative proceedings, including hearings and disputes. If you are involved in a court or administrative proceeding we will disclose health information if the judge or presiding officer orders us to share the information;
For law enforcement purposes, in response to a court order or subpoena, to report a possible crime, to identify a suspect or witness or missing person, to provide identifying data in connection with a criminal investigation of consumer abuse;
Upon your death, to coroners or medical examiners for identification purposes or to determine cause of death, and to funeral directors to allow them to carry out their duties;
To organ procurement organizations to accomplish cadaver, eye, tissue or organ donations in compliance with state law;
For research purposes when you have agreed to participate in the research, in compliance with all applicable regulation;
To prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to your health and safety or someone else’s;
To authorized federal officials for intelligence and other national security activities authorized by law or to provide protective services to the President and other officials;
To correctional institutions or law enforcement officials if you are an inmate and the information is necessary to provide you with health care, protect your health and safety and that of others, or for the safety of the corrections institution;
To governmental agencies that administer public benefits if necessary to coordinate the covered functions of the programs;
We may release medical information about you for workers’ compensation or similar programs. These programs provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness.
We may list your name, where you are located in our facilities, your general medical condition and your religious affiliation in our directory. This information may be provided to members of the clergy;
In the event that Lexington Center is sold or merged with another organization, your health information/record will become the property of the new owner.
Additional Uses and Disclosures: Unless you object, Lexington Center may disclose health information to the following persons or for the following reasons:
To family members and personal representatives who are involved in your care if the information is relevant to their involvement and to notify them of your condition and location; or
As part of normal activities, i.e. – birthday celebrations, achievements, bulletin boards, on lockers for identification purposes, during tours, routine house observations, to notify staff of death, etc.
For all other types of uses and disclosures not described in this Notice, Lexington Center will use or disclose health information only with a written authorization signed by you that states who may receive the information, what information is to be shared, the purpose of the use or disclosure and an expiration for the authorization. Written authorizations are always required for use and disclosure of psychotherapy notes and for marketing purposes.
Note: If you cannot give permission due to an emergency, Lexington Center may release health information in your best interest. We must tell you as soon as possible after releasing the information.
Lexington Center will not use your photograph or personal information for marketing or fund-raising activities without your written permission.
You may revoke your authorization at any time. If you revoke your authorization in writing we will no longer use or disclose your health information for the reason stated in your authorization. We cannot, however, take back disclosures we made before you revoked and we must retain health information that indicates the service we have provided to you.
We reserve the right to change this notice. We reserve the right to make changes to terms described in this notice and make the new notice terms effective to all health information that Lexington Center maintains. We will post the new notice with the effective date in our facilities and on our website. In addition, we will offer you a copy of the revised notice at your next scheduled service planning meeting.
Complaints about this Notice of Privacy Practices and how Lexington Center handles your health information should be directed to: Lexington’s Privacy Officer at 773-7931. 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 Building
200 Independence Ave. S.W.
Room 509F HHH Building
Washington DC, 20201
You may also address your complaint 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. All complaints must be submitted in writing. You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.
