YANKTON COUNTY EMS NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
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.
Yankton County EMS (YCEMS) is committed to protecting your personal health information. We are required by law to maintain the privacy of health information that could reasonably be used to identify you, known as Protected Health Information or PHI. YCEMS respects your privacy, and treats all healthcare information about our patients with care under strict policies of confidentiality that our staff is committed to following at all times.
Purpose of This Notice: This notice describes your legal rights, advises you of your privacy practices, and lets you know how YCEMS is permitted to use and disclose PHI about you.
Uses and Disclosures of PHI: YCEMS may use PHI for the purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations, in most cases without your written permission. Examples of our use of your PHI:
For treatment. This includes such things as obtaining verbal and written information about your medical condition and treatment from you as well as from others, such as doctors and nurses who give orders to allow us to provide treatment to you. We may give your PHI to other health care providers involved in your treatment, and may transfer your PHI via radio or telephone to the hospital or dispatch center.
For payment. This includes any activities we must undertake in order to get reimbursed for the services we provide to you, including such things as submitting bills to insurance companies, making medical necessity determinations and collecting outstanding accounts.
The right to request restrictions on uses and disclosures of your PHI. You have the right to request that we restrict how we use and disclose your medical information or treatment, payment or healthcare operations purposes, or to restrict the information that is provided to family, friends, or other individuals involved in your healthcare. YCEMS is not required to agree to any restrictions you request, but any restrictions agreed to by YCEMS in writing are binding on YCEMS. Notwithstanding, if you request a restriction that we agree to, the we may disclose the PHI to a healthcare provider to provide emergency treatment, then we may disclose the PIE to a healthcare provider to provide you with emergency treatment.
YCEMS is required to abide by a requested restriction when you ask that we not release PHI to your health plan (insurer) about a service for which you (or someone on your behalf) as long as YCEMS bill is paid in full.
Right to notice of a breach of unsecured protected health information. If we discover that there has been a breach of your unsecured PHI, we will notify you about the breach by first-class mail dispatched to the most recent address that we have on file. If you prefer to be notified about breaches by electronic mail, contact our HIPAA Compliance/Privacy Officer to make YCEMS aware of this preference and to provide a valid email address. You may with draw your agreement to receive notice by email at any time by contacting contact our HIPAA Compliance/Privacy Officer.
Right to request confidential communications. You have the right to request that we send your PHI to an alternate location (e.g., somewhere other than your home address) or in a specific manner (e.g., by email rather that regular mail). However, we will only comply with reasonable requests when required by law to do so. If you wish to request that we communicate PHI to a specific location or in a specific format, you should make a written request to our HIPAA Compliance/Privacy Officer.
Internet, Electronic Mail, and the Right to Obtain Copy of Paper Notice on Request. If we maintain a web site, we will prominently post a copy of this Notice on our web site. If you allow us, we will forward you this Notice by electronic mail instead of on paper and you may always request a paper copy of the Notice.
Revisions to the Notice: YCEMS reserves the right to change the terms of this Notice at any time, and the changes will be effective immediately and will apply to all protected health information that we maintain. Any material changes to the Notice will be promptly posted in our facilities and posted to our web site, if we maintain one. You can get a copy of the latest version of this Notice by contacting our HIPAA Compliance/Privacy Officer.
Your Legal Rights and Complaints: You also have the right to complain to us, or to the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy rights have been violated. You will not be retaliated against in any way for filing a complaint with us or to the government. Should you have any questions, comments or complaints you may direct all inquiries to our HIPAA Compliance/Privacy Officer.
HIPAA Compliance/Privacy Officer Contact Information:
HIPAA Compliance/Privacy Officer
Yankton County EMS
805 Capitol Street
Yankton, SD 57078
Phone 605-668-9033
Effective Date of the Notice: April 14, 2003
Revised Date of the Notice: September 24, 2013
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.
Yankton County EMS (YCEMS) is committed to protecting your personal health information. We are required by law to maintain the privacy of health information that could reasonably be used to identify you, known as Protected Health Information or PHI. YCEMS respects your privacy, and treats all healthcare information about our patients with care under strict policies of confidentiality that our staff is committed to following at all times.
Purpose of This Notice: This notice describes your legal rights, advises you of your privacy practices, and lets you know how YCEMS is permitted to use and disclose PHI about you.
Uses and Disclosures of PHI: YCEMS may use PHI for the purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations, in most cases without your written permission. Examples of our use of your PHI:
For treatment. This includes such things as obtaining verbal and written information about your medical condition and treatment from you as well as from others, such as doctors and nurses who give orders to allow us to provide treatment to you. We may give your PHI to other health care providers involved in your treatment, and may transfer your PHI via radio or telephone to the hospital or dispatch center.
For payment. This includes any activities we must undertake in order to get reimbursed for the services we provide to you, including such things as submitting bills to insurance companies, making medical necessity determinations and collecting outstanding accounts.
The right to request restrictions on uses and disclosures of your PHI. You have the right to request that we restrict how we use and disclose your medical information or treatment, payment or healthcare operations purposes, or to restrict the information that is provided to family, friends, or other individuals involved in your healthcare. YCEMS is not required to agree to any restrictions you request, but any restrictions agreed to by YCEMS in writing are binding on YCEMS. Notwithstanding, if you request a restriction that we agree to, the we may disclose the PHI to a healthcare provider to provide emergency treatment, then we may disclose the PIE to a healthcare provider to provide you with emergency treatment.
YCEMS is required to abide by a requested restriction when you ask that we not release PHI to your health plan (insurer) about a service for which you (or someone on your behalf) as long as YCEMS bill is paid in full.
Right to notice of a breach of unsecured protected health information. If we discover that there has been a breach of your unsecured PHI, we will notify you about the breach by first-class mail dispatched to the most recent address that we have on file. If you prefer to be notified about breaches by electronic mail, contact our HIPAA Compliance/Privacy Officer to make YCEMS aware of this preference and to provide a valid email address. You may with draw your agreement to receive notice by email at any time by contacting contact our HIPAA Compliance/Privacy Officer.
Right to request confidential communications. You have the right to request that we send your PHI to an alternate location (e.g., somewhere other than your home address) or in a specific manner (e.g., by email rather that regular mail). However, we will only comply with reasonable requests when required by law to do so. If you wish to request that we communicate PHI to a specific location or in a specific format, you should make a written request to our HIPAA Compliance/Privacy Officer.
Internet, Electronic Mail, and the Right to Obtain Copy of Paper Notice on Request. If we maintain a web site, we will prominently post a copy of this Notice on our web site. If you allow us, we will forward you this Notice by electronic mail instead of on paper and you may always request a paper copy of the Notice.
Revisions to the Notice: YCEMS reserves the right to change the terms of this Notice at any time, and the changes will be effective immediately and will apply to all protected health information that we maintain. Any material changes to the Notice will be promptly posted in our facilities and posted to our web site, if we maintain one. You can get a copy of the latest version of this Notice by contacting our HIPAA Compliance/Privacy Officer.
Your Legal Rights and Complaints: You also have the right to complain to us, or to the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy rights have been violated. You will not be retaliated against in any way for filing a complaint with us or to the government. Should you have any questions, comments or complaints you may direct all inquiries to our HIPAA Compliance/Privacy Officer.
HIPAA Compliance/Privacy Officer Contact Information:
HIPAA Compliance/Privacy Officer
Yankton County EMS
805 Capitol Street
Yankton, SD 57078
Phone 605-668-9033
Effective Date of the Notice: April 14, 2003
Revised Date of the Notice: September 24, 2013