Privacy Policy

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.

WHO WILL FOLLOW THIS NOTICE:

This Notice describes El Paso Specialty Hospital’s practices and that of:

• Any health care professional authorized to enter information into your medical chart.
• All departments and units of El Paso Surgical Hospital.
• Any member of a volunteer group that EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL allows to help you while you are receiving services from EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL.
• All employees, staff and other personnel of EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL.
• All office locations of EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL follow the terms of this Notice. In addition, EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL entities, sites and locations may share medical information with each other for treatment, payment or health care operations purposes described in this Notice.

OUR PLEDGE REGARDING MEDICAL INFORMATION

EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL understands that medical information about you and your health is personal. We are committed to protecting medical information about you. We create a record of the care and services you receive at EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL. We need this record to provide you with quality care and to taking care of you. For example a doctor treating you for a broken leg may need to know if you have diabetes because diabetes may slow the healing process. Different departments of EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL may also share medical information about you in order to coordinate the different things you need, such as prescriptions, lab work, and x-rays. We also may disclose medical information about you to people outside our facilities who may be involved in your medical care, such as family members, clergy, or others; we use to provide services that are part of your care.

FOR PAYMENT

EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL may use and disclose protected health information about you so that the treatment and services you receive may be billed to and payment may be collected from you, and insurance company, or a third party. For examples, we may need to give your health plan information about surgery you received so your health plan will pay us or reimburse you for the surgery. We may also tell your health plan about a treatment you are going to receive to obtain prior approval or to determine whether your plan will cover the treatment.

FOR HEALTH CARE OPERATIONS

EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL may use and disclose protected health information about you for EPSH operations. These uses and disclosures are necessary to operate EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL and make sure that all of your patients receive quality care. For examples, we may use protected health information to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you. We may also combine protected health information about many patients to decide what additional services we should offer, what services are not needed, and whether certain new treatments are effective. We may also disclose information to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, and other personnel for review and learning purposes. We may also combine the protected health information we have with medical information from other clinics, hospitals, and health care providers to compare how we are doing and see where we can make improvements in the care and services we offer. We may remove information that identifies you from this set of medical information so others may use it to study health care and health care delivery without learning who the specific patients are.

APPOINTMENT REMINDERS

EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL may use and disclose protected health information to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for treatment or medical care. For examples, we may telephone you the day before an appointment to verify that you will be coming to our office.

AS REQUIRED BY LAW

EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL will disclose protected health information about you as and when required to do so by federal, state or local law.

PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIVITIES

EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL may disclose protected health information about you to a public health authority legally authorized to receive or collect such information for public health activities and purposes. Public health activities and purposes include activities such as: preventing or controlling diseases and injuries; recording vital events like births and deaths; receiving reports of child abuse; ensuring the quality, safety or effectiveness of products regulated by the Food and Drug Administration; and advising persons about possible exposure to communicable diseases.
Information may be disclosed to federal officials for the purposes of conducting lawful intelligence gathering or national security activities; (iii) information may be disclosed to federal officials for the provision of protective services to the President or other authorized person; (iv) a
person’s information may be disclosed to a correctional institution or to a law enforcement official having lawful custody of the person; or (v) governmental programs which provide public benefits may disclose protected health information to another governmental agency if necessary for the coordination of benefits or if otherwise authorized by law.

WORKERS COMPENSATION

EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL may release protected health information about you as authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with laws relating to worker’s compensation or similar programs.

Other Uses And Disclosures Of Your Protected Health Information Which Will Only Be Made By EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL With Your Approval (Which May Be Oral), Or Regarding Which You Object (Which May Be Oral).

OTHER DIRECTORY

EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL may include certain limited information about you in the Office Directory while you are a patient of EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL. This information may include your name, location in EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL facilities, your general condition, (e.g., fair, stable, etc,) and; your religious affiliation. The directory information, except for your religious affiliation, may also be released to people who ask for you by name. Your religious affiliation may be given to a member of the clergy, such as a priest or rabbi, even if they don’t ask for you by name. This is so your family, friends, and clergy can visit you in EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL facilities and generally know how you are doing.
Individual Involved In Your Care Or Payment For Your Care. EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL may release protected health information about you to a family member, a close personal friend or any other person you have identified who is involved in your medical care or payment for such care. We may also tell your family or friends your condition and that you are being treated you are being treatment at a given location. In addition, we may disclose medical information about you to an entity assisting in a disaster relief effort so that your family can be notified about your condition, status, and location.
Right To Amend. If you fell that protected health information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information. You have the right to request and amendment for as long as the information is kept by or for EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL.
A request to amend must be in writing, submitted to EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL’s HIPPA Compliance Officer and must provide a reason that supports your request.
We may deny your request for an amendment if it is not in writing or does not include a reason to support 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 medical information kept by or for EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL;
• Is not part of the information which you would be permitted to inspect and copy; or
• Is accurate and complete.

RIGHT TO ACCOUNTING OF DISCLOSURES

You have the right to request an “accounting of disclosures.” This is a list of the disclosures we made of your protected health information. This right does not, however, apply to all disclosures of your protected health information, such as disclosures:

• Made for the purposes of carrying out treatment, payment, and health care operations;
• Already made to you;
• Made pursuant to an Authorization obtained from your; or
• That occurred prior to April 14, 2003

To request an accounting of disclosures, you must submit your request in writing to EL PASO SPECIALTY HOSPITAL’s HIPAA Compliance Officer. Your request must state a time period which may not be longer than six years. Your request should indicate in what form you want the list (for example, on paper or electronically, if possible). The first list you request within a 12 month period will be free. For additional lists, we may charge you for the costs of providing the list. We will notify you of the cost involved and you may choose to withdraw or modify your request at that time before any costs are incurred.

Contact telephone number: 915-534-1217
1700 Murchison, El Paso, TX 79902

Related Links

www.eposg.com