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Use and Disclosures of Health
Information
BAMSI may use your health information for
the purposes of providing you treatment and conducting health care
operations. Your health information may be used or disclosed only
after BAMSI has obtained your written consent. BAMSI has established a
policy to guard against unnecessary disclosure of your health
information.
THE FOLLOWING IS A SUMMARY OF THE
CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH AND PURPOSES FOR WHICH YOUR HEALTH
INFORMATION MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AFTER YOU HAVE PROVIDED WRITTEN
CONSENT:
To Provide Treatment:
BAMSI may use your health information to
coordinate care with BAMSI and with others involved in your care, such
as your attending physician, members of the BAMSI multi-disciplinary
team and other health care professionals who have agreed to assist
BAMSI in coordinating care. For example, physicians involved in
your care will need information about your symptoms in order to
prescribe appropriate medications. BAMSI may also disclose your
health care information to individuals outside of BAMSI involved in
your care, including family members; clergy whom you have designated;
pharmacists, suppliers of medical equipment, or other health care
professionals that BAMSI uses in order to coordinate your care.
To Obtain Payment:
BAMSI may include your health information
in invoices to collect payment from third parties for the care you may
receive from BAMSI. For example, BAMSI may be required by your health
insurer to provide information regarding your health care status so
that the insurer will reimburse you or BAMSI. BAMSI may also need to
obtain prior approval from your insurer and may need to explain to the
insurer your need for the services that will be provided to you.
To Conduct Health Care
Operations:
BAMSI may use and disclose health care
information for its own operations in order to facilitate the function
of BAMSI and as necessary to provide quality care to all of BAMSI's
consumers. Health care operations include such activities as follows:
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Quality improvement and improvement
activities.
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Activities designed to improve health or
reduce health care costs.
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Protocol development, case management,
and care coordination.
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Contacting health care providers and
patients with information about treatment alternatives and other
related functions that do not include treatment.
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Professional review and performance
evaluation.
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Training of non-health care
professionals.
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Accreditation, certification, licensing,
or credentialing activities.
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Review and auditing, including
compliance reviews, medical reviews, legal services, and compliance
programs.
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Business planning and development
including cost management and planning related analysis.
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Business management and general
administrative activities of BAMSI.
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Fundraising for the benefit of BAMSI and
certain marketing activities.
For example, BAMSI may use your health
information to evaluate its staff performance, combine your health
information with other BAMSI clients in evaluating how to more
effectively serve all BAMSI clients, disclose your health information
to BAMSI staff and contracted personnel for training purposes, use
your health information to contact you as a reminder regarding an
appointment with us, or contact you or your family as part of general
fundraising and community information mailings (unless you tell us you
do not want to be contacted).
Federal privacy rules allow BAMSI to use
or disclose your health information without your consent or
authorization for a number of reasons.
When Legally Required:
BAMSI will disclose your health
information when it is required to do so by any federal, state, or
local law.
When There Are Risks To
Public Health:
BAMSI may disclose your health information
for public activities and purposes in order to:
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Prevent or control disease, injury, or
disability; report disease, vital events such as birth or death; and
the conduct of public surveillance, investigations, and
interventions.
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To report adverse events, product
defects to track products or enable product recalls, repairs, and
replacements. To conduct post marketing surveillance and compliance
with requirements of the Food and Drug Administration.
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To notify a person who has been exposed
to a communicable disease or who may be at risk of contracting or
spreading a disease.
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To an employer about an individual who
is a member of the workforce as legally required.
To Report Abuse, Neglect,
or Domestic Violence:
BAMSI is allowed to notify government
authorities if BAMSI believes a consumer is a victim of abuse,
neglect, or domestic violence. BAMSI will make this disclosure
only when specifically required or authorized by law when the consumer
agrees to the disclosure.
To Conduct Health
Oversight Activities:
BAMSI may disclose your health information
to a health oversight agency for activities including audits, civil
administrative, or criminal investigations, inspections, licensure, or
disciplinary action. BAMSI, however, may not disclose your health
information if you are the subject of an investigation and your health
information is not directly related to your receipt of healthcare or
public benefits.
In Connection With
Judicial and Administrative Proceedings:
BAMSI may disclose your health information
in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding in response
to an order of a court or administrative tribunal as expressly
authorized by such order in response to a subpoena, discovery request,
or lawful process, but only when BAMSI makes reasonable efforts to
either notify you about the request or to obtain an order protecting
your health information.
For Research Purposes:
Under certain circumstances, we may use
and disclose medical information about you for research purposes. For
example, a research project may involve comparing the health and
recovery of all consumers who received once medication to those who
received another, for the same condition. Before we use or disclose
medical information for research, the project will have been approved
through a research approval process.
To Avert a Serious Threat
to Health or Safety:
We may use and disclose medical
information about you when necessary to prevent a serious threat to
your health or safety or the health or safety of the public or another
person. Any disclosure, however, would only be to someone able to help
prevent the threat.
For Special Purposes:
We may disclose medical information about
you for special purposes as permitted or required by law, including
the following:
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Organ and tissue donation
and transplant reports as required by regulatory
organizations as necessary to facilitate organ or tissue donation
and transplant.
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Military and veteran
reporting on members of the armed forces of U.S. or
foreign military as required by military command authorities.
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Workers compensation or
other rehabilitative activities reporting as required
by law or insurers in order to provide benefits for work-related or
victim injuries or illnesses.
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Law enforcement
if asked to do so by a law enforcement official:
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To identify or locate a suspect,
fugitive, material witness, or missing person;
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About the victim of a crime if, under
certain limited circumstances, we are unable to obtain the
person's agreement;
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About a death we believe may be the
result of criminal conduct;
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About criminal conduct at BAMSI; and
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In emergency circumstances, to report
a crime; the location of the crime or victims; or the identity,
description, or location of the person who committed the crime.
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Coroners, medical
examiners, and funeral directors: We may release
medical information to a coroner or medical examiner. This may be
necessary, for example, to identify a deceased person or determine
the cause of death. We may also release medical information about
consumers of BAMSI to funeral directors as necessary to carry out
their duties.
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National security and
intelligence activities: We may release medical
information about you to authorized federal officials for
intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security
activities authorized by law.
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Protective services for the
President and others: We may disclose medical
information about you to authorized federal officials so they may
provide protection to the President or other authorized persons of
foreign heads of state.
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Inmates:
If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or
under the custody of a law enforcement official, we may release
medical information about you to the correctional institution or law
enforcement official. This release would be necessary.
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For the institution to provide you
with health care
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To protect your health and safety of
others
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For the safety and security of the
correctional institution
Your Rights Regarding
Health Information About You
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Right To Inspect and Copy:
You have the right to inspect and copy medical
information that may be used to make decisions about your care. To
inspect and copy medical information that may be used to make
decisions about you, you must submit your request in writing to the
Director or Manager of the program in which you receive services, or
to the BAMSI Privacy Officer. If you request a copy of the
information, we may charge a reasonable fee for the costs of
copying, mailing, or other supplies associated with your request.
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Right To Amend:
If you feel that medical information about you is incorrect
or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information. You have the
right to add a statement. To request an amendment, your request must
be made in writing and submitted to the Director or Manager of the
program in which you receive services, or to the BAMSI Privacy
Officer. In addition, you must provide a reason that supports your
request.
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Right to an Accounting of
Disclosures: You have the right to request an
"accounting of disclosures". This is a list of certain disclosures
we made of medical information about you. To request this list or
accounting of disclosures, you must submit your request in writing
to the Director or Manager of the program in which you receive
services, or to the BAMSI Privacy Officer. Your request must state a
time period, which may not be longer than six years and may not
include dates before April 14, 2003. 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.
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Right to Request
Restrictions: You have the right to request a
restriction or limitation on the medical information we use or
disclose about you for treatment, payment, or health care
operations. We are not required by federal regulation to agree to
your request. If we do agree, we will comply with your request
unless the information is needed to provide you emergency treatment.
To request restrictions, you must make your request in writing to
the BAMSI Privacy Officer.
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Right to Request
Confidential Communications: You have the right to
request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a
certain way or at a certain location. For example, you can ask that
we only contact you at work or by mail. To request confidential
communications, you must make your request in writing to the
Director or Manager of the program in which you receive services, or
to the BAMSI Privacy Officer. We will not ask you the reason for
your request.
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Right to Paper Copy of this
Notice: You have the right to a paper copy of this
notice. You may ask us to give you a copy of this notice at any
time. Even if you have agreed to receive this notice electronically,
you are still entitled to a paper copy of this notice.
CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE
We reserve the right to change this
notice. We reserve the right to make the revised or changed notice
effective for medical information we already have about you as well as
any information we receive in the future. We will post a copy of the
current notice throughout the Agency. In addition, the next time you
register or are admitted to a program for treatment or healthcare
services as a resident or outpatient, we will offer you a copy of the
current notice in effect.
Contact Person
BAMSI's contact person for all issues
regarding consumer privacy and your rights under the federal privacy
standards is the Privacy Officer.
If you have any questions regarding this
notice, please contact:
BAMSI Privacy Officer
10 Christy’s Drive
Brockton, MA 02301
(508) 580-8700
You have the right to express complaints
to BAMSI if you believe that your privacy rights have been violated.
BAMSI encourages you to express any concerns that you may have
regarding the privacy of your information. You will not be retaliated
against in any way for filing a complaint.
Revised 7/01/06
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