Notice of Privacy Practices

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.

ProHealth Home Care, Inc. is required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information (PHI), to give you this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, and to follow the terms of the Notice currently in effect. This Notice applies to all records of your care generated by ProHealth, whether created by our staff or by others involved in your care.

1. How we may use and disclose your health information without your authorization

Treatment

We use and share your PHI to provide, coordinate and manage your care, for example, our nurse discusses your wound care with your physician, or our therapist shares your progress with the hospital that discharged you.

Payment

We use and share your PHI to bill and receive payment, for example, submitting claims to Medicare, Medi-Cal or your insurer, verifying coverage, and obtaining prior authorization.

Health care operations

We use and share your PHI to run our agency well, quality assessment, clinician training and evaluation, licensing and accreditation surveys, care coordination, and business planning.

Other permitted uses

• Appointment reminders and information about treatment alternatives or health-related benefits.
• People involved in your care, family or friends you identify, to the extent relevant to their involvement, unless you object.
• Required by law, including reporting to the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
• Public health activities, disease reporting, adverse-event reporting, product recalls.
• Abuse, neglect or domestic violence, reports to authorities as California law requires (including elder and dependent adult abuse reporting under W&I Code § 15630).
• Health oversight, judicial and law enforcement, audits, investigations, court orders, subpoenas with proper assurances.
• Coroners, medical examiners and funeral directors; organ and tissue donation.
• Research, only with an approved waiver from an Institutional Review Board or Privacy Board, or with your authorization.
• Serious threat to health or safety; specialized government functions; workers' compensation.

2. Uses that always require your written authorization

We will never do any of the following without your specific written authorization:

• Use or disclose psychotherapy notes (except in limited circumstances the law allows).
• Use or disclose your PHI for marketing purposes.
• Sell your PHI. ProHealth does not sell protected health information.
• Use your name, image, likeness or story in fundraising, advertising or on this website.
• Most other uses not described in this Notice.

If you give an authorization, you may revoke it in writing at any time. Revocation stops future uses but cannot undo disclosures we already made in reliance on it.

3. Your rights regarding your health information

Right to inspect and copy

You may inspect and obtain a copy of your medical and billing records, including an electronic copy if we maintain them electronically. We will respond within 15 days as required by California Health & Safety Code § 123110 (HIPAA allows 30 days; we follow the stricter California standard). We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

Right to request an amendment

If you believe information in your record is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend it. We may deny the request if we did not create the record or if we determine it is accurate and complete, and if we deny it, you may file a statement of disagreement that becomes part of your record.

Right to an accounting of disclosures

You may request a list of certain disclosures we made in the six years before your request (excluding disclosures for treatment, payment, operations, and those you authorized). The first accounting in any 12-month period is free.

Right to request restrictions

You may ask us to limit how we use or disclose your PHI. We are not required to agree, except that we must agree to your request to withhold information from a health plan if the disclosure is for payment or operations and you have paid for that item or service in full, out of pocket.

Right to confidential communications

You may ask us to contact you at an alternative address or by an alternative means. We will accommodate reasonable requests without asking why.

Right to a paper copy of this Notice

Even if you agreed to receive it electronically, you may request a paper copy at any time.

Right to breach notification

We will notify you if a breach compromises the privacy or security of your unsecured PHI.

To exercise any of these rights, use our Data Request form, call 877.667.8770, or write to the Privacy Officer at the address above.

4. Special California protections

California law gives certain information extra protection, and we honor it. Additional consent or specific authorization is generally required before we disclose information concerning HIV/AIDS testing and status, mental health treatment, substance use disorder treatment (including records covered by 42 CFR Part 2), genetic testing, and reproductive and sexual health care. Where California law is stricter than HIPAA, California law governs.

5. Our responsibilities

We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your PHI; to notify you promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised it; to follow the duties and privacy practices described in this Notice and give you a copy; and not to use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us in writing that we may.

6. Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may complain to us and to the federal government. We will never retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

• ProHealth Privacy Officer, 1420 River Park Drive, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95815 · 877.667.8770 · privacy@prohealth.us
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201 · 1-877-696-6775 · hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints
• California Department of Public Health, Licensing & Certification, for concerns about the care itself.

7. Changes to this Notice

We may change this Notice at any time, and the changed Notice will apply to information we already hold as well as information we receive in the future. The current Notice is always posted on this page with its effective date, and a copy is available at each of our six offices and on request.

Questions or complaints

Contact our Privacy Officer: ProHealth Home Care, Inc., 1420 River Park Drive, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95815 · Toll free 877.667.8770 · privacy@prohealth.us · Mon–Fri 8:30am–5:00pm Pacific.

You may also submit a request or complaint using our Data Request form. We will never retaliate against you for exercising your privacy rights.