Notice of Privacy Practices

Effective April 14, 2003

 

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.

Our Pledge Regarding Your Personal Health Information

This notice explains how Fraser uses and discloses your personal health information (known as Protected Health Information or "PHI") and the rights that you, as a consumer, have with respect to accessing that information and keeping it private. We are required by law to protect the privacy of your PHI and to provide you with this notice.

We must follow the privacy practices that are described in this notice, which takes effect on the date shown at the top of this form. We reserve the right to change our privacy practices and the terms of this notice at any time, and to have those changes be effective for all information that we have, including PHI we created or received before the effective date of the new notice. We will post the revised notice in our offices, make copies available to you upon request and post the revised notice on our website www.fraser.org.

Under Minnesota law, to disclose your PHI outside of Fraser, we are required to obtain your written consent. Under this law, certain disclosures may or must be made without your consent. Examples include medical emergencies and disclosures to local welfare agencies.

For more information, please contact us using the information listed at the end of this notice.

 

Our Uses and Disclosures of Your Personal Health Information

The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose your PHI.

Treatment: We may use your PHI to provide you with medical treatment or health-related services. For example, Fraser staff may share information about your medical condition with another clinician to whom you have been referred, with a school social worker or teacher, a case manager, a social worker or a county worker as appropriate to your treatment.

Payment: We may use and disclose your PHI in order to receive payment for the services you receive. For example, we need to give information about services you received to your health plan to obtain payment.

Health Care Operations: We may use and disclose PHI about you for our health care operations, which are activities necessary to operate Fraser and make sure that all of our clients receive quality care. For example, we may use and disclose your PHI to conduct quality assessment and improvement activities, to engage in care coordination or case management, or to manage our business.

Business Associates: We may disclose PHI about you to third party "business associates" that perform various activities for Fraser. Whenever this occurs, Fraser will have a written agreement with the business associate that contains terms to protect the privacy of your health information.

Family and Other Individuals Involved in Your Care: Unless you object, we may disclose to your family members, friends, and persons you indicate are involved in your care, PHI that is directly relevant to their involvement in your care (or payment for your care). We may also use or disclose your information to notify these persons of your location, general condition or death.

We are not required to obtain your written consent or authorization for these disclosures. If you are present, we will give you the opportunity to object before we disclose your PHI to these persons (or we may use our professional judgment in concluding that you do not object). If you are incapacitated or in an emergency, we may disclose your PHI to these persons if we determine that the disclosure is in your best interest.

Appointment Reminders: We may use and disclose PHI to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for treatment or services.

Communication about Products and Services: We may use and disclose your PHI to tell you about or recommend possible treatment options or alternatives, or to tell you about health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you. We may communicate with you face-to-face regarding any products or services.

Fundraising: We may use your name, address and other demographic data and the dates on which you received care, to contact you to ask for fundraising activities to support Fraser. If we contact you for a donation, you can "opt out" of any future fundraising contacts. If you do not want to be contacted, please notify our Vice President of Development, in writing at the address given at the end of this notice.

Research: We may disclose information to external researchers with your authorization, which we will attempt to collect in a manner consistent with applicable state laws.

Special Situations involving Public Health or Legal Requirements: We may use and disclose PHI.

 

Fraser, 2400 W. 64th St., Minneapolis, MN 55423

612-861-1688; Fax 612-861-6050; fraser@fraser.org