ECONOMIC
OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM, INC.
NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
UNDER
FEDERAL LAW FOR PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL AND DRUG AND ALCOHOL
RELATED INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET
ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
General Information
Information regarding your
health care or related services, including payment for health care, is
protected by two federal laws: the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), 42 U.S.C. 1320d et seq., 45 C.F.R. Parts
160 & 164, and the Confidentiality Law, 42 U.S.C. 290dd-2, 42 C.F.R. Part
2. Under these laws, the Economic Opportunity Program, Inc. (EOP) may not say
to a person outside of EOP that you attend any given program, nor may EOP
disclose any information regarding your status if you abuse alcohol or drugs,
or disclose any other protected health information (PHI) except as permitted by
federal law.
EOP must obtain your written
consent before it can disclose information about you for payment purposes. For
example, EOP must obtain your written consent before it can disclose
information to your health insurer in order to be paid for services. Generally
you must also sign a written consent before EOP can share information for
treatment purposes. However, federal law permits EOP to disclose information
without your written permission:
For example, EOP can disclose
information without your consent to obtain legal or financial services, or to
another medical facility to provide health care to you, as long as there is a
qualified service organization / business associate agreement in place.
Before EOP can use or
disclose information about your health in a manner which is not described
above, it must first obtain your specific written consent allowing it to make
the disclosure. Any such written consent may be revoked by you in writing.
Your Rights
Under HIPAA you have the
right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your PHI. EOP
is not required to agree to any restrictions you request, but does agree that
it is bound by that agreement and may not use or disclose any information which
you have restricted except as necessary in a medical emergency.
You have the right to request
that we communicate with you by alternative means or at an alternative
location. EOP will accommodate such requests that are reasonable and will not
request an explanation from you. Under HIPAA you also have the right to inspect
and copy your own PHI maintained by EOP, except to the extent that the
information contains psychotherapy notes or information compiled for use in a
civil, criminal or administrative proceeding or in other limited circumstances.
Requests must be made in writing and EOP reserves the right to charge you a fee
for the cost of copying, mailing, labor and supplies associated with your
request.
Under HIPAA you also have the
right, with some exceptions, to amend your PHI maintained by EOP, and to
request and receive an accounting of disclosures of your PHI made by EOP. Your
request must be in writing and state a time period that cannot be more than six
years and cannot include any dates before
EOP’s Duties
EOP is required by law to
maintain the privacy of your PHI and to provide you with notice of its legal
duties and privacy practices with respect to your PHI. EOP is required by law
to abide by the terms of this notice. EOP reserves the right to change the
terms of this notice and to make new notice previsions effective for all
protected PHI it maintains. Revised notices will be available at EOP’s
administrative offices and on its web site at http://ww.cseop.org.
Complaints and Reporting Violations
You may complain in writing to
EOP and/or the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human
Services if you believe that your privacy rights have been violated under HIPAA. You will not be retaliated against for filing
such a complaint, nor will your services be affected in any way.
Violation of the
Confidentiality Law by a program is a crime. Suspected violations of the
Confidentiality Law may be reported to the United States Attorney in the
district where the violation occurs.
Contact
For further information, or
if you have questions regarding this notice, or if you want to request the
forms mentioned in the Notice, or if you want to file a complaint, you may
contact:
EOP’s Privacy Officer Or
call: (607) 734-6174
EFFECTIVE DATE: This notice is effective