Privacy

Notice Of Privacy Practices For Personal Health Information

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.

Wayne County, Pennsylvania, serves its people through many programs including health and human services. We must by law keep your health information private and secret, give you this notice, and do what we say in the notice. If there are changes to this notice, we will mail you a new notice. We commit to keeping your personal health information private and secure. This notice takes effect on April 14, 2003.

Privacy And Routine Uses Of Your Information

Wayne County Workers Will Use or Share Your Health Information for

• Treatment - to get you the health services that you need. For example, we may share information with a doctor to take care of you.
• Payment - to get payment or to pay for services you receive. For example, the bill for your treatment may be checked with our agency to be sure it is correct and is paid.
• Health care operations - to see how well our programs are working. For example, we may use your information to help decide what treatment plans work best.
• Your permission - you may give us your written permission to use or share information. You can take back your permission in writing at any time. Unless you give us permission, we cannot use or share your health information except as we tell you in this notice.
• Greatest privacy - if more than one law covers privacy, the law that gives you the most access and requires the most privacy applies to your information. We must also protect confidential sources of information.
• Personal privacy - we cannot share certain details of mental health or drug and alcohol abuse treatment without your permission.

Privacy And Nonroutine Use Of Your Information

Other Reasons That We Might Use or Share Your Health Information

National security, military and veterans - health information can be given to the appropriate military persons if you are or have been in the U.S military.
Public health - when you have been in contact with a disease or may be at risk for spreading the disease.
By law, for law enforcement, or court order - when we are required by law, for law enforcement purposes, or in response to a court order or court activities. This does not include reporting you to law enforcement for treatment you have requested for yourself.
Emergency care, or to avoid harm - to provide emergency care or to prevent a serious threat to the health and safety of a person or the public, including people involved with the correctional system.
Family, friends, and others - to tell a family member or friend of your general condition and where you are. You can agree before your treatment that we can share information with family and friends who are involved in your treatment or in paying for that care.
Abuse and neglect - to receive and investigate reports of abuse or neglect as we are required to do by law.

Your Rights To Privacy

You Have the Following Rights About Your Health Information

• Right to ask for a correction to your records. We cannot change a document we did not create.
• Right to ask that a family member or another person be given your health information as your personal representative. We are not required by law to do this if we believe it may not be safe for you.
• Right to ask that we limit how your information is used or shared. However, we are not required by law to agree to your request. If we agree, we can still give out your information in an emergency.
• Right to ask that we write or talk to you at a specific address or phone number or contact you by a way your specify.
• Right to file a complaint. If you do not agree with the way we have used or shared your information, you have the right to file a complaint.
• Right to get a paper copy of this Notice.
• Right to see and get copies of your health information records unless the records are being used at the time or contain special confidential information. You may be charged a fee for copies. We cannot show details of conversations you had with a therapist.
• Right to take back permission. You can change your permission to share your health information; we may still be required to share it by law in a way that does not harm you.
• We must give you a list of the other agencies we have shared your information with if you make a written request for it. We can report sharing information that happened after April 14, 2003. This list would not include sharing your information for treatment, payment, operations, or made with your permission.

For More Information

If you have questions or want more information, call or write:

Wayne County HIPAA Coordinate
323 Tenth Street
Honesdale, PA 18431
Phone: 570-253-4262

To Report a Problem

If you feel your privacy rights have been violated, you may contact:

• Wayne County HIPAA Privacy Officer
  323 Tenth Street
  Honesdale, PA 18431
  Phone: 570-253-4262
• U.S Department of Health and Human Services
  Office of Civil Rights
  200 Independence Avenue
  Washington, D. C. 20201