Pioneer Memorial Hospital Privacy Policy
We are dedicated to protecting your right to the privacy of your medical information while providing the highest quality medical care.
We want you to be aware of current regulations that affect how we use and disclose your medical information, and the rights you have regarding your medical records. Privacy rules adopted as part of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) establish standards for the release of medical information that personally identifies you.
Our Privacy Practices
We must provide you access to a Privacy notice that explains how we may use or disclose your medical information. We will ask for you to acknowledge that you have received and understood our privacy notice when you are first admitted to our hospital or clinic.
Your Permission
Once we have let you know about our privacy practices, we may release information about you for purposes of your treatment, billing for services, or for hospital operations, such as quality assurance, without further permission from you.
However...
You may restrict to whom you want your medical information to be released. We are not required to accept this restriction.
You may revoke your permission to use and disclose your medical information at any time. This must be done in writing and allow sufficient time for processing.
Your Rights Regarding Your Medical Records
- The federal privacy regulations give you many rights regarding your medical records. They include:
- The right to an accounting of certain disclosures of your medical information in the six years prior to the date of your request.
- The right to inspect and obtain a copy of your medical information.
- The right to receive confidential communications of your medical information by an alternative means or at an alternative location.
- The right to request an amendment to your medical record.
- The right to submit a complaint to this hospital about how your medical information is used or disclosed.
Authorization
You may be asked to sign an authorization form allowing release of information for other purposes not related to your treatment, billing for services or hospital operations. For example, we may ask if we can use your information for marketing purposes, such as informing you about classes which may interest you, or using information from an interview in articles about the hospital. We will never give your information to an outside source, such as a diaper company, for instance, if you are a patient in our Family Birthing Center.
You are not required to sign an authorization form. We will not deny you medical treatment if you elect not to sign the authorization form.
Facility Directory
Hospitals typically include your name, location in the hospital, and your condition in the facility directory. The hospital may release this facility directory information to inquiring family and friends, and in some instances, the media. Clergy may have access to your religious preference.
You may restrict disclosure of facility directory information by "opting out" of Pioneer Memorial Hospital's facility directory at the time of admit or at any time during your hospital stay.
When you opt out of the facility directory, no information will be given out to anyone who inquires. This includes telephone callers, visitors, florists, clergy and relatives. The hospital cannot screen the identity of all persons making inquiries, so the prohibition extends to everyone. For example, if anyone were to call for you, and you have chosen to opt out of the facility directory, our receptionist would respond, “I’m sorry. We do not have that name listed in our facility directory.” It is an all or nothing policy.
If you do opt out, only those one or two people designated by you as next of kin or persons directly involved in your care may have information relevant to your care.
If you have any questions about how this hospital will use or disclose your medical information, or about your rights, please contact Priscilla Bigler, R.N., at 541-447-6254, ext. 352.