Privacy Policy

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES AND YOUR MEDICAL INFORMATION

THIS NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES AND YOUR MEDICAL INFORMATIONDESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

OUR RESPONSIBILITIES

Garden City Hospital understands that medical information about you and your health is personal.
We are committed to protecting the privacy of your health information. We are required by law to
maintain that privacy and provide you with this Notice of Privacy Practices. This notice applies to
all of the records of your care generated by Garden City Hospital. This notice is provided to tell you
about our duties and practices with respect to your health information. We are required to abide by
the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.

Effective Date of This Notice: April 14, 2003

WHO WILL FOLLOW THIS NOTICE:

UNDERSTANDING YOUR HEALTH RECORD/ INFORMATION

Each time you visit Garden City Hospital, a physician, or other healthcare provider, a record of your visit is made. Typically, this record contains your demographic information, symptoms, examination and test results, history of prior illnesses, diagnoses, treatment, and a plan for future care or treatment. Garden City Hospital collects this information about you and stores it in a chart and/or on a computer. This is your medical record, which serves as:

• A basis for planning your care and treatment;
• A way to communicate with other health professionals who are involved in providing care to you;
• A legal document describing the care provided to you;
• A means by which you or a third-party payer can verify that services billed were actually provided;
• A tool in educating health professionals;
• A source of data for medical research;
• A source of information for public health officials charged with improving the health of the nation;
• A source of data for facility planning and marketing; and
• A tool with which we can assess and continually work to improve the care we render and the outcomes we achieve. Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to:

Business Associates: Garden City Hospital provides some services through contracts with business associates. Examples include physician services in the emergency department and radiology, certain laboratory tests that must be sent to outside laboratories, copy service companies we use when making copies of your health record, to name a few. When we use these services, we may disclose your health information to the business associate so that they can perform the function(s) we have contracted with them to do and bill you or your insurance company for services rendered. To protect your health information, however, we require the business associate to appropriately safeguard your information.

Directory: We may include certain limited information about you in the hospital directory while you are a patient at the hospital. This information may include your name, location in the hospital, your general condition (e.g., fair, stable, etc.) and your religious affiliation. The directory information, except for your religious affiliation, may be given to persons who ask for you by name. Your religious affiliation may be given to a member of clergy such as a priest or minister or rabbi, even if they do not ask for you by name. This is so your family, friends and clergy can visit you in the hospital and generally know how you are doing. If you do not wish to be identified in the hospital directory, please notify the registration personnel.
 

Notification and Communication with Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care: We may release health information about you to a family member, other relative, or any other person identified by you who is involved in your medical care or who helps pay for your care. We may also tell your family, friends, personal representative or other person responsible for your health care your condition and that you are at Garden City Hospital. In addition, we may disclose health information about you to an entity assisting in a disaster relief effort so that your family can be notified about your condition, status and location.

Research: Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose health information about you for research purposes. For Example: A research project may involve comparing the health and recovery of all individuals who received one medication to those who received another. All research projects, however, are subject to a special approval process. This process includes evaluating a proposed research project and its use of health information, trying to balance the research needs with your need for privacy of your health information. Before we use or disclose health information for research, the project will have been approved through this research approval process. Additionally, when it is necessary for research purposes and so long as the health information does not leave the hospital, we may disclose your health information to researchers preparing to conduct a research project, for example, to help the researcher look for individuals with specific health needs. Lastly, if certain criteria are met, we may disclose your health information to researchers after your death when it is necessary for research purposes.

Coroners, Medical Examiners and Funeral Directors: In certain circumstances, we may disclose health information to a coroner or medical examiner. This may be necessary, for example, to identify a deceased person or determine the cause of death. We may also release health information about individuals to funeral directors, as necessary to carry out their duties.
 

Appointment Reminders, Treatment Alternatives and Health-Related Benefits: We may use and disclose information about you to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for care at the hospital. We may use or disclose your health information to tell you about or recommend possible treatment alternatives or health related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.
 

Communications Regarding Garden City Hospital's Programs or Products: We may use and disclose your health information to make a communication to you to describe a health-related product or service of Garden City Hospital. In addition, we may use or disclose your health information to tell you about products or services related to your treatment, case management or care coordination, or alternative treatments, therapies, providers or settings of care for you. We may occasionally tell you about another company's products or services, but will use or disclose your health information for such communications only if they occur in person with you. We may also use and disclose your health information to give you a promotional gift from us that is of minimal value.

Fundraising Activities: We may contact you as a part of our fund-raising efforts to raise money for Garden City Hospital and its operations. We may disclose health information to a foundation related to the hospital so that the foundation may contact you to raise money for Garden City Hospital. In these cases, we would release only contact information, such as your name, address and phone number and the dates you were at the hospital. You have the right to request not to receive subsequent fund-raising materials, at any time after you have received our first communication, by contacting the office listed on the last page of this notice.
 

Organ Procurement Organizations: In a way that complies with the law, we may disclose health information to organ procurement organizations or other entities engaged in the procurement, banking, or transplantation of organs for the purpose of tissue donation and transplant.
 

Food and Drug Administration (FDA): We may disclose to the FDA health information relative to adverse effects/events with respect to food, drugs, supplements, products or product defects, or post marketing surveillance information to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacement.
 

Workers Compensation: We may disclose your health information as authorized by, and to the extent necessary, to comply with workers' compensation laws or laws relating to similar programs.

Public Health Purposes: We may disclose your health information for public health activities. While there may be others, public health activities generally include the following:
Preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability;
Reporting births and deaths;
Reporting defective medical devices or problems with medications;
Notifying people of recalls of products they may be using; and
Notifying a person who may have been exposed to a disease or may be at risk for contracting or spreading a disease or condition;
To report child abuse or neglect.

Health Oversight Activities: We may disclose your health information to health agencies for activities authorized by law. These oversight activities might include audits, investigations, inspections, licensure and other proceedings. These activities are necessary for the government to monitor the health care system, government benefit programs, and compliance with civil rights laws.
 

Correctional Institutions: If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or under the custody of a law enforcement official, we may release medical information about you to the correctional institution, its agents, or the law enforcement official. This release would be necessary (1) for the institution to provide you with health care; (2) to protect your health and safety or the health and safety of others; or (3) for the safety and security of the correctional institution.
 

As Required By Law: We will disclose your health information when required to do so by federal, state or local law.
 

Victims of Abuse: We may disclose your health information to notify the appropriate government authority if we believe you have been the victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence. We will only make this disclosure if you agree or when required or authorized by law.
 

Law Enforcement/Legal Proceedings: We may disclose health information about you if asked to do so by a law enforcement official, if such disclosure is:
Required by law;
In response to a court order, subpoena, warrant, summons or similar process;
About the victim of a crime if, under certain limited circumstances, we are unable to obtain the person's agreement;
About a death we believe may be the result of criminal conduct;
About criminal conduct at Garden City Hospital; or
In emergency circumstances to report a crime; the location of the crime or victims; or the identity, description or location of the person who committed the crime.
 

Judicial and Administrative proceedings: We may disclose your health information in response to a court or administrative order.

Public Safety: We may disclose your health information to appropriate persons when we believe it is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to your health and safety, or the health and safety of the public or another person. Any disclosure, however, would only be to someone able to help prevent or lessen the threat or to law enforcement authorities in particular circumstances.
 

Change of Ownership: In the event that Garden City Hospital is sold or merged with another organization, your health information/record may be turned over to the new owner.
 

Military and Veterans: If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release your health information as required by military command authorities. We may also release health information about foreign military personnel to the appropriate foreign military authority.

National Security and Intelligence Activities: We may release health information about you to authorized federal officials for lawful intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities authorized by law.

Protective Services for the President and Others: We may disclose your health information to authorized federal officials so they may provide protection to the President, other authorized persons or foreign heads of state or for the conduct of special investigations.

The Federal Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS): Under the privacy standards, we must disclose your health information to the DHHS as necessary for them to determine our compliance with those standards.

• Right to Inspect and Copy: You have the right to inspect and copy medical information that may be used to make decisions about your care. Usually, this includes medical and billing records, but does not include psychotherapy notes. To inspect and copy health information that may be used to make decisions about you, you may submit your request in writing to the Director of Health Information Management, Garden City Hospital, 6245 Inkster Road, Garden City, MI 48135, or call 734-421-4308. We may charge a fee for the costs of copying, mailing or other supplies associated with your request. (We may deny your request to inspect and copy in certain very limited circumstances. If you are denied access to medical information, you may request that the denial be reviewed. Another licensed health care professional chosen by the hospital will review your request and the denial. The person conducting the review will not be the person who denied your request. We will comply with the outcome of the review)
• Right to Amend: If you feel that medical or billing information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you have the right to ask us to amend the information for as long as the information is kept by or for the hospital. To request an amendment, your request must be made in writing and submitted to the Director of Health Information Management at Garden City Hospital, 6245 Inkster Road, Garden City, MI 48135. In addition, you must provide a reason that supports your request. We may deny your request for an amendment if it is not in writing or does not include a reason to support the request. In addition, we may deny your request if you ask us to amend information that:
  
  Was not created by us, unless the person or entity that created the information is no longer available to make the amendment;
  Is not part of the health information kept by or for the hospital;
  Is not part of the information which you would be permitted to inspect and copy; or
  Is accurate and complete.
• Right to an Accounting of Disclosures: You have the right to request a list of certain disclosures that we have made of your health information. To request this list of disclosures, you must submit your request in writing to the Director of Health Information Management at Garden City Hospital, 6245 Inkster Road, Garden City, MI 48135. Your request must state a time- period, which may not be longer than six years and may not include dates before April 14, 2003. The first list you request within a 12-month period will be free. For additional lists, during such twelve-month period, we may charge you for the costs of providing the list. We will notify you of the cost involved and you may choose to withdraw or modify your request at that time before any costs are incurred.
• Right to Request Restrictions: You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the health information we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment or health care operations. You also have the right to request a limit on the health information we disclose about you to someone who is involved in your care, like a family member or friend, or the payment of your care. In most cases, Garden City Hospital is not required to agree to your request. If we do agree, we will comply with your request unless the information is needed to provide you emergency treatment.
  To request restrictions, you must make your request in writing to the Director of Health Information Management at Garden City Hospital, 6245 Inkster Road, Garden City, Michigan 48135. In your request, you must tell us (1) what information you want to limit; (2) whether you want to limit our use, disclosure or both; and (3) to whom you want the limits to apply, for example, disclosures to your spouse.
• Right to Request Confidential Communications: Typically, we communicate with you regarding your health care either through your home phone or through the mail at your home address. You have the right to request that we communicate with you or your responsible party about your health care in an alternative way or location. We will not ask you the reason for your request. We will agree to the request to the extent that it is reasonable for us to do so. For example, you can ask that we use an alternative address or a work phone number.
• A Paper Copy of this Notice: You have the right to a paper copy of this notice. You may ask us to give you a copy of this notice at any time. Even if you have agreed to receive this notice electronically, you are still entitled to a paper copy of this notice. You may also obtain a copy of this notice at our website: gchosp.org.