Established 04-14-03 | Updated 03-09-2011
This notice describes the privacy practices of Living Resources and the privacy rights of the people we serve. It will describe how information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy rule DOES NOT CHANGE the way you get services from Living Resources, or the privacy rights you have always had under federal and state laws. The Privacy rule adds some details about how you can exercise your rights.
PLEASE REVIEW THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY.
Our Privacy Commitment to You
Living Resources provides many different services for you. We understand that information about you and your family is personal. We are committed to protecting your privacy and sharing information only with those who need to know and are allowed to see the information to assure quality services for you. Living Resources is required by law to maintain the privacy of your health information and to provide you with notice of its legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your health information. This notice tells you how Living Resources uses and discloses information about you. It describes your rights and what Living Resources’ responsibilities are concerning information about you. When we use the word “you” in this notice, we also mean your personal representative. Depending on your circumstances and in accordance with state law, this may mean your guardian, your health care proxy, or your involved parent, spouse, or involved adult family member.
If you have questions about any part of this notice or if you want more information about the privacy practices at Living Resources, please contact our Privacy Officer, Joseph Morelli. You may contact Joe here, call him at (518) 218-0000 ext. 4369, or write to him at 300 Washington Avenue Extension, Albany, NY, 12203.
Our Privacy Commitment to You
Living Resources provides many different services for you. We understand that information about you and your family is personal. We are committed to protecting your privacy and sharing information only with those who need to know and are allowed to see the information to assure quality services for you. Living Resources is required by law to maintain the privacy of your health information and to provide you with notice of its legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your health information. This notice tells you how Living Resources uses and discloses information about you. It describes your rights and what Living Resources’ responsibilities are concerning information about you. When we use the word “you” in this notice, we also mean your personal representative. Depending on your circumstances and in accordance with state law, this may mean your guardian, your health care proxy, or your involved parent, spouse, or involved adult family member.
If you have questions about any part of this notice or if you want more information about the privacy practices at Living Resources, please contact our Privacy Officer, Joseph Morelli. You may contact Joe here, call him at (518) 218-0000 ext. 4369, or write to him at 300 Washington Avenue Extension, Albany, NY, 12203.
Who Will Follow This Notice
All people who work for Living Resources will follow this notice. This includes employees, persons Living Resources contracts with who are authorized to enter information in your record or need to review your record to provide services to you, and volunteers who Living Resources allows to assist you.
Information That Is Protected
All information that we create or keep that relates to your health or care and treatment, including but not limited to your name, address, birth date, social security number, your medical information, your service or treatment plan, and other information (including photographs or other images) about your care in our programs, is considered protected information. In this notice, we refer to protected information as protected health information or “PHI”. We create and collect information about you and we keep a record of the care and services you receive through this agency. The information about you is kept in a record; it may be in the form of paper documents in a chart or on a computer. We refer to the information that we create, collect, and keep as a “record” in this notice.
Your Health Information Rights
Unless otherwise required by law, your record is the physical property of Living Resources, but the information in it belongs to you and you have the right to have your information kept confidential. You have the following rights concerning your PHI:
To request access to your personal health information or to request any of the rights listed here you may contact our Privacy Officer, Joseph Morelli. You may contact Joe here, call him at (518) 218-0000 ext. 4369, or write to him at 300 Washington Avenue Extension, Albany, NY, 12203.
NOTE: Other regulations may restrict access to HIV/AIDS information, federally protected education records, and federally protected drug and alcohol information. See any special authorizations or consent forms that will specify what information may be released and when, or contact the Privacy Officer listed above.
Our Responsibilities to You
We are required to:
How Living Resources Uses and Discloses Your Health Information
Living Resources may use and disclose information without your permission for the purposes described below. For each of the categories of uses and disclosures, we explain what we mean and offer an example. Not every use or disclosure is described, but all of the ways we will use or disclose information will fall within these categories:
Treatment
Living Resources will use your information to provide you with treatment and services. We may disclose information to doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, and other Living Resources personnel, volunteers, or interns who are involved in providing your care. For example, involved staff may discuss your information to develop and carry out your treatment or service plan and other Living Resources staff may share your information to coordinate the different services you need, such as medical tests, respite care, transportation, etc. We may also need to disclose your information to other providers outside of Living Resources who are responsible for providing you with services.
Payment
Living Resources will use your information so that we can bill and collect payment from you, a third party, an insurance company, Medicare or Medicaid, or other government agencies. For example, we may need to provide your health care insurer with information about the services you received in our agency or through one of our programs so they will pay us for the services. In addition, we may disclose your information to receive prior approval for payment for services you may need.
Health Care Operations
Living Resources will use clinical information for administrative operations. These uses and disclosures are necessary to operate Living Resources programs and to make sure all individuals receive appropriate, quality care. For example, we may use information for quality improvement to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the performance of our staff in serving you.
We may also disclose information to clinicians and other personnel for on-the-job training. We will share your health information with other Living Resources staff for the purposes of obtaining legal services from our attorneys, conducting fiscal audits, and for fraud and abuse detection and compliance through our Compliance Program. We may also disclose information to our business partners who need access to the information to perform administrative or professional services on our behalf.
Other Uses and Disclosures that Do Not Require your Permission
In addition to treatment, payment, and health care operations, Living Resources will use your information without your permission for the following reasons:
Uses and Disclosures that Require Your Agreement
Living Resources may disclose information to the following persons if we tell you we are going to use or disclose it and you agree or do not object:
Authorization Required For All Other Uses and Disclosures
For all other types of uses and disclosures not described in this notice, Living Resources will use or disclose information only with a written authorization signed by you that states who may receive the information, what information is to be shared, the purpose of the use or disclosure and an expiration for the authorization. Written authorizations are always required for the sale of PHI and use and disclosure for marketing purposes, such as agency newsletters and press releases.
NOTE: If you cannot give permission due to an emergency, Living Resources may release information in your best interest. We must tell you as soon possible after releasing the information.
You may revoke your authorization at any time. If you revoke your authorization in writing we will no longer use or disclose your information for the reasons stated in your authorization. We cannot, however, take back disclosures we made before you revoked and we must retain information that indicates the services we have provided to you.
Future Changes to this Notice
We reserve the right to change this Notice. We reserve the right to make changes to the terms described in this Notice and to make the new notice terms effective for all information that Living Resources maintains. We will post the new notice with the effective date on our website at livingresources.org. In addition, we will offer you a copy of the revised notice at your next scheduled service planning meeting.
Complaints
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with Joseph Morelli, our Privacy Officer. You may contact Joe here, call him at (518) 218-0000 ext. 4369, or write to him at 300 Washington Avenue Extension, Albany, NY, 12203.
You may also contact the Director of the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. You may call them at (877) 696-6775 or write to them at 200 Independence Ave. S.W., HHH Building Room 509H, Washington DC, 20201.
You may file a grievance with the Office of Civil Rights by calling or writing Region II – US Department of Health and Human Services, Jacob Javits Federal Building, 26 Federal Plaza, Suite 3312, New York, New York 10278, Voice Phone (800) 368-1019, FAX (212) 264-3039, TDD (800) 537-7697.
All complaints must be submitted in writing. You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.