Patient Rights and Privacy Policy

Patient Rights
Patients of The Chattanooga Heart Institute have the right to expect certain standards of care and considerations.

Respect and Dignity

All patients have the right to:

considerate, respectful care at all times.
express religious or cultural concerns related to treatment.
present a complaint and know that it will not affect the care provided.
be examined in private surroundings.
request that a member of the same sex be present during an examination.
ask their doctor or staff questions regarding their illness, condition or treatment.
ask their doctor or staff why a procedure is being recommended and what are the probable results and risks.
refuse treatment.
ask their doctor or staff about medical alternatives.
examine and receive an explanation of their medical bill, regardless of how payment is made.

Privacy and Confidentiality

All patients have the right to:

expect that their medical records will remain confidential.
authorize a release of information (e.g., to a family physician).
have their medical record read only by individuals directly involved in their treatment or monitoring for the quality of their care; by the billing department and by other individuals only with the patient's written authorization or that of a legally authorized representative.
expect all communications and other records pertaining to their care, including the source of payment for treatment, to be treated as confidential.

Notice of Privacy Practices

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.

This Notice of Privacy Practices describes how we may use and disclose your protected health information to carry out treatment, for payment or health care operations and for other purposes that are permitted or required by law. It also describes your rights to access and control of your protected health information.

We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information and to provide you with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your protected health information. Any healthcare professional authorized to enter information into your medical chart; all departments of the company; all of our employees and staff and all Chattanooga Heart Institute regional locations must abide by the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.

Any questions regarding this notice should be directed to our privacy officer who may be contacted at (423) 697-2000.

USES AND DISCLOSURES OF PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION

The following categories contain examples of the types of uses and disclosures of your protected health information that we are permitted to make. Please note: this list is not exhaustive; rather, it is intended to describe the types of uses and disclosures that may be made by CHI.

For Treatment. We may use medical information about you to provide you with medical treatment or services. We may disclose medical information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, or other personnel who are involved in your medical care. For example, a doctor treating you for high cholesterol may share information with lab technicians who will draw blood and process cholesterol tests, lipid clinic staff who will be working with you to develop a plan to lower your cholesterol, and the referring physician that sent you to CHI for evaluation. Or, if a CHI physician refers you to another specialist, your health information will be sent to the specialist for your continued treatment.

For Payment. We may use and disclose medical information about you in order to obtain payment for your health care services. For example, we may need to disclose information about a service you received at CHI to your health plan in order for your health plan to pay us or reimburse you for the treatment. We may also tell your health plan about a treatment you are going to receive to obtain prior approval or to determine whether your plan will cover the treatment.

For Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose medical information about you in order to perform company operations. For example, we may use medical information to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you. We may also combine medical information about many patients to decide what additional services CHI should offer, what services are not needed, and whether certain new treatments are effective. We may also disclose information to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, and other personnel for review and learning purposes. We may also combine the medical information we have with medical information from other healthcare facilities to compare how we are doing and see where we can make improvements in the care and services we offer. We may remove information that identifies you from this set of medical information so others may use it to study health care and health care delivery without learning who the specific patients are.

Research. Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose medical information about you for research purposes. For example, a research project may involve comparing the health care and recovery of all patients who received one medication to those who received another for the same conditions. All research projects, however, are subject to a special approval process. This process evaluates a proposed research project and its use of medical information, trying to balance the research needs with patients’ need for privacy of their medical information. The project will be approved prior to the use or disclosure of medical information for research. We may, however, disclose medical information about you for purposes of preparing to conduct a research project. For example, preparatory research may be conducted to identify patients with specific medical needs, so long as the medical information in review does not leave the facility. We will almost always ask for your specific permission if the researcher will have access to your name, address or other information that reveals who you are, or will be involved in your care.

Other Uses and Disclosures

We may use and disclose medical information to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for treatment or medical care.
We may use and disclose medical information to tell you about health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.
We may release medical information about you to a friend or family member who is involved in your medical care and we may also give information to someone who helps pay for your care. This may include notification to your family or friends regarding your condition and the location where you are receiving medical care.
We may disclose medical information about you to an entity assisting in a disaster relief effort so that your family may be notified about your condition, status and location.
We will disclose medical information about you when required to do so by federal, state or local law.
We may disclose medical information about you when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person. Any disclosure, however, would be limited to someone able to help prevent the threat. We may release medical information about you for workers’ compensation or similar programs. We may disclose medical information about you for public health activities. These activities generally include the following:
- to prevent or control disease, injury or disability;
- to report births and deaths;
- to report child abuse or neglect;
- to report reactions to medications or problems with products;
- to notify people of recalls of products they may be using;
- to notify a person who may have been exposed to a disease or may be at risk for contracting or spreading a disease or condition;
- to notify the appropriate government authority if we believe a patient has been the victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence. (We will only make this discloser if you agree or if required or authorized by law.)
We may disclose medical information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law. These oversight activities include, for example, audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure.
If you are involved in a lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose medical information about you in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose medical information about you in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process by another party involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.
We may release medical information if asked to do so by a law enforcement official in the following circumstances:

in response to a court order, subpoena, warrant, summons or similar process;
to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person;
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 the facility; and
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.

We may release medical 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 medical information about patients to funeral directors as necessary to carry out their duties.
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 or law enforcement official.

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU.

The following is a statement of your rights with respect to your protected health information and a brief description of how you may exercise these rights.

Right to Inspect and Copy. You have the right to inspect and copy medical information about you that may be used to make decisions about your care. Typically, this includes medical and billing records. Please note: this does not include psychotherapy notes or information compiled in reasonable anticipation of, or use in, a civil, criminal, or administrative action or proceeding. To inspect and copy medical information that may be used to make decisions about you, you must submit your request in writing to The Chattanooga Heart Institute, Attention: Health Information Services/Record Request, 2501 Citico Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37404. We will charge a fee for the costs of copying, mailing or other supplies associated with your request. Additional fees may apply for formats other than a regular hard copy of documents. We may deny your request to inspect and copy in certain limited circumstances. If you are denied access to medical information, you may request a review of the denial. Another licensed health care professional chosen by CHI will review your request and the denial. We will comply with the outcome of this review.

Right to Amend. If you feel that medical information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information. You have the right to request an amendment for as long as the information is kept by or for CHI. A request for an amendment must include a statement supporting a basis for the request and must be made in writing and submitted to; The Chattanooga Heart Institute, Attention: Compliance Officer, 2501 Citico Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37404. In addition, you must provide a reason that supports your request. We may deny your request to amend information if the information:

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 medical information kept by or for CHI;
is not part of the information which you would be permitted to inspect and copy; OR
is accurate and complete; OR no reason for the amendment is included in the request.

Right to an Accounting of Disclosures. You have the right to request an “accounting of disclosures” of your protected health information. This right applies to disclosures for purposes other than treatment, payment or healthcare operations as described in this notice. This excludes disclosures we have made to you of your own protected health information; disclosures for a facility directory or to persons involved in your care; disclosures for national security or intelligence purposes; disclosures to correctional institutions or law enforcement officials or disclosures that occurred prior to April 14, 2003. To request an accounting of disclosures, you must submit your request in writing to; The Chattanooga Heart Institute, Attention: Compliance Officer, 2501 Citico Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37404. Your request must state a time period, which may not be longer than six years and may not include dates before April 14, 2003. Your request should indicate in what form you want the list (for example, on paper or electronically). The first accounting you request within a 12-month period will be free. For additional lists, 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 Receive Confidential Communications. You have the right to request that communications of your protected health information be received by alternative means (i.e. electronically, by phone, postal mail) or at an alternative location. For example, you may prefer that your statements be received at a location other than your home address. Requests may not interfere with our ability to collect payment for services, or to contact you by some method. Requests will be reviewed in a timely manner, and all reasonable requests will be accepted. You will receive notification of acceptance and the effective date of the request. A request for alternative communication methods must be in writing to The Chattanooga Heart Institute, Attention: Compliance Officer, 2501 Citico Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37404.

Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the medical 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 medical information we disclose about you to someone who is involved in your care or the payment for your care, such as a family member or friend. Your request must state the specific restriction requested and to whom you want the restriction to apply. PLEASE NOTE: We are not required to agree to your request. If we do agree with the requested restriction, we may not use or disclose your protected health information in violation of that restriction unless it is needed to provide emergency treatment. To request restrictions, your request must be in writing to: The Chattanooga Heart Institute, Attention: Compliance Officer, 2501 Citico Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37404. Your request, must state (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 restrictions to apply.

Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice. You have the right to request a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive this notice electronically. To obtain a paper copy of this notice, visit any CHI location, or send a request in writing to The Chattanooga Heart Institute, Attention: Health Information Services, 2501 Citico Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37404, or call 423-697-2000. You may also obtain a copy of this notice at our website, www.chattanoogaheart.com.

Changes to This Notice

We reserve the right to amend this notice at any time. We reserve the right to make the revised or changed notice effective for medical information we already have about you as well as any information we receive in the future. We will post a copy of the most current notice in all CHI facilities and on our website.

Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with The Chattanooga Heart Institute and/or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. To file a complaint with CHI, send a written letter of complaint to The Chattanooga Heart Institute, Attention: Compliance Officer, 2501 Citico Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37404.

Please note: you will not be penalized for filing a complaint.

Other Uses of Medical Information

Other uses and disclosures of medical information not covered by this notice or the laws that apply to us will be made only with your written permission. If you provide us permission to use or disclose medical information about you, you may revoke that permission, in writing, at any time. If you revoke your permission, we will no longer use or disclose medical information about you for the reasons covered by your written authorization. You understand that we are unable to take back any disclosures we have already made with your permission, and that we are required to retain our records of the care that we provided to you.