THIS NOTICE TELLS YOU HOW MEDICAL/HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND SHARED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
By law we have to keep your health information private. We also have to provide you this
detailed Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices relating to your health information
and to follow the terms of the Notice that are in effect now. This Notice applies to our use
and sharing of your health information in order to enroll you in our program, to see if you
are eligible for our program and for payment. This Notice also applies to the use and
sharing of your health information so we can provide you with treatment.
CENTRAL VALLEY PACE MAY USE AND SHARE YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS:
For Treatment. We will use and share your health information so we can provide you with
care and services and to coordinate your care. We may share information with other
caregivers involved in your care. Your health information may be used by doctors involved
in your care and by nurses and home health aides as well as by physical therapists, social
workers, personal care attendants or other persons involved in your care. For example,
members of the health care team (which includes your primary care doctor, nurses, social
workers, physical and occupational therapists, and other care givers) will talk about your
plan of care and talk to any specialists about care given to you.
For Payment. We may use and share your health information for billing and payment
purposes. We may share your health information with a person who represents you, or
with an insurance or managed care company, Medicare, Medicaid, or the state agency in
charge of Central Valley PACE. For example, we may share health information with
Medicare or the state agency in order to see if you continue to be eligible for Central Valley
PACE services. We will also require you to sign a release so that Central Valley PACE can
share personal information with Medicare, Medicaid, and the state agency for these reasons
as a rule of your enrollment agreement.
For Health Care Operations. We may use and share your health information as needed for
health care operations, such as management, staff evaluation, training and to check quality
of care. For example, we will use facts about your treatment in order to check the quality of
care. We may share your health information with another person or company with which
you have or had a relationship if that person or company asks for your information for its
health care operations or to find health care fraud and abuse or to see if you receive good
health care.
We will ask you to sign a release giving your okay for Central Valley PACE to use and share
your personal information for treatment, payment and health care operations.
THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF OTHER WAYS CV PACE CAN USE OR SHARE YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION, INCLUDING TIMES WHEN WE CAN DO SO ONLY AFTER GIVING YOU A CHANCE TO AGREE OR SAY NO, AND SOMETIMES WITHOUT YOUR AUTHORIZATION (OR GIVING YOU A CHANCE TO AGREE OR SAY NO) AT ALL.
Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care. Unless you object, we may
share health information about you with a family member, close personal friend or other
person you tell us to, including clergy, who is helping with your care.
Emergencies. We may use or share your health information, as needed in emergency
treatment situations.
As Required By Law. We may use or share your health information when the law tells us
to do so.
Business Associates. Our business associates are people and companies that do services
on our behalf and use health information. We may share your health information with a
person or company who has signed a contract with business associate or us who needs the
information to do services for the Central Valley PACE. Our business associates promise to
keep this health information private.
To Create and Aggregate De-Identified Data. We may use your health information to
create information that is not individually identifiable health information. We also may
disclose your health information to one or more of our business associates in order to
create information that is not individually identifiable health information, regardless of
whether we plan to use the created information. However, in order to do this, we will first
need to “de-identify” your health information. See HIPAA De-Identified PHI vs. PHI Limited
Data Set Form. In order to help protect your privacy and reduce the risk of re-identification,
personnel conducting de-identification activities will be separated from those personnel
conducting aggregation activities. Further, your health information will be de-identified
before it is aggregated and all methods of re-identification (including methods held by
business associates) will be secret and never disclosed to anyone, unless you tell us in
writing that it’s okay to do so.
Public Health Activities. We may share your health information for public health reasons.
These reasons may include, for example, telling a public health agency in order to prevent
or control disease, injury or disability; telling about elderly abuse or neglect or telling about
deaths.
Reporting Victims of Abuse, Neglect or Domestic Violence. If we think that you have
been a victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence, we may use and share your health
information to tell a government agency, if allowed by law or if you agree to the report.
Health Oversight Activities. We may share your health information with an agency that
watches over the health care system. As a rule of enrollment, we will ask you to sign a
release that says it is okay to share your personal information with Medicare, Medicaid, and
the state agency in charge of Central Valley PACE for these purposes.
To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety. When needed to stop a serious threat to
your health or safety or the health or safety of the public or another person, we may use or
share health information. We will give only the amount of information needed to someone
who can help lessen or prevent the serious threat.
Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. We may share your health information if a
court or legal order tells us to. We also may share information if a subpoena, discovery
request, or other lawful process tells us to. We will try to contact you about the request or
to get an order or have the person promise to keep the information private.
Law Enforcement. We may share your health information for certain law enforcement
reasons, including, for example, to obey the reporting rules; to obey a court order, warrant,
or similar legal process; or to answer certain requests for information about crimes.
Research. We may use or share your health information for research reasons if we look at
and give the okay to how the information will be kept private, if the researcher is getting
the information when preparing a research plan, if the research happens after your death,
or if you agree to the use or sharing of your information.
Coroners, Medical Examiners, Funeral Directors, Organ Procurement
Organizations. We may share your health information with a coroner, medical examiner,
funeral director or, if you are an organ donor, with a company that helps with the donation
of organs and tissue.
Disaster Relief. We may share health information about you to a disaster relief company.
Military, Veterans and other Specific Government Functions. If you are in the armed
forces, we may use and share your health information if we are asked to by the military. We
may share health information for national security purposes or as needed to protect the
President of the United States or certain other officials or to do certain special
investigations.
Workers’ Compensation. We may use or share your health information to comply with
laws relating to workers’ compensation or similar programs.
Inmates/Law Enforcement Custody. If you are under the custody of law enforcement
officials or a correctional institution, we may share your health information with the
institution or officially for certain purpose including the health and safety of you and
others.
Fundraising Activities. We may use certain limited information to contact you in an effort
to raise money for Central Valley PACE, provided that any fundraising communication
explains clearly your right to opt out of future fundraising communications. We are
required to honor your request to opt out.
Appointment Reminders. We may use or share health information to remind you about
appointments.
Treatment Alternatives and Health-Related Benefits and Services. We may use or
share your health information to tell you about different treatments and health-related
benefits and services that may be of interest to you.
IF CV PACE USES OR SHARES YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION IN OTHER WAYS, WE NEED YOUR WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION
Except as said in this Notice, we will ask for your written ‘okay’ to use and share your
health information. This written okay is called an Authorization. You may take away your
‘okay’ in writing at any time. If you take away your ‘okay’, we will no longer use or share
your health information for the reasons written down, except if we have already used the
information in the way you told us we could.
OUR RESPONSIBILITIES TO YOU
We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information
(including electronically stored protected health information), to provide you with notice
of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your protected health information
(including electronically stored protected health information), and to notify you following a
breach of any unsecured protected health information (including any unsecured
electronically stored protected health information).
We are legally obligated to abide by the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices currently
in effect. In order for us to apply a change in a privacy practice (as described in this Notice
of Privacy Practices) to any protected health information that we created or received prior
to issuing a revised Notice of Privacy Practices, we need to give you notice and reserve the
right to do so. Specifically, we reserve the right to change the terms of this Notice of Privacy
Practices and to make the new Notice of Privacy Practices effective for all protected health
information (including electronically stored protected health information) that we
maintain. Any revised Notice of Privacy Practices will be transmitted to you in paper form.
YOUR RIGHTS TO HEALTH INFORMATION PRIVACY
Listed below are your rights that have to do with your health information. Each of these
rights has rules, limits and exceptions. In order to use these rights, you may have to ask
Central Valley PACE in writing. When you ask Central Valley PACE, we will give you the
right form to fill out.
YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO:
Request Restrictions. Restrictions mean limits. You have the right to ask for limits on how
Central Valley PACE uses or shares your health information for treatment, payment, or
health care operations. This includes:
• The right to give Central Valley PACE a written consent that limits the information
shared and limits the persons we can give the information to.
• The right to request limits on the health information we share about you with a
family member, friend or other person who helps with your care or the payment for
your care.
We do not have to agree to the limits that you ask for on how we use your health
information within Central Valley PACE. We will limit sharing your information outside of
Central Valley PACE (except to the Federal Agency and the State Agency that watch over
Central Valley PACE) to match with your written consent. We will agree to the limits you
asked for on how to use your health information within Central Valley PACE if the limits are
reasonable and if we can do them. With respect to a disclosure to a health plan, we will
agree to your request if the disclosure is for the purpose of carrying out payment or health
care operations and is not otherwise required by law, and the PHI pertains solely to a
health care item or service for which you, or other person other than the health plan on
your behalf, has paid us in full. If we do agree to the limits you asked for, we will obey what
you ask except if needed to give you emergency treatment.
Access to Personal Health Information. You have the right to look at and get a copy of
your medical or billing records or other written information that may be used to make
decisions about your care, with some exceptions. You must ask in writing. We will respond
to your request within 30 days, subject to 45 C.F.R. § 164.524(b)(2)(ii). In most cases we
may charge a fee to copy and mail what you have asked for.
Request Amendment. Amendment means change. You have the right to ask for a change
of your health information that Central Valley PACE has for as long as the information is
kept by or for Central Valley PACE. You must ask in writing and must say the reason for the
change you are asking for.
We may not agree to the change you ask for if the information (a) was not made by Central
Valley PACE , unless the person who first made the information is no longer able to make
the change that you are asking for; (b) is not part of the health information held by or for
Central Valley PACE; (c) is not part of the information to which you have a right of access;
or (d) is already right and complete, as thought by the Central Valley PACE.
If we do not agree to what you asked for, we will tell you why in writing. We will also tell
you that you have the right to say to us in writing that you do not agree with us.
Request an Accounting of Disclosures. You have the right to ask for a list of the people or
companies that Central Valley PACE has given your health information to. This list may also
include people or companies that others have given your information to on behalf of
Central Valley PACE. There are some limits to what needs to be on this list. The list does not
include those we have given your information to for treatment, payment and health care
operations, or because you have signed an Authorization, and certain other reasons.
If you want this list, you must ask us in writing, giving us a time-period starting after July 1,
2020 that is within seven years from the date of your asking. The first time you ask for a list
within a 12-month period we will not charge a fee; if you ask again within a 12-month
period, we may charge you our costs.
Request a Paper Copy of This Notice. You have the right to get a paper copy of this
Notice, even if you said that you wanted to get it on a computer. You can ask for a copy of
this Notice at any time.
Request Confidential Communications. You have the right to ask us to talk with you or
write to you about your health matters in a certain way. We will agree to your requests if it
is reasonable.
SPECIAL RULES REGARDING SHARING OF PSYCHIATRIC, SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND HIV-RELATED INFORMATION
Laws in California may give more rules to keep information about mental health and drug
or alcohol abuse treatment and HIV private. Central Valley PACE will obey any California
laws that may give additional rules for keeping information about mental health and drug
and alcohol abuse treatment and HIV private.
This Notice of Privacy Practices is effective July 1, 2020
REQUESTS
To request to see and/or receive a copy of your records or request corrections to your
information, you must submit a request in writing to:
Attn: Medical Records
Central Valley PACE
2401 E Orangeburg Ave., Ste 330
Modesto, CA 95355
To request restrictions on use or disclosure of your information, request accounting of
disclosures of your information, or request confidential communications, you must submit
a request in writing to:
Attn: Quality Improvement Coordinator
Central Valley PACE
2401 E Orangeburg Ave., Ste 330
Modesto, CA 95355
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO FILE A COMPLAINT
If you have any questions about this Notice or would like more information about your
privacy rights, please contact the Central Valley PACE Quality Improvement
Coordinator at ((209) 724-6000 Toll free: (855) 461-7223
If you think that your privacy rights have not been followed, you may make a complaint by
calling the Central Valley PACE Quality Improvement Coordinator or by writing to:
Central Valley PACE
Attention: Quality Improvement Coordinator
Central Valley PACE
2401 E Orangeburg Ave., Ste 330
Modesto, CA 95355
Or
Privacy Officer
California Department of Health Care Services
P.O. Box 997413
MS 0010
Sacramento, CA 95899-7413
(916) 445-4646 (Voice)
(877) 735-2929 (TTY/TDD)
Or
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office of Civil Rights
Attention: Regional Manager
50 United Nations Plaza, Room 322
San Francisco, California 94102
(800)-368-1019
CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE
We have the right to change this Notice and to make the changed or new Notice rules apply
for all health information already received and held by the Central Valley PACE as well as
for all health information we get in the future. We will provide a copy of the changed Notice
if you ask for it.