Confidentiality and Protection of Privacy

It is the policy of the Downtown Pregnancy Center (DPC) to inform patients of the management process used to protect their Protected Health Information (PHI). The following forms will be used: Notice of Privacy Practices and Consent to Use and Disclosure of Protected Health Information.

PROCEDURE:

The Notice of Privacy Practices (NPP) is a fundamental privacy document.

The NPP will inform the patient of all the basic uses The DPC will make of a patient’s Protected Health Information (PHI) in the ordinary course of providing treatment, seeking payment for care to the patient and managing the practice’s health care operations. The NPP also will inform the patient of other circumstances in which his/her PHI may be released, such as to comply with court orders, subpoenas, and government investigations.

The NPP advises patients of certain special rights they have:

To revoke any authorization or consent they may have given to DPC to authorize disclosures of their PHI;
To request special limits or conditions on the use of their PHI;
To receive communications from DPC by more confidential means or at alternate locations;
To inspect and copy their PHI;
To amend their PHI.

This NPP is acknowledged by all patients receiving service after the compliance date for the Privacy Rule of April 14, 2003. The DPC must make a good faith effort to obtain the patient’s acknowledgment of receipt of the NPP from the patient and/or his/her legal representative/caregiver. If the patient is unable or unwilling to acknowledge receipt of the NPP, DPC personnel will document on the NPP acknowledgment that he/she attempted to obtain this acknowledgment, but the patient would not or could not acknowledge its receipt.

The NPP is posted at the DPC and additional copies will be available to patients upon request. If the NPP is ever revised, the revised NPP must be posted and the patients are provided a copy of the new NPP.