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.
I. Who Presents this Notice
This Notice describes the privacy practices of USC Kenneth Norris Jr. Cancer Hospital, which does business as USC Norris Cancer Hospital (“Hospital”), the Hospital’s workforce and University of Southern California (“University”), including University’s faculty physicians (“University Physicians”), and other members of Hospital’s medical and allied health staff who are not University Physicians (“Hospital Providers”). The Hospital, University, University Physicians and Hospital Providers together are sometimes called "the Hospital, University and Hospital Providers" in this Notice). While the Hospital, University and Hospital Providers engage in many joint activities and provide services in a clinically integrated care setting, the Hospital, University and Hospital Providers each are separate legal entities. This Notice applies to services furnished to you at 1441 Eastlake Avenue, Los Angeles, California as a Hospital inpatient or outpatient or any other services provided to you in a Hospital-affiliated program involving the use or disclosure of your health information.
II. Privacy Obligations
The Hospital, University and Hospital Providers each are required by law to maintain the privacy of your health information maintained by the Hospital, for services furnished to you, at 1441 Eastlake Avenue, Los Angeles, California as a Hospital inpatient or outpatient. This information is referred to as "Hospital Protected Health Information" or "Hospital PHI.” The Hospital, University and Hospital Providers are required to provide you with this Notice of legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your Hospital PHI. When the Hospital, University and Hospital Providers use or disclose your Hospital PHI, the Hospital, University and Hospital Providers are required to abide by the terms of this Notice (or other notice in effect at the time of the use or disclosure). Special privacy obligations, described in Section IV.D, apply to you if you are admitted to the Hospital’s psychiatric unit or chemical dependency treatment center.
III. Permissible Uses and Disclosures Without Your Written Authorization
In certain situations, which are described in Section IV below, your written authorization must be obtained in order to use and/or disclose your Hospital PHI. However, the Hospital, University and Hospital Providers do not need any type of authorization from you for the following uses and disclosures:
A. Uses and Disclosures For Treatment, Payment and Health Care Operations. Your Hospital PHI, but not your “Highly Confidential Information” (defined in Section IV.C below), may be used and disclosed in order to treat you, obtain payment for services provided to you and conduct “health care operations” as detailed below:
· Treatment. Your Hospital PHI may be used and disclosed to provide treatment and other services to you--for example, to diagnose and treat your injury or illness. In addition, you may be contacted to provide you appointment reminders or information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you. The Hospital, University and Hospital Providers each may also disclose Hospital PHI to other providers (including each other) involved in your treatment.
· Payment. Your Hospital PHI may be used and disclosed to obtain payment for services provided to you--for example, disclosures to claim and obtain payment from your health insurer, HMO, or other company that arranges or pays the cost of some or all of your health care ("Your Payor") to verify that Your Payor will pay for health care. Your Hospital PHI may also be disclosed to other providers for them to obtain payment.
· Health Care Operations. Your Hospital PHI may be used and disclosed for health care operations, and may be shared between the Hospital, University and Hospital Providers for joint health care activities, which include internal administration and planning and various activities that improve the quality and cost effectiveness of the care delivered to you. For example, your Hospital PHI may be used to evaluate the quality and competence of physicians, nurses and other health care workers, or to train students, residents and fellows. Your Hospital PHI may be disclosed to the Hospital Privacy Office in order to resolve any complaints you may have and ensure that you have a comfortable visit in the Hospital.
Your Hospital PHI also may be disclosed to your other health care providers when such Hospital PHI is required for them to treat you, receive payment for services they render to you, or conduct certain health care operations, such as quality assessment and improvement activities, reviewing the quality and competence of health care professionals, or for health care fraud and abuse detection or compliance. In addition, your Hospital PHI may be shared with business associates who perform treatment, payment and health care operations services on behalf of the Hospital, University and Hospital Providers.
B. Use or Disclosure for Directory of Individuals in the Hospital. The Hospital may include your name, location in the Hospital, general health condition and religious affiliation in a patient directory without obtaining your authorization unless you object to inclusion in the directory. . Information in the directory may be disclosed to anyone who asks for you by name or members of the clergy; provided, however, that your religious affiliation will only be disclosed to members of the clergy.
C. Disclosure to Relatives, Close Friends and Other Caregivers. Your Hospital PHI may be disclosed to a family member, other relative, a close personal friend or any other person identified by you when you are present for, or otherwise available prior to, the disclosure, if (1) your agreement is obtained; (2) you do not object to the disclosure after being provided an opportunity to object; or (3) it can be reasonably inferred that you do not object to the disclosure.
If you are not present, or the opportunity to agree or object to a use or disclosure cannot practicably be provided because of your incapacity or an emergency circumstance, the Hospital, University and/or Hospital Providers may exercise professional judgment to determine whether a disclosure is in your best interests. If information is disclosed to a family member, other relative or a close personal friend, the Hospital, University and Hospital Providers would disclose only information believed to be directly relevant to the person’s involvement with your health care or payment related to your health care. Your Hospital PHI also may be disclosed in order to notify (or assist in notifying) such persons of your location or general condition.
D. Fundraising Communications. The Hospital will not use your Hospital PHI for fundraising. University may use basic information about you (such as name, address, dates of service and the like) to contact you to raise funds for University. If you are contacted by University for fundraising purposes, you will be given the opportunity by University to opt out of receiving future fundraising communications.
E. Public Health Activities. Your Hospital PHI may be disclosed for the following public health activities: (1) to report health information to public health authorities for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability; (2) to report child abuse and neglect to public health authorities or other government authorities authorized by law to receive such reports; (3) to report information about products and services under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; (4) to alert a person who may have been exposed to a communicable disease or may otherwise be at risk of contracting or spreading a disease or condition; and (5) to report information to your employer as required under laws addressing work-related illnesses and injuries or workplace medical surveillance.
F. Victims of Abuse, Neglect or Domestic Violence. Your Hospital PHI may be disclosed to a governmental authority, including a social service or protective services agency, authorized by law to receive reports of such abuse, neglect, or domestic violence if there is a reasonable belief that you are a victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence.
G. Health Oversight Activities. Your Hospital PHI may be disclosed to a health oversight agency that oversees the health care system and is charged with responsibility for ensuring compliance with the rules of government health programs such as Medicare or Medicaid.
H. Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. Your Hospital PHI may be disclosed in the course of a judicial or administrative proceeding in response to a legal order or other lawful process.
I. Law Enforcement Officials. Your Hospital PHI may be disclosed to the police or other law enforcement officials as required or permitted by law or in compliance with a court order or a grand jury or administrative subpoena.
J. Decedents. Your Hospital PHI may be disclose to a coroner or medical examiner as authorized by law.
K. Organ and Tissue Procurement. Your Hospital PHI may be disclosed to organizations that facilitate organ, eye or tissue procurement, banking or transplantation.
L. Research. The Hospital and University engage in important research activities. Your Hospital PHI may be important to further research efforts and the development of new knowledge. Your Hospital PHI may be used or disclosed without your authorization, if an Institutional Review Board or Privacy Board reviews the research protocol and approves a waiver of authorization for disclosure. Your Hospital PHI may be used or disclosed without your authorization to a researcher who is preparing a research protocol or to conduct research using decedent PHI.
M. Limited Data Set. Limited health information about you (not including your name, address or other direct identifiers) may be provided for research, public health or health care operations, but only if the recipient of such information signs an agreement to protect the information and not use it to identify you.
N. Health or Safety. Your Hospital PHI may be used or disclosed to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to a person’s or the public’s health or safety.
O. Specialized Government Functions. Your Hospital PHI may be disclosed to units of the government with special functions, such as the U.S. military or the U.S. Department of State under certain circumstances.
P. Workers’ Compensation. Your Hospital PHI may be disclosed as authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with California law relating to workers' compensation or other similar programs.
Q. As Required by Law. Your Hospital PHI may be used and disclosed when required to do so by any other law not already referred to in the preceding categories.
IV. Uses and Disclosures Requiring Your Written Authorization
A. Use or Disclosure with Your Authorization. For any purpose other than the ones described above in Section III, your Hospital PHI may be used or disclosed only when you provide your written authorization on an authorization form ("Your Authorization"). For instance, you will need to execute an authorization form before your Hospital PHI can be sent to your life insurance company or to the attorney representing the other party in litigation in which you are involved.
B. Marketing. Your written authorization ("Your Marketing Authorization") also must be obtained prior to using your Hospital PHI to send you any marketing materials. (However, marketing materials can be provided to you in a face-to-face encounter without obtaining Your Marketing Authorization. The Hospital, University and/or Hospital Providers are also permitted to give you a promotional gift of nominal value, if they so choose, without obtaining Your Marketing Authorization.) In addition, the Hospital, University and/or Hospital Providers may communicate with you about products or services relating to your treatment, case management or care coordination, or alternative treatments, therapies, providers or care settings without Your Marketing Authorization, and such Hospital PHI may be shared between the Hospital, University and Hospital Providers to enable communications with you about joint health care activities.
C. Uses and Disclosures of Your Highly Confidential Information. In addition, federal and state law require special privacy protections for certain highly conf