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Privacy Policy
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. St. Tammany Health System (“STHS”), St. Tammany Physicians Network, other STHS facilities, affiliated providers, and physicians on our medical staff present this joint notice as a requirement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The notice: (i) describes how we may use and disclose your protected health information to carry out treatment, payment, and health care operations and for other purposes permitted or required by law; (ii) describes your rights to access and control your protected health information in some cases; and (iii) applies to all records of your care generated by STHS and made by STHS personnel, your doctor, and other healthcare providers. If your personal physician is not affiliated with STHS, he or she may have different policies about how to handle your information and may also provide a separate notice.
In addition, there may be instances where STHS will share your protected health information with members of an Organized Health Care Arrangement as allowed under HIPAA regulations and as necessary to carry out treatment, payment or health care operations. These members include patient care facilities affiliated with STHS such as Ochsner Health System, and all medical staff, employees, volunteers, students, and other personnel who work there. STHS may also elect to participate in secure health information networks designed and developed to promote healthcare continuity.
We may use your information to provide, coordinate, and manage your healthcare needs. We may disclose your health information to doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals involved in taking care of you. For example, we may disclose your health information to a home health agency that provides care to you after you leave the Hospital. STHS departments may share your health information to coordinate treatment and services you may need such as medications, lab work, meals, and x-rays. We may also provide your physician, our affiliated providers such as Ochsner Health System or a subsequent healthcare provider with access to your clinical record to assist in coordination of your health care.
We may use and disclose your health information to bill and collect payment from you, your insurance company or any third party payor. For example, we will ask you to give us your insurance company information so they will pay us or reimburse you for the treatment you receive.
The STHS medical staff, employees, and independent contractors may use your health information to assess the care and outcomes in your case. The information may also be used for quality assessment and improvement activities and patient safety activities. For example, we may combine medical information about many patients to evaluate the need for new services or treatment. We may also disclose information to educate students and our staff, and in addition, combine medical information we have with that of other hospitals to see how we can make improvements. We may post your name outside the door to the room that you occupy. If you do not want us to post your name in this manner, tell your nurse. STHS may also use and disclose your medical information:
We provide some services in our organization through contracts with business associates. Examples include processing of certain laboratory tests and a service we use to make requested copies of health records. When services are contracted, we may disclose your health information to our business associate so that they can perform the job we have asked them to do and bill for services rendered, and we require the business associate to appropriately safeguard your protected health information.
We may include information about you in a directory while you are a patient at the Hospital. The information may include your name, location in the Hospital, general condition, e.g., good or fair, and religious affiliation. This information may be provided to the clergy and, except for religious affiliation, to other people who ask for you by name. If you would like to opt out of being in our facility directory, contact the Patient Experience Department at Extension 4669.
We may release information about you to a family member or friend who is directly involved in your care or who helps pay for your care.
We may disclose information to researchers when an institutional review board has reviewed and approved a research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your health information.
We may communicate with you via newsletters or other means about treatment options, disease management and wellness programs or other community-based initiatives our facility is participating in, like a community health fair.
We may use certain information to contact you in the future to help support fundraising efforts. We may also provide information to our institutionally-related foundation, St. Tammany Hospital Foundation, for the same purpose. If you do not want to be contacted for any fundraising efforts, notify the St. Tammy Hospital Foundation at (985) 898-4174 or in writing to the Foundation c/o 1202 South Tyler Street, Covington, Louisiana 70433.
We may disclose health information for law enforcement purposes and other purposes required by law or in response to a valid subpoena. STHS may also disclose health information to the following types of entities:
Your health record is the property of STHS, and you have the following rights.
You have a right to inspect and obtain a copy of your health information when a request is submitted to STHS in writing. Usually, this includes medical and billing records. If you request a copy, STHS may charge a fee for the costs of copying, mailing or other supplies associated with your request. If you request a copy in electronic format, we will provide the information in an electronic format. If there are any fees for the costs of creating this format, we may charge you for them.
We may deny your request to inspect and copy in certain circumstances. If you are denied access to medical information, you may request that the denial be reviewed. Another licensed health care professional chosen by STHS will review your request and the denial. The person conducting the review will not be the person who denied your request. We will comply with the outcome of the review.
If you feel that medical information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend your record for as long as the information is kept by or for the Hospital. This request must be in writing and must provide a reason that supports your request. We may deny your request for an amendment, and if this occurs, you will be notified of the reason for the denial.
You have a right to request an accounting of disclosures, and this request must be in writing. This is a list of certain disclosures we make of your medical record for purposes other than treatment, payment or operations. You also have the right to be notified by us following a breach of unsecured protected health information.
You have a right to request a restriction or limitation on the medical information we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment or health care operations, but we are not required to agree to all requests for restrictions. For example, you could ask that we not use or disclose information about a surgery you had. Requests for such restrictions must be presented by you in writing.
You have a right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way or at a certain location. For example, you may ask us to contact you at work or by U.S. Mail. STHS will do so only if the request is submitted in writing and includes a mailing address where you will receive bills for Hospital services and other correspondence regarding payment. We reserve the right to contact you by other means and at other locations if you fail to respond to any communication from us that requires a response. We will notify you in accordance with your original request prior to attempting to contact you by other means or at another location.
You have the right to a paper copy of this notice. You may ask us to give you a copy of this notice at any time. A copy can be obtained from our Patient Experience Department, and you may also obtain a copy from our website at www.StTammany.health.
STHS reserves the right to change this Notice, and the revised or changed notice will be effective for information we already have about you as well as any information we receive in the future. The current notice will be posted in the Hospital and include the effective date. In addition, each time you register at or are admitted to STHS for treatment or health care services as an inpatient or outpatient, we will offer you a copy of the current notice in effect.
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with the Hospital by writing or sending a message electronically to the Patient Experience Department at St. Tammany Health System, 1202 South Tyler Street, Covington, Louisiana 70443 or via e-mail to guestservices@stph.org.
If you have questions about this Notice, contact the Patient Experience Department by dialing (985) 898-4669. If you would like to take advantage of our anonymity policy, contact our Admitting Department at (985) 898-4401. For additional information about the following, contact the Health Information Management Department at (985) 898-4419 or in writing to the Department at 1202 South Tyler, Covington, Louisiana, 70433:
