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Notice of Privacy Practices

Your Information · Your Rights · Our Responsibilities

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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 applies to all SCMRC locations, services, workforce members, and health care professionals who are permitted to use SCMRC records.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record
• Ask us to correct your medical record
• Request confidential communications
• Ask us to limit what we use or share
• Get a list of certain disclosures we have made
• Get a paper copy of this notice
• Choose someone to act for you
• File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights were violated

Your Choices

You have choices about how we use and share information when we:

• Tell family, friends, or others involved in your care about your condition
• Provide disaster relief
• Use information for marketing or sell your information
• Use certain information for fundraising

Our Uses and Disclosures

We may use and share your information as we:

• Treat you
• Run our organization
• Bill for your services
• Help with public health and safety issues
• Conduct health research when permitted
• Comply with the law
• Respond to organ and tissue donation requests
• Work with a medical examiner or funeral director
• Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and government requests
• Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

To the extent we have substance use disorder patient records protected by 42 CFR part 2, we will not use or share those records in investigations or legal proceedings against you without your written consent or a qualifying court order and subpoena.

Your Rights in Detail

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.

Get an Electronic or Paper Copy of Your Medical Record

• You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you. Ask us how to do this.
• We will provide a copy or a summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

Ask Us to Correct Your Medical Record

• You can ask us to correct health information about you that you believe is incorrect or incomplete.
• We may deny your request, but we will explain why in writing, usually within 60 days.

Request Confidential Communications

• You can ask us to contact you in a specific way, such as at a particular phone number, or to send mail to a different address.
• We will agree to reasonable requests.

Ask Us to Limit What We Use or Share

• You can ask us not to use or share certain information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not generally required to agree, and we may deny the request if it could affect your care. If we agree, we may still disclose the information for emergency treatment.
• If you pay for a health care item or service out of pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information with your health plan for payment or our operations. We will agree unless a law requires us to share it.

Get a List of Certain Disclosures

• You can ask for an accounting of certain times we shared your health information during the six years before your request, including who received it and why.
• The accounting will not include disclosures that the law does not require us to list, such as most disclosures for treatment, payment, and health care operations or disclosures you asked us to make.
• We will provide one accounting in a 12-month period at no charge. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for another accounting during the same period, but we will tell you the cost in advance.

Get a Copy of This Notice

You may ask for a paper copy at any time, even if you agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide it promptly.

Choose Someone to Act for You

• If someone has legal authority to act for you, such as a medical power of attorney or legal guardian, that person may exercise your rights and make choices about your information.
• We will verify the person’s authority before taking action.

File a Complaint

• You may complain to our Privacy Officer by calling (405) 756-1414 or writing to 216 South Main Street, Lindsay, Oklahoma 73052.
• You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by writing to 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201; calling 1-877-696-6775; or visiting https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint.
• We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Your Choices in Detail

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. Tell us your preference, and we will follow your instructions when the law gives you that choice.

Family Friends and Others Involved in Your Care

• You may tell us whether to share information with family members, close friends, or others involved in your care or payment for your care.
• You may tell us whether to share information for disaster relief.

If you cannot tell us your preference, such as when you are unconscious, we may share information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

Written Permission Generally Required

We will not use or share your information for the following purposes without your written permission:

• Most marketing
• Sale of your information
• Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes

If you give us written permission, you may revoke it in writing at any time. Revocation will not affect action we already took in reliance on your permission.

Fundraising

We may contact you about fundraising, but you may tell us not to contact you again. If we have Part 2 records about you, we will give you clear advance notice and a choice before using those records for fundraising communications.

How We Typically Use or Share Your Information

Treat you. We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you. For example, a clinician treating an injury may ask another clinician about your overall health.

Run our organization. We can use and share your information to operate SCMRC, improve care, train staff, conduct quality and safety activities, and contact you when necessary. For example, we may use information to manage your treatment and services.

Bill for your services. We can use and share your information to bill and obtain payment from health plans or other responsible parties. For example, we may provide information to your health plan so it can pay for services.

Other Uses and Disclosures

We are allowed or required to share information in other ways, usually for public purposes. We must meet legal conditions before doing so. If information is protected by 42 CFR part 2, we cannot use or disclose it in a civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative investigation or proceeding against you without your consent or a qualifying court order and subpoena.

Public health and safety. We may share information to prevent disease, assist with product recalls, report adverse reactions, report suspected abuse or neglect, or prevent or reduce a serious threat to health or safety.

Research. We may use or share information for health research when applicable legal requirements are satisfied.

Compliance with law. We will share information when state or federal law requires it, including with HHS when it reviews our compliance with federal privacy law.

Organ and tissue donation. We may share information with organ procurement organizations.

Death. We may share information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when a person dies.

Workers’ compensation and government requests. We may use or share information for workers’ compensation, lawful law-enforcement purposes, health oversight, or specialized government functions.

Lawsuits and legal actions. We may share information in response to a court or administrative order or, when legal requirements are met, a subpoena or other lawful process.

Special Protections

Some information may receive greater protection under federal or state law. We will follow the more protective law when it applies, including laws governing certain behavioral health information, psychotherapy notes, substance use disorder records, minors’ information, and other specially protected information.

To the extent we maintain substance use disorder records protected by 42 CFR part 2, special rules may require consent or other legal authority for uses and disclosures, and those records cannot be used against you in legal proceedings without the authority described in this notice.

Our Responsibilities

• We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
• We will notify you promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in the notice currently in effect and give you a copy of it.
• We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you authorize us in writing. You may change your mind at any time by notifying us in writing.

Changes to This Notice

We may change this notice and make the revised terms apply to all information we maintain, including information created or received before the change. A revised notice will be available upon request, at our locations, and at https://okscmrc.org.

Questions Requests and Complaints

For more information about HIPAA privacy rights, visit https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa.