Effective September 27, 2004
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.
Overview
The Providers
Protected Health Information
Use and Disclosure of Your Protected Health Information Without Your Authorization
Use and Disclosure When You Have the Opportunity to Object
Use and Disclosure that Requires Your Authorization
Heightened Confidentiality of Your Patient Health Information
Your Individual Rights Regarding Patient Health Information
Privacy Notice Changes
We recognize our responsibility for safeguarding the privacy of your health information. This Notice provides information regarding use and disclosure of protected health information by UW Medicine, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA), Children's University Medical Group (CUMG), non-UW physicians, and Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center (Children's) (collectively, the Providers) when services are provided within UW Medicine or SCCA facilities, and/or when the Providers are acting as part of one or more of the joint arrangements described below. This Notice also describes your rights and our obligations for using your health information and informs you about laws that provide special protections for your health information. It also explains how your protected health information is used and how, under certain circumstances, it may be disclosed. It tells you how any changes in this Notice will be made available to you.
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UW Medicine. UW Medicine is composed of multiple affiliated entities that work together to provide health care services and to perform payment and health care operations. UW Medicine entities will share medical information, as necessary, to provide health care services, and to perform payment and health care operations. UW Medicine includes the following entities or operations:
- University of Washington Medical Center and Clinics
- Harborview Medical Center and Clinics
- UW Medicine Neighborhood Clinics (University of Washington Physicians Network)
- UW Physicians Sports Medicine Clinic
- UW Medicine Eastside Specialty Center
- Hall Health Primary Care Center
- University of Washington Physicians
For dental services, the University of Washington School of Dentistry and University of Washington Dentists and Oral Surgeons may use and disclose information for treatment, payment, and health care operations. Certain individuals or offices within the University of Washington provide support functions to UW Medicine that might include the use of health information. For example, the University provides risk management and information system support services to UW Medicine entities. When providing these support services, University staff maintain and protect the confidentiality of your health information.
SCCA. SCCA is a separate cancer care hospital providing inpatient services at its hospital located within University of Washington Medical Center and outpatient services at the SCCA's separately located outpatient clinic. SCCA operates jointly with UW Medicine, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), and Children's to provide both inpatient and outpatient cancer care to the community. Health care information is shared between SCCA, Children's, FHCRC and UW Medicine when necessary for treatment, payment, and certain joint health care operations.
CUMG and Non-UW Physicians Affiliated with Children's. UW faculty physicians who practice with Children's University Medical Group (CUMG), and occasionally non-UW physicians affiliated with CUMG through Children's, provide or participate in clinical care services at UW Medicine and SCCA facilities. When one of these physicians is providing or participating in clinical care within a UW Medicine or a SCCA facility, protected health care information is shared between the entities or providers as necessary for treatment, payment, and certain health care operations.
Children's. Children's is a nonprofit corporation operating an acute care children's hospital and other regional children's health services clinics. Children's facilities serve as training sites for residents, fellows, and other trainees. UW Medicine and Children's work together jointly to provide pediatric care. Health information is shared when necessary to provide clinical care services, secure payment for clinical care services, and perform other joint health care operations such as peer review and quality improvement activities, accreditation related activities, and evaluation of trainees. For a description of Children's privacy practices please refer to its Notice of Privacy Practices.
Non-UW Physicians. Occasionally, non-UW physicians participate in and provide services to patients within UW Medicine and SCCA facilities described in this Notice. When this occurs, protected health information is shared between the entities or providers as necessary for treatment, payment, and certain health care operations.
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This Notice applies to health information – created or received by the Providers at UW Medicine or SCCA facilities – that identifies you and that relates to your past, present or future physical or mental condition, the care provided or the past, present or future payment for your health care. This information, often contained in your health or medical record, among other purposes, serves as:
- A means of communication among the many health professionals who contribute to your care;
- The legal record describing the care you received;
- A means by which you or a third-party payer can verify that services billed were actually provided;
- A tool in educating health professionals;
- A source of data for medical research;
- A source of information for public health officials;
- A source of data for facility planning; and
- A tool we use to monitor, evaluate and continually work to improve the care we render and the outcomes we achieve.
Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used and disclosed helps you to:
- Ensure accuracy in the record;
- Better understand who, what, when, where, and why others may access your health information; and
- Make a more informed decision when authorizing disclosures to others.
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Here are some examples of how we may use and disclose protected health information without your authorization.
Treatment. We use and disclose your health information to provide treatment. For example:
- Your physician uses your information to determine whether specific diagnostic tests, therapies, and medications should be ordered.
- Nurses, technicians, students, or other personnel may need to know and/or discuss your health problems to carry out treatment and to understand how to evaluate your response to treatment.
- We may disclose your health information to another one of your treatment providers in the community, unless the provider is not currently providing treatment to you and you direct us in writing not to make the disclosure.
Payment. We may use your health information for payment purposes. For example:
- We may use your information to prepare claims for payment for services.
- If you have health insurance and we bill your insurance directly, we will have to include information that identifies you, as well as your diagnosis, procedures, and supplies used so that we can be compensated for the treatment provided. However, we will not disclose your health information to a third-party payor without your authorization except when allowed by law.
Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose your health information to carry out health care operations. For example, we use and disclose health information from patients to monitor and improve our health services. Also, authorized staff may look at portions of your record to perform administrative activities.
Train Staff and Students. We may use and disclose your information to teach and train staff and students. One example of this is when teaching physicians review patient health information with medical students.
Conduct Research. We may use and disclose your information for research. If the information is individually identifiable an Institutional Review Board will review each request to use or disclose your information for research. If it is not identifiable information, it may also go through this process. This is a Board that reviews research at UW Medicine or SCCA to make sure that projects are as safe as possible. In some cases, your health care information might be used or disclosed for research without your consent. For example, a researcher might: review medical charts to see if wearing a bicycle helmet was a factor in how serious bicycle injuries are; or to determine if we have enough patients to conduct a cancer research study; or to include your information in a research data base. In these cases, the Institutional Review Board makes sure that using your information without your consent is justified and that steps are taken to limit the use of your information. In all other cases, we must obtain your authorization to use or disclose your information for a research project. We may share information about you used for research with researchers at other institutions.
Contact You for Information. Your health information may also be used to contact you (for example, by calling you or sending you a letter) to remind you about appointments, to provide diagnostic results, to inform you about important treatment alternatives, or to advise you about other health-related benefits and services.
Conduct Fundraising. The Providers, other than SCCA and Children's, may use information such as your name, address, phone number, and the dates you received services at UW Medicine to contact you for UW Medicine fundraising activities or fundraising activities related to the Providers’ individual or joint operations. We raise funds to expand and support health care services, educational programs, and research activities related to curing disease. We will not sell, trade, or loan your information to any third parties but the Providers may share your protected health information with third parties working directly for one of the Providers. If you do not wish to be contacted as part of our fundraising efforts, please notify us in writing at
UW Medicine Privacy Office,
Box 359210,
Seattle, WA 98195
SCCA does not engage in fundraising but their parent organizations (FHCRC and UW Medicine) may occasionally contact patients to solicit funds to expand and support important cancer-related health care services, educational programs, and research activities. If you are an SCCA patient and do not wish to be contacted by the SCCA parent organizations, please notify us in writing at
SCCA Privacy Office
825 Eastlake Ave East, G7800
Seattle, WA 98109
Joint Activities. Your health information may be used and shared by the Providers in furtherance of their joint activities and with other individuals or organizations that engage in joint treatment, payment or health care operational activities with the Providers.
Business Associates. Your health information may be used by the Providers and disclosed to individuals or organizations that assist the Providers with their treatment, payment and health care operations or with complying with their legal obligations to use and disclose your information as described in this Notice. For example, we may disclose information to consultants or attorneys who assist us in our business activities. These business associates must agree to protect the confidentiality of your information.
Other Uses and Disclosures. We also use and disclose your information to enhance health care services, to protect patient safety, to safeguard public health, to ensure that our facilities and practitioners comply with government and accreditation standards and when otherwise allowed by law. For example:
- We provide information regarding FDA regulated drugs and devices to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration;
- We provide government oversight agencies with data for health oversight activities such as auditing or licensure;
- We provide public health authorities with information on communicable diseases and vital records;
- We provide information to Workers’ Compensation agencies and self-insured employers for work-related illness or injuries;
- We provide information to appropriate government agencies when we suspect abuse or neglect;
- We provide notice to appropriate individuals when we believe it necessary to avoid a serious threat to health or safety or to prevent serious harm to an individual;
- We provide information to organ procurement organizations to coordinate organ donation activities;
- We provide information to law enforcement when required or allowed by law;
- We disclose information pursuant to court order or lawful subpoena;
- We provide information to coroners, medical examiners and funeral directors;
- We provide information to government officials when required for specifically identified government functions such as national security; and
- We disclose information when otherwise required by law, such as to the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services for purposes of determining our compliance with our obligations to protect the privacy of your health information.
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Facility Directory. Facility Directory information is limited to your name, location in the facility, and general health condition [such as “critical”, “poor”, “fair”, “good”, “excellent”, or similar statements]. When you are in one of the UW Medicine Medical Centers or the SCCA inpatient facility, we may provide directory information to visitors who ask for you by name, unless you object. If you choose to provide your religious affiliation, we may provide your name and room number to clergy with your stated religious affiliation.
Disclosure to and Notification of Family, Friends, or Others. Unless you object, your health care provider will use his or her professional judgment to provide relevant protected health information to your family member, friend, or another person that you indicate has an active interest in your care or the payment for your health care or for notifying these individuals of your location, general condition or death.
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Other than the uses and disclosures described above, we will not use or disclose your protected health information without your written authorization. If you provide us with written authorization, you may revoke that authorization at any time unless disclosure is required for us to obtain payment for services already provided, we have otherwise relied on the authorization or the law prohibits revocation. Also, in some situations, federal and state laws may provide special protections for certain kinds of protected health information, such as drug or alcohol treatment records. When required by those laws, we may contact you to receive written authorization to use or disclose that information.
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Special state and federal protections apply to certain classes of patient health information. For example, additional protections may apply to sexually transmitted diseases information, drug and alcohol abuse treatment records, mental health records, and HIV/AIDS. When required by law, UW Medicine will obtain your authorization before releasing this type of information.
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You have specific individual rights as to the use and disclosure of your protected health information. To contact the Providers to exercise your rights, you may contact:
UW Medicine Privacy Office
Box 359210
Seattle, WA 98195-9210
Toll-Free: 1-866-964-7744
hipaa@u.washington.edu
SCCA Privacy Office Room
Room G7800
825 Eastlake Avenue East
P.O. Box 19023
Seattle, WA 98109
206-288-6266
CUMG Privacy Office
2345 Eastlake Avenue East
Suite 105
Seattle, WA 98102
206-520-5450
Your specific rights are listed below:
- The right to request restricted use: You may request in writing that we not use or disclose your information for treatment, payment, and/or operational activities except when specifically authorized by you, when required by law, or in emergency circumstances. We are not legally required to agree to your request. If you make your request to UW Medicine, UW Medicine will provide you with written notice of its decision regarding your request.
- The right to receive confidential communications: You have the right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a particular way or at a certain location. For example, you can ask that we only contact you at work or by mail. To request confidential communications, you must make your request in writing to the address above. We will accommodate all reasonable requests. Your request must specify how or where you wish to be contacted.
- The right to inspect and receive copies: In most cases, you have the right to look at or order a copy of your health information.
- The right to request an amendment to your record: If you believe that information in your record is incorrect or that important information is missing, you have the right to request in writing that we correct the existing information or add the missing information. In your request for the amendment, you must give a reason for the amendment. We are not required to amend your record, but a copy of your request will be added to your record if you direct us to file it.
- The right to know about disclosures: You have the right to receive a list of instances when we have disclosed your health information except in certain instances, such as disclosures for treatment, payment, or health care operations or when you have authorized the use or disclosure. Your first accounting of disclosures in a calendar year is free of charge. Each additional request within the same calendar year will require a processing fee.
- The right to make complaints: If you are concerned that we have violated your privacy, or you disagree with a decision we made about access to your records, you may file a complaint with the UW Medicine entity that provided services to you or SCCA if you received services at either SCCA facility. Alternatively, you may file a complaint with the UW Medicine Privacy Office, the SCCA Privacy Office or the CUMG Privacy Office. The Providers will not retaliate against any individual for filing a complaint.
If you believe that your privacy rights have been violated, you may also contact the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services • Office for Civil Rights:
Office for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
2201 Sixth Avenue - Mail Stop RX-11
Seattle, WA 98121
(206) 615-2290; (206) 615-2296 (TDD)
(206) 615-2297 FAX
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Our Legal Duty: We are required by law to protect the privacy of your information, to provide this Notice about our privacy practices, and to follow the privacy practices that are described in this Notice.
We reserve the right to change the privacy practices described in this Notice. We reserve the right to make the revised or changed Notice effective for protected health information we already have as well as any information we may receive in the future. We will post a copy of the current Notice at each UW Medicine entity and at each SCCA facility. In addition, each time you register at or are admitted to a UW Medicine entity or the SCCA for treatment or health care services as an inpatient or outpatient, you may request a copy of the current Notice in effect from the location of your care provider or you may request a copy of this Notice from the UW Medicine Privacy Office or the SCCA Privacy Office. An electronic version of the notice is also posted at http://www.uwmedicine.org and http://www.seattlecca.org.
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