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Responsibilities
of Wright School
Wright School is required by state and federal law to protect
the privacy of your child's health information that may identify
your child. This health information includes mental health, developmental
disability and/or substance abuse services that are provided
to your child, payment for those health care services, or other
health care operations provided on your child's behalf.
Wright School is required by law to inform you of our legal duties
and privacy practices with respect to your child's health information
through this Notice of Privacy Practices. This Notice
describes the ways we may share your child's past, present and
future health information, ensuring that we use and/or disclose
this information only as we have described in this Notice.
We do, however, reserve the right to change our privacy practices
and the terms of this Notice, and to make the new Notice
provisions effective for all health information we maintain.
Any changes to this Notice will be posted in Wright School's
main lobby and on our agency web site at www.wrightschool.org.
Copies of any revised Notices will be available to
you upon request.
If at any time, you have questions or concerns about the information
in this Notice or about our agency's privacy policies,
procedures and practices, you may contact our agency Privacy
Official at (919) 560-5790.
Use
and Disclosure of Health Information Without Your Authorization
Treatment: Wright
School may use your child's health information, as needed, in
order to provide, coordinate or manage your child's health care
and related services. This includes sharing your child's health
information with other health care providers within this agency.
(Example: Your child's treatment team, composed of staff
such as clinical coordinators, teacher/counselors, and social
workers, will need to review your child's treatment and discuss
plans for your child's discharge.)
We will disclose your child's health information outside of this
agency for treatment purposes only with your consent or when
otherwise allowed under state or federal law (Example: We
may disclose your child's health information to other mental
health facilities or professionals (i.e., community based area
mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse
services program or psychiatric service at UNC Hospitals) in
order to coordinate your child's care. Example: We may
share your child's health information with a health care provider
for emergency services.)
Payment for Services: (Please note:
Wright School is not billing for services at the present time.
If and when Wright School began to bill for treatment, this payment
for services policy would be put into place.) The treatment provided to your child will be
shared with our agency's billing department so a bill can be
prepared for services rendered. We may also share your child's
health information with agency staff who review services provided
to your child to make certain your child has received appropriate
care and treatment. We will not disclose your child's health
information outside of this agency for billing purposes (i.e.,
bill your insurance company) without your authorization except
in certain situations when we need to determine if your child
is eligible for benefits such as Medicaid, Medicare or Social
Security. (Example: A Social Worker may contact your local
Department of Social Services to determine if your child is currently
eligible for Medicaid or if your child would qualify for Medicaid.
Example: Our billing department will collect insurance
and other financial information from you at the time of admission.)
Health Care Operations: Wright School may use or disclose your child's
health information in performing a variety of business activities
that we call "health care operations." Some examples
of how we may use or disclose your child's health information
for health care operations include the following:
*Review the care your child receives here
and evaluate the performance of your child's treatment/ habilitation
team to ensure your child has received quality care.
*Review and evaluate the skills, qualifications and performance
of health care providers who are taking care of your child.
*Provide training programs for agency staff, students and volunteers.
*Cooperate with outside organizations that review and determine
the quality of care that your child receives.
*Provide information to professional organizations that evaluate,
certify or license health care providers, staff or facilities.
*Allow our agency attorney to use your child's health information
when representing this agency in legal matters.
*Resolve grievances within our agency.
*Provide information to your child's internal client advocate
who is available to represent your child's interests upon your
request.
Other Circumstances: Wright School may disclose your child's health
information for those circumstances that have been determined
to be so important that your authorization may not be required.
Prior to disclosing your child's health information, we will
evaluate each request to ensure that only necessary information
will be disclosed. Those circumstances include disclosures that
are:
*Required by law;
*For public health activities. (Example: we may disclose
health information to public health authorities if your child
has a communicable disease and we have reason to believe, based
upon information provided to us, that there is a public health
risk such as evidence of your child's noncompliance with his/her
treatment plan.) If your child suffers from a communicable disease
such as tuberculosis or HIV/AIDS, information about your child's
disease will be treated as confidential. Other than circumstances
described to you in other sections of this Notice, we
will not release any information about your child's communicable
disease except as required to protect public health or the spread
of a disease or at the request of the State or Local Health Director;
*Regarding abuse, neglect or domestic violence;
*For health oversight activities such as licensing of nursing
homes;
*For law enforcement purposes unless otherwise prohibited by
state or federal law;
*For court proceedings such as court orders to appear in court;
*Related to death such as disclosure to a funeral director;
*Related to donation of organs or tissue;
*To avert a serious threat to the health or safety of a person
or the public;
*Related to specialized government activities such as national
security;
*To correctional institutions or other law enforcement officials
when your child is in their custody;
*For Worker's Compensation in cases pending before the Industrial
Commission
*To your next of kin or other person involved in your child's
care upon their request; however, information to be disclosed
will be limited to admission, transfer, discharge, referrals
and appointments and you will be notified of this request, and
*Related to medical research.
Contacting
You
Wright School may use your child's
health information to contact you for the following reasons.
*To remind you of upcoming appointments (Example:
This agency may send an appointment reminder on a folded postcard
to your home to remind you of a scheduled appointment. Example:
This agency may contact you through a telephone call about an
appointment your child has for treatment.);
*Make you aware of alternative treatment, services, products
or health care providers that may be of interest to you (Example:
If your child is receiving treatment for a particular condition
and your health care team learns of new or alternative treatments,
we may contact you to inform you of such possibilities.);
*Contact you to request your participation in raising funds for
this agency. If you object to being contacted in this way for
fund-raising efforts, you must notify our Privacy Official who
is listed in this Notice. (Example: If our agency
Foundation requested information be sent to you about an upcoming
fund raising event, we may send the information to your home.
Disclosure
of Your Child's Health Information That Allows You An Opportunity
To Object
There are certain circumstances
where we may disclose your child's health information and you
have an opportunity to object. Such circumstances include:
*The professional responsible for your child's care may disclose
your child's admission to or discharge from this agency to your
next of kin
*Disclosure to public or private agencies providing disaster
relief. (Example: We may share your child's health information
with the American Red Cross following a major disaster such as
a flood.)
If you would like to object to our disclosure about your child's
health information in either of the situations listed above,
please contact our agency Privacy Official listed in this Notice
for consideration of your objection.
Disclosure
of Your Child's Health Information That Requires Your Authorization
Wright School will not disclose
your child's health information without your authorization except
as allowed or required by state or federal law. For all other
disclosures, we will ask you to sign a written authorization
allowing us to share or request your child's health information.
Before you sign an authorization, you will be fully informed
of the exact information you are authorizing to be disclosed/requested
and to/from whom the information will be disclosed/requested.
You may request that your authorization be cancelled by informing
our agency Privacy Official that you do not want any additional
health information about your child exchanged with a particular
person/agency. You will be asked to sign and date the Authorization
Revocation section of your original authorization; however, verbal
authorization is acceptable. Your authorization will then be
considered invalid at that point in time; however, any actions
that were taken on the authorization prior to the time you cancelled
your authorization are legal and binding.
Your
Rights Regarding Your Child's Health Information
You have the following rights regarding
your child's health information as created and maintained by
this agency.
Right to receive a copy of this Notice
You have the right to receive a copy of Wright School's Notice
of Privacy Practices. At your child's first treatment
encounter with Wright School, you will be given a copy of this
Notice and asked to sign an acknowledgement that you have
received it. In the event of emergency services, you will be
provided the Notice as soon as possible after emergency
services have been provided.
In addition, copies of this Notice have been posted in
several public areas throughout this agency, as well as on the
Wright School's Internet web site at www.wrightschool.org.
You have the right to request a paper copy of this Notice
at any time from our agency Admissions Officer or our agency
Privacy Official.
Right to request different ways to communicate
with you
You have the right to request to
be contacted at a different location or by a different method.
For example, you may request all written information from this
agency be sent to your work address rather than your home address.
We will agree with your request as long as it is reasonable to
do so; however, your request must be made in writing and forwarded
to our agency Privacy Official.
Right to request to see and copy your
child's health information
Your child has the right to request
to see and receive a copy of their health information in medical,
billing and other records that are used to make decisions about
your child. Such request must be in writing and forwarded to
our agency Privacy Official. Your child can expect a response
to their request within 30 days. If your child's request is approved,
you may be charged a fee to cover the cost of the copy.
Instead of providing your child with a full copy of their health
information record, we may give your child a summary or explanation
of their health information, if the child agrees in advance to
that format and to the cost of preparing such information.
Your child's request may be denied by a physician or a professional
designated by our agency director under certain circumstances.
If we do deny your child's request, we will explain our reason
for doing so in writing and describe any rights your child may
have to request a review of our denial. In addition, your child
has the right to contact our agency Privacy Official to request
that a copy of their health information be sent to a physician
or psychologist of their choice.
You, as the personal representative of your child who consented
to your child's treatment, have the same rights to request to
see and copy your child's health information.
Right to request amendment of your health
information
You have the right to request changes
in your child's health information in medical, billing and other
records used to make decisions about your child. If you believe
that we have information that is either inaccurate or incomplete,
you may submit a request in writing to our agency Privacy Official
and explain your reasons for the amendment. We must respond to
your request within 30 days of receiving your request. If we
accept your request to change your child's health information,
we will add your amendment but will not destroy the original
record. In addition, we will make reasonable efforts to inform
others of the changes, including persons you name who have received
your child's health information and who need the changes.
We may deny your request if:
*The information was not created by this agency (unless you prove
the creator of the information is no longer available to change
the information);
*The information is not part of the records used to make decisions
about your child;
*We believe the information is correct
and complete; or
*Your request for access to the information is denied.
If we deny your request to change your child's health information,
we will explain to you in writing the reasons for denial and
describe your rights to give us a written statement disagreeing
with the denial. If you provide a written statement, the statement
will become a permanent part of your child's record. Whenever
disclosures are made of the information in question, your written
statement will be disclosed as well.
Right to request a listing of disclosures
we have made
You have a right to a written list
of disclosures of your child's health information. The list will
be maintained for at least six years for any disclosures made
after April 14, 2003. This listing will include the date of the
disclosure, the name (and address, if available) of the person
or organization receiving the information, a brief description
of the information disclosed and the purpose of the disclosure.
This agency is not required to include the following on the list
of disclosures:
*Disclosure for your child's treatment;
*Disclosure for billing and collection of payment for your child's
treatment;
*Disclosures related to our health care operations;
*Disclosures that you authorized;
*Disclosures to law enforcement when your child is in their custody;
or
*Disclosures made to individuals involved in your child's care.
Your first request for a listing of disclosures will be provided
to you free of charge. However, if you request a listing of disclosures
more than once in a 12 month period, you may be charged a reasonable
fee. We will inform you of the cost involved and you may choose
to withdraw or modify your request at that time, before any costs
are incurred.
Right to request restrictions on uses
and disclosures of your child's health information
You have the right to request that
we limit our use and disclosure of your child's health information
for treatment, payment and health care operations. You also have
the right to request a limit on the health information we disclose
about your child to your next of kin or someone who is involved
in your child's care. (Example: you could ask that we not disclose
information about your child's family history of heart disease.)
We will provide you with a form to document your request.
We will make every attempt to honor your request but are not
required to agree to such request. However, if we do agree,
we must follow the agreed upon restriction (unless the information
is necessary for emergency treatment or unless it is a disclosure
to the U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services).
You may cancel the restrictions at any time and we will ask that
your request be in writing. In addition, this agency may cancel
a restriction at any time, as long as we notify you of the cancellation.
Violations/Complaints
If you believe we have violated
your child's privacy rights, or if you want to file a complaint
regarding our privacy practices, you may contact our agency Privacy
Official. Contact information is as follows: Wright School Privacy Official
3132 Roxboro Road; Durham, NC 27704;
Phone: (919) 560-5790; Fax: (919) 560-5795
e-mail address: wsprivacy@ncmail.net
The North Carolina Department of Health
and Human Services operates an information and referral service
located in the Office of Citizen Services, known as CARE-LINE,
which has been designated to receive and document complaints
and concerns regarding your child's privacy. Contact information
is as follows:
CARE-LINE
2012 Mail Service Center; Raleigh,
NC 27699-2012
Voice Phone (English and Spanish) 1-800-661-7030 (Toll
Free)
(919) 733-4261 (Triangle Area and Out of State)
FAX: (919) 715-8174
TTY: 1-877-452-2514 (TTY Dedicated)
(919) 733-4851 (TTY Dedicated for local/out of state calls)
Email: care.line@ncmail.net You may also send a written complaint to
the United States Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
Services. Contact information is as follows:
Office for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Atlanta Federal Center, Suite 3B70
61 Forsyth Street, S.W.
Atlanta, GA 30303-8909
Voice Phone: (404) 562-7886
FAX: (404) 562-7881 TDD: (404) 331-2867
If you file a complaint, we will not take any action against
you or your child or change our treatment of your child in any
way.
Legal References
Primary Federal and State laws
and regulations that protect the privacy of your child's health
information are listed below.
Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records
- 42 U.S.C. 290dd-3 and 42 U.S.C. 290ee-3 for Federal laws
and 42 CFR Part 2 for Federal regulations.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA),
Administrative Simplification, Privacy of Individually Identifiable
Health Information - 42 U.S.C. 1320d-1329d-8 and 42 U.S.C.
1320d-2(note) for Federal laws and 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164 for
Federal regulations.
NC General Statutes - Chapter 122C, Article 3 (Client's
Rights and Advance Instruction), Part 1 (Client's Rights). Chapter
90 (Medicine and Allied Occupations), Article 1 (Practice of
Medicine).
NC Administrative Code - 10 NCAC 18 D (Confidentiality
Rules)
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