FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: David Hample,
CEO
(850) 718-2620
dward@jackhosp.org
JACKSON HOSPITAL: WORKING TO PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY
New federal regulations take effect April 14, 2003, that further clarify how patients’ health care information can be used and must be protected.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy regulations spell out how hospitals, physicians, and other caregivers can use patient information in caring for patients, in billing patients and their health plans, and in quality assurance and other activities. The regulations also give patients the right to know how their health information is being used and to ask for restrictions on that use.
Under the regulations, all patients will be given a copy of each health care provider’s Notice of Privacy Practices. This notice explains how each facility uses and protects patient health information, how patients can receive a copy of their medical records as well as a list of how their information has been used, and how patients can request restrictions on that use.
The notice also provides the name and contact information for the organization’s designated Privacy Officer. The Privacy Officer is the person the hospital has selected to answer any questions or respond to any complaints about privacy issues.
“Health care is an intensely personal matter,” said David Hample, CEO of Jackson Hospital. “The HIPAA privacy regulations standardize the privacy practices already in place at hospitals and health systems.”
“Specifically, hospital staff and volunteers are trained to be sensitive about confidentiality and patient privacy. Access to patient information is restricted to only those who need to know that information. And safeguards, such as locks on file cabinets and restricted computer passwords, are in place to protect private health information.”
Patients are strongly encouraged to read each Notice of Privacy Practices they receive from their health care providers and to ask questions of the Privacy Officer or other appropriate hospital representative if there are parts of the notices they do not understand.
Additional information on patients’ right to privacy is available online at www.jacksonhosp.org in the Privacy Section. |