How We May Use and Disclose Your PHI
The following categories describe different ways that we may use and
disclose your PHI, and include some examples to explain such uses and
disclosures. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed.
Treatment. We may use or disclose your PHI to doctors, nurses,
emergency medical technicians, and other persons necessary to provide
you with medical treatment or services, For example, we may receive or
transfer PHI via radio or telephone to the hospital or dispatch center,
as well as discuss your PHI with nurses and doctors who give us orders
to provide emergency treatment to you. In addition, we may disclose your
PHI to other health care personnel when we transfer your care and
treatment as well as provide the hospital with a copy of the written
record we create in the course of providing you with treatment and
transport. We may also follow-up with the hospital to find out how you
are doing. We may also disclose your PHI to health care providers that
treat you later on after the emergency situation, such as your personal
physician.
Payment. We may use or disclose your PHI so that we may bill and
be reimbursed for the treatment and services we provide to you. For
example, we may need to use or disclose your PHI when we submit bills to
insurance companies (either directly or through a third party billing),
address insurance companies. inquiries about medical necessity
determinations, and or institute collection activities on outstanding
accounts. We may also provide your PHI to another health care provider
or entity for their payment activities (such as the hospital that
provides you treatment).
Health Care Operations. We may use or disclose your PHI as
necessary to operate the Mehlville Fire Protection District and to make
sure that you receive quality care. For example, we may use or disclose
your PHI for quality assurance activities, licensing and training
programs to ensure that our personnel meet our standards of care and
follow established policies and procedures, obtaining legal and
financial services, conducting business planning, processing grievances
and complaints, creating reports that do not individually identify you
for data collection purposes, and fundraising, and certain marketing
activities (such as newsletters). There are also some circumstances that
we are permitted to disclose your PHI to another health care provider
(such as the hospital to which you are transported) for its own health
care operations.
Business Associates. We may use or disclose your PHI to certain
individuals and companies that we contract with (our "business
associates") so that they can perform the job we have asked then to do.
For example, we contract with a billing company to assist us with
billing insurance companies and third party payors. To protect your PHI,
however, we require our business associates to appropriately safeguard
your PHI and to meet the same confidentiality standards that we are
required to meet.
Fundraising. We may contact you when we are in the process of
raising funds for Mehlville Fire Protection District or to provide you
with information about tax or bond proposals. If we contact you for such
purposes, we will give you the opportunity to tell us that you do not
want us to contact you again in the future.
Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care. We
may disclose PHI to your family, a close personal friend or other
individual involved in your care if we obtain your verbal agreement to
do so or if we infer from the circumstances that you would not object.
For example, we may assume you agree to our disclosure of your PHI to
your spouse when your spouse has called the ambulance for you. In
situations where you are not capable of objecting (because you are not
present or due to your incapacity or medical emergency), we may, in our
professional judgment, determine that a disclosure to your family
member, relative, or friend is in your best interest. In that situation,
we will disclose only PHI relevant to that person's involvement in your
care. In addition, we may disclose your PHI to an entity assisting in a
disaster relief effort (for example, the American Red Cross) so your
family can be notified about your condition, status or location.
Special Circumstances. We may also use or disclose your PHI to
specific individuals or entities for the following specific purposes:
If federal, state or local law requires that we do so;
For health care fraud and abuse detection or for activities related
to compliance with the law;
For certain public health activities such as reporting a birth, death
or disease as required by law, as part of a public health investigation,
to report child or adult abuse or neglect or domestic violence, to
report adverse events such as product defects, or to notify a person
about exposure to a possible communicable disease as required by law;
For health oversight activities including audits or government
investigations, inspections, disciplinary proceedings, and other
administrative or judicial actions undertaken by the government (or
their contractors) by law to oversee the health care system;
For judicial and administrative proceedings as required by a court or
administrative order, or in some cases in response to a subpoena or
other legal process;
For law enforcement activities in limited situations, such as when
there is a warrant for the request, or when the information is needed to
locate a suspect or stop a crime;
For military, national defense and security and other special
government functions;
To avert a serious threat to the health and safety of a person or the
public at large;
For workers. compensation purposes, and in compliance with workers.
compensation laws;
To coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors for identifying
a deceased person, determining cause of death, or carrying on their
duties as authorized by law;
If you are an organ donor, to organizations that handle organ
procurement or organ, eye or tissue transplantation or to an organ
donation bank, as necessary to facilitate organ donation and
transplantation;
For research projects (such disclosures will be subject to strict
oversight and approvals and PHI will be released only when there is a
minimal risk to your privacy and adequate safeguards are in place in
accordance with the law); and If you are an inmate or under the custody
of a law enforcement official, as necessary (1) for a correctional
institution to provide you with health care, (2) to protect your health
or safety or the health and safety of others, or (3) for the safety and
security of the correctional institution or law enforcement.
We may also use or disclose your health information in a way that
does not personally identify you or reveal who you are. Any other use or
disclosure of PHI, other than those listed above, will only be made with
your specific written authorization. You may revoke your authorization
at any time, in writing, except to the extent that we have already used
or disclosed your PHI in reliance of that authorization.
Although the PHI that we create, receive and maintain is the physical
property of the Mehlville Fire Protection District, you have the
following rights with respect to your PHI that we maintain.
The Right to Inspect and Receive a Copy of Your PHI. You have the
right to inspect and obtain a copy of your PHI that we maintain. If you
wish to inspect or obtain a copy of your PHI that we maintain, you
should contact the Privacy Officer listed at the end of this Notice. We
may charge you a reasonable copying fee. In limited circumstances, we
may deny you access to your PHI; however, depending upon the reason for
the denial, you may have the right to appeal our decision.
The Right to Amend Your PHI. You have the right to request that
we amend (correct) your PHI that we maintain if you believe that the PHI
is incorrect or incomplete. We are permitted by law to deny your request
in certain circumstances, like when we believe the information you have
asked us to amend is correct. If you wish to request that we amend your
PHI that we maintain, you should contact the Privacy Officer listed at
the end of this Notice.
The Right to Request an Accounting of Our Disclosures of your PHI.
You may request an accounting (a "list") from us of disclosures of your
PHI that we have made in the last six years prior to the date of your
request, but after April 14, 2003. We are not required to give you an
accounting of certain disclosures, such as disclosures for purposes of
treatment, payment or health care operations, disclosures to our
business associates, or disclosures that are pursuant to your written
authorization. If you wish to request an accounting of disclosures that
are not exempted from the accounting requirement, you should contact the
Privacy Officer listed at the end of this Notice.
The Right to Request Restrictions on the Uses and Disclosures of Your
PHI. You have the right to request that we restrict how we use and
disclose your PHI for treatment, payment or health care operations, or
to restrict the information that is provided to family, friends and
other individuals involved in your health care. We are not required to
agree to any restrictions you request, but if we do, we comply with your
request unless the PHI is needed to provide you with emergency
treatment. If you wish to request a restriction, you should contact the
Privacy Officer listed at the end of this Notice.
The Right to Request Confidential Communications. You have the
right to request that you receive confidential communications regarding
your PHI in a certain form or at a certain location. For example, you
may request that we only contact you by mail. To request confidential
communication, you should contact the Privacy Officer listed at the end
of this Notice.
The Right to Obtain Copy of Paper Notice on Request. You have the
right to receive a paper copy of this Notice at any time, by contacting
the Privacy Officer listed at the end of this Notice. If we maintain a
website, we will prominently post a copy of this Notice on our web site
and make the Notice available electronically through the web site. If
you allow us, we will forward you this Notice by electronic mail instead
of on paper.
For More Information or to Report a Problem
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a
written complaint with us or the Secretary of the United States
Department of Health and Human Services. Any complaint must be in
writing, state the nature of the complaint and how to contact you. You
will not be retaliated against in any way for filing a complaint, and
your complaint will not affect any treatment that we provide to you.
If you have any questions about this Notice, or want to file a
written complaint, please contact our Privacy Officer:
Assistant Chief-EMS Phil Minnella
Mehlville Fire Protection District
11020 Mueller Road
St. Louis, MO 63123
314.894.0420 x 1706
Effective Date of the Notice: April 14, 2003
