Notice of Privacy Practices
NewPath Child & Family Solutions – Notice of Privacy Practices
Updated: June 2022
Protected Health Information (“PHI”) is any health information that identifies you (or your child if you are their guardian). PHI is also called medical information, and will be called “information” throughout this pamphlet. This privacy notice explains how NewPath will keep information safe.
This Privacy Notice is in three parts:
1. What are your health care records and your rights about them?
2. Who can see your records without your written permission?
3. What is NewPath’s policy to protect your health care records?
Contents
1. WHAT ARE YOUR HEALTH CARE RECORDS AND YOUR RIGHTS?
2. WHO CAN SEE YOUR RECORDS WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION?
3. AUTHORIZATION FOR OTHER USES AND DISCLOSRUES
4. WHAT IS OUR POLICY TO PROTECT YOUR RECORDS?
WHAT ARE YOUR HEALTH CARE RECORDS AND YOUR RIGHTS?
Your records are very important in your treatment. The health information that we collect helps us make the best choice for your services. We use your records for treatment. For example, a NewPath staff member may share information with another program in the agency to see if a different program could offer helpful services.
Your information is also used for payment. For example, we can contact your insurance company to address coverage for services.
Lastly, your information is used for health care operations at our agency. This means we may use information from your record to continue staff training and ensure we are providing good quality care to our clients.
Your health care records include documents created by NewPath and those documents that you have given us permission to receive from other agencies while you receive services with our agency. These are your records. You have the following rights regarding them:
1. Right to Request Restrictions
You can request that we restrict how and to whom we share information from your records. To request a restriction, please do so in writing to your primary clinician. Please note that we are not required to agree to the requested restriction. We will talk with you if we do not agree. If we do not agree to the request, we will honor it until you revoke it or we notify you.
2. Right to Receive Confidential Communication
You can tell us how you prefer we contact you. For example, you may prefer that we not call you at work. Make this request in writing to your primary clinician. Your request must specify how or where you wish to be contacted. We will accommodate reasonable requests.
3. Right Not to Notify Health Plan
If you paid out-of-pocket (i.e. you have requested that we not bill your health plan) in full for a specific item or service, you have the right to ask that your information with respect to that item or service not be disclosed to a health plan for purposes of payment or health care operations, and we will honor that request.
4. Right to Access Health Information
You have the right to view your treatment records. If the information that you request is maintained electronically, and you request an electronic copy, we will provide a copy in the electronic form and format your request, if the information can be readily produced in the form and format. If the information cannot be readily produced in that form and format, we will work with your to come to an agreement on form and format. If an agreement cannot be reached on an electronic form and format, we will provide you with a paper copy. Please see NewPath Guardian Access to Client Records Handout for directions on reviewing your treatment record.
5. Right to Amend
You have the right to ask us to change information in your health records if you believe it is incorrect or incomplete. Make this request in writing to your primary clinician. We will respond in writing to your request within sixty (60) days. We will let you know if we agree to your request or provide a reason we do not agree.
6. Right to an Accounting of Disclosures
You have the right to receive a list of the information that has been shared on a non-routine basis from your health records, including uses that don’t involve treatment, payment or health care operations. Make this request in writing to your primary clinician.
7. Right to be Notified of a Breach
You have the right to be notified in the event that we (or a Business Associate) discover a breach of unsecured information.
8. Right to Copy of this Notice
You have the right to get a copy of this notice at any time from NewPath. You can ask any staff member or get a copy from our website, www.newpath.org.
WHO CAN SEE YOUR RECORDS WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION?
There are times we may have to share your child’s health information without your written permission. The following is a list of situations in which we CAN share your records without your permission:
NewPath may give out information if we are required by law to do so.
We can share your information with agencies that are responsible to prevent and control disease.
All NewPath employees are mandated reporters of child abuse and neglect. If we suspect abuse or neglect we will share information with the government agencies that investigate these situations.
We can share your health information with agencies that audit, investigate and inspect health care programs and government benefits programs.
We may share information about you to law enforcement officials when:
We may share information about you in order to assist in identifying someone who has died.
We may share information about you to organizations that get organs for transplants.
We may share information about you if we feel that doing so will help prevent injury to another person or ensure public safety. Please refer to NewPath’s Duty to Warn Policy for more information.
We may share your information for purposes of research about our services at NewPath. Please refer to NewPath’s Research Policy for more information.
We may share information about you to government agencies for purposes of national security and other determinations by the U.S. State Department.
We may release information to the correctional institution or law enforcement official if you are an inmate of a correctional institution or under the custody of a law enforcement official.
We may contract with individuals or entities known as Business Associates to perform various functions on our behalf or to provide certain types of services. In order to perform these functions or provide these services, we may share your information with Business Associates. For example, information may be seen by the vendor of our electronic health record when they are performing maintenance on the system.
AUTHORIZATION FOR OTHER USES AND DISCLOSURES
Other uses of disclosures of your information not described above will only be made with your written authorization. For example, in general and subject to specific conditions, we will not use or disclose your information for marketing or for anything that would be considered a sale of your information, unless you give written authorization. You may revoke written authorization at any time, so long as the revocation is in writing. Once we receive your written revocation, it will only be effective for future uses and disclosures. It will not be effective for any information that may have been used or disclosed prior to you signing the revocation.
WHAT IS OUR POLICY TO PROTECT YOUR RECORDS?
NewPath is required by law to keep your health information safe. We are required to abide by the rules in this notice at all times. NewPath reserves the right to change our Notice of Privacy Practices and those changes will apply to all the information and records that we keep. You will be offered a copy of this Notice of Privacy each time you sign up for services with NewPath. You can also get a copy of this Notice when you visit any NewPath location. If you ever need a copy of this policy just ask any NewPath staff member and they would be more than happy to get one for you. You can also get a copy online at www.newpath.org.
If you need more information, or if you need to report a problem, contact the Privacy Officer at:
Senior Director of Quality and Strategy
5400 Edalbert Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45239
(855) 577-7284 x5165
Available Hours: 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Weekdays
To report a problem about your private health information to the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, please contact:
Office for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20201
We are here to make sure your confidential health information is kept safe. Please do not hesitate to talk to us.
