UTHealth Houston Harris County Psychiatric Center

Privacy and Disclosure Notice

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION

According to state and federal laws, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston-Harris County Psychiatric Center (UTHCPC) has to keep personal health information private and confidential. UTHCPC also has to tell patients about the hospital’s health information privacy policy. UTHCPC is required by law to abide by its “Notice of Privacy Practices”. This is just a summary of that notice. For more details about the policy, or for a copy of the full “Notice”, please ask a staff member for help.

Disclosures For Treatment And Payment Purposes

UTHCPC gives patient health information to doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, medical laboratories, and others who directly or indirectly participate in our patients’ care. The information might include the patient’s name, diagnosis, medical history, family history, or diagnostic test results such as X-rays and blood tests.

When patients have insurance or coverage under Medicare or Medicaid, UTHCPC sends treatment information to the insurance company (or government program) in order to get paid. In these cases UTHCPC sends the least information possible in order to receive payment. This will include information about the patient’s diagnosis, treatment dates, names of medications and number and type of services provided.

Uses And Disclosures For Health Care Operations

UTHCPC is a “teaching hospital” which trains medical, nursing, pharmacy and psychology students as well as medical residents, psychology residents, and social work trainees. Those students help to care for our patients and therefore have access to the medical records of patients on the units where they work. UTHCPC is also a Medicare-participating hospital, accredited by the Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation (JCAHO). The JCAHO periodically sends surveyors to examine patient records to assure that patients receive high quality medical care. The Texas Department of Health (TDH) is allowed to inspect medical records in all hospitals that accept Medicare patients.

Release Of Information That Is Required By Law

Depending on the circumstances, UTHCPC might be required by law to provide health information such as the patients’ name, diagnosis, and treatment summaries, to certain people and government agencies without the patient’s consent or authorization. These include general health information to patients’ parents or guardians; hospital discharge information to the Texas Health Care Information Council (THCIC); reports of possible child abuse and elder abuse to the Texas Department of Human resources; reports of certain contagious diseases to the City of Houston and Harris County Health Departments; disclosure of hospital discharge information to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice department of pardons and paroles; disclosure of specific health information requested by courts and administrative agencies if they issue a subpoena; and disclosure of patient identity to law enforcement agencies if the patient is under an arrest warrant or if the patient poses an immediate threat to himself or to the other patients. Advocacy, Incorporated is an agency that has the right to look at patients’ records if somebody accuses the hospital of abuse or neglect, or if someone thinks that the hospital has violated the rights of a person with mental illness.

Authorization to Release Information

For all disclosures that are NOT for treatment, payment, or health care operations, UTHCPC needs special written permission from the patient.

Your Medical Information Rights

• You have the right to review and ask for a copy your health information. Your treatment team will decide the time, manner, and place of the inspection and copying.
• You have the right to a full, complete, and accurate medical record. If your record is not entirely accurate, you have the right to request changes in the records.
• Except for disclosures for treatment, payment, or health care operations (see above), you have the right to be told about every person, company, or organization that has had access to your medical record.
• You have the right to receive a paper copy of this notice, even if you have agreed to obtain the notice from the UTHCPC web site.
• UTHCPC does not create a “patient directory” for phone calls and communications. Instead, we ask that patients notify anyone who needs to know that they are hospitalized or receiving treatment at our clinic. Except in cases of required disclosures, UTHCPC does not disclose patients’ identity to anyone calling our switchboard, or to anyone who comes to the hospital or clinic seeking patient information.

Violations

If, after reading this notice, you believe that your privacy rights have been violated, you may notify the UTHCPC Privacy Officer or the Office of Civil Rights of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). UTHCPC does not ask its patients to give up this right. By the same token, UTHCPC will not threaten you or retaliate against you for filing a complaint with the DHHS. A nurse or technician can get you a copy of the full “Notice of Privacy Practices” for details on how and where to file complaints.