HIPAA Policies

Uses and Disclosures of Medical Information

We use and disclose medical information about you for treatment, payment and health care operations.

Treatment: We may use and disclose your medical information to a physician or other health care provider in order to provide treatment to you. This includes coordination of your care with other health care providers, and with health plans, consultation with other providers, and referral to other providers related to your care.

Payment: We may use and disclose your medical information to obtain payment for services we provide to you. Payment includes submitting claims to health plans and other insurers, justifying our charges for and demonstrating the medical necessity of the care we deliver to you, determining your eligibility for health plan benefits for the care we furnish to you, obtaining precertification or preauthorization for your treatment or referral to other health care providers, participating in utilization review of the services we provide to you and the like. We may disclose your medical information to another health care provider or entity subject to the federal Privacy Rules so they can obtain payment.

Health Care Operations: We may use and disclose your medical information in connection with our health care operations. Health care operations include:

• Quality assessment and improvement activities
• Reviewing the competence or qualifications of health care professionals, evaluating practitioner and provider accreditation, certification, licensing or credentialing activities
• Medical Review
• Legal services and auditing, including fraud and abuse detection and compliance
• Business planning and development
• Business management and general administrative activities, including management activities relating to privacy, customer service, resolution of internal grievances, and creating de-identified medical information or a limited data set

We may disclose your medical information to another provider or health plan that is subject to the Privacy Rules, as long as that provider or plan has a relationship with you and the medical information is for their health care quality assessment and improvement activities, competence and qualification evaluation and review activities, or fraud and abuse detection and prevention.

On Your Authorization: You may give us written authorization to use your medical information or to disclose it to anyone for any purpose. If you give us an authorization, you may revoke it in writing at any time. Unless you give us a written authorization, we cannot use or disclose your medical information for any reason except those described in this Notice.

To Your Family & Friends: We may disclose your medical information to a family member, friend or other person to the extent necessary to help with your health care or with payment for your health care. We may use or disclose your name, hospital location, and general condition or death to notify, or assist in the notification of (including identifying or locating) a person involved in your care. We may also disclose your medical information to whomever you give us permission. Before we disclose your medical information to a person involved in your health care or payment for your health care, we will provide you with an opportunity to object to such uses or discloses. If you are not present, or in the event of your incapacity or an emergency, we will disclose your medical information based on our professional judgment of whether the disclosure would be in your best interest. We will also use our professional judgment and our experience with common practice to allow a person to pick up filled prescriptions, medical supplies or other similar forms of medical information.

Facility Directory: We may use your name, your location, your general medical condition, and your religious affiliation in our facility directories. We will disclose this information to members of the clergy and, except for religious affiliation, to other persons who ask for you by name. We will provide you with an opportunity to restrict or prohibit some or all disclosures for facility directories unless emergency circumstances prevent your opportunity to object.

Disaster Relief: We may use or disclose your medical information to a public or private entity authorized by law or by its charter to assist in disaster relief efforts.

Health Related Services: We may use your medical information to contact you with information about health-related benefits and services or about treatment alternatives that may be of interest to you. We may disclose your medical information to a business associate to assist us in these activities.

Business Associate: We may disclose your medical information to a company or individual performing functions or activities to or on behalf of one or more of the Affiliated Entities who may have access to or be given your health information in order to provide the contracted services.

Marketing: We will not use your medical information for marketing purposes without your authorization. The Affiliate Entities use commercially purchased lists. We must obtain your authorization for all marketing purposes except for face-to-face conversations about services and treatment alternatives. You may also receive information through a membership program that you have joined. If you have opted-in or have joined a membership program and you no longer wish to receive further information, please indicate this in writing by completing a Marketing Opt-out form, which you may get by calling 713.222.CARE.

Fund-raising: We may use your demographic information and the dates of your health care to contact you for our fund-raising purposes. We may disclose this information to a business associate or foundation to assist us in our fund-raising activities. If you would like more information on the Memorial Hermann Foundation or a description of how you may opt-out of receiving future fund-raising communications, please indicate this in writing by calling 713.222.CARE and requesting an Opt-out form.

Public Benefit: We may use or disclose your medical information as authorized by law for the following purposes deemed to be in the public interest or benefit:

• Public Health activities including disease and vital statistics reporting, child abuse reporting, adult protective services and FDA oversight
• Employers, regarding work-related illness or injury
• Cancer Registry
• Trauma Registry
• Birth Registry
• Health Oversight Agencies
• In response to court and administrative orders and other lawful processes
• To law enforcement officials pursuant to subpoenas and other lawful processes, concerning crime victims, suspicious deaths, crimes on our premises, reporting crimes in emergencies, and for purposes of identifying or locating a suspect or other person
• To coroners, medical examiners and funeral directors
• To organ procurement organizations
• To avert a serious threat to health or safety
• In connection with certain research activities
• To correctional institutions regarding inmates
• As authorized by state worker's compensation laws
• To the military, to federal officials for lawful intelligence, counterintelligence, and national security activities, and to correctional institutions and law enforcement regarding persons in lawful custody