PLEASE REVIEW THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY

NOTICE OF CONFIDENTIALITY PRACTICES

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY. 

1.       INTRODUCTION

This joint Notice of Privacy Practices (this “Notice”) describes how we may use and disclose your protected health information (“PHI”) to carry out treatment, payment, and/or health care operations and for other purposes that are permitted or required by law.  It also describes your rights concerning your PHI.  PHI is information about you, including information that may identify who you are or where you live, that relates to your past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition, related health care services, and payment for such services. 

2.       WHO WILL FOLLOW THIS NOTICE

Gerald J McKenna MD Inc, dba McKenna Recovery Center:

• Ke Ala Pono – Kauai
• Ke Ala Pono – Hilo
• Honolulu Professionals Program
• All units of each of the above-named facilities;
• Any health care professional authorized to enter information into your medical or billing records at our facilities;
• All employees, medical staff members and other authorized workforce who may need access to your information;
• Volunteers we allow to help you at our facilities; and;
• All medical students and students of other health care professions or educational programs at our facilities.

 

3.       OUR LEGAL DUTY.  We are required by law to: 

• Keep records of the care that we provided to you;
• Keep your PHI private;
• Notify you, under certain circumstances, of breaches affecting your PHI;
• Abide by the terms of the Notice that is currently in effect; and
• Give you this Notice of our duties and privacy practices with respect to your PHI.

 We may change our Notice at any time.  We reserve the right to revise or amend this Notice.  Any revision or amendment to this Notice will apply to all of your records that any of our facilities have created or maintained in the past and for any of your records that we may create or maintain in the future. 

4.       WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU:  The following categories describe different ways we may use and disclose PHI.  Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed.

• Payment to physicians and hospitals that provide you with health care services. 
• Conducting quality assurance activities or outcomes assessments.
• Reviewing the competence or qualification of health care professionals.
• Performing accreditation, licensing or credentialing activities.
• Analyzing health plan claims or health care records data.
• We may use your information to evaluate:  the performance of our staff in caring for you; the quality of our services; and effectiveness of various treatments so we can see where we can make improvements in our care and services. 
• We also may call you by name in the waiting areas. 
• We also may disclose your PHI to third parties who perform various activities on our behalf, such as accounting, transcription services, data analysis, and risk management. 

In addition, we may disclose your PHI for payment activities and certain business operations of another health care provider or health plan as long as they have or had a relationship; and the information disclosed pertains to that relationship; and the information is used for one of the following health care operations: quality assessment and improvement; case management and care coordination. 

1. Education and Training:    We may disclose information to doctors, nurses, training doctors, medical students, interns and other hospital personnel for review and learning purposes.  These same classes of individuals and other health care professional students
2. may participate in examinations or procedures and in your care as part of our educational programs. 
3. Appointment Reminders:  We may use and disclose your PHI to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment or to provide you information regarding your medical care. 
4. Treatment Alternatives:  We may use and disclose PHI to tell you about possible treatment options or alternatives.

5.        YOUR RIGHTS 

• Inspect and request copies of your medical records or to appeal any denial of your request for inspection or copying.
• Request that your health care provider append information to your medical record.
• Receive a notice of your privacy rights by your health plan upon enrollment, annually and when their confidentiality practices are substantially amended.
• Obtain a copy of this office’s confidentiality practices.

 6.       LIMITING DISCLOSURE OF YOUR PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION

You have the right to limit disclosure of your protected health information if you choose to not use any health insurance or other third party payment as payment for services.  In which case, you may only limit disclosure if you have advised the physician prior to the delivery of services and have paid for the health care services yourself. 

**This notice describes your confidentiality rights as they relate to information from your medical records and explains the circumstances under which information from your medical records may be shared with others.  The information in this notice also applies to others covered under your health plan, such as your spouse or children.  If you do not understand the terms for this notice, please ask for further explanation (Chapter 323C HRS). 

For additional information or to submit a complaint, please contact our Privacy Officer:

Privacy Officer
4374 Kukui Grove Street, Ste 104
Lihue HI 96766
Tel: (808) 246-0663