Introduction

All of us at SPCAA/Project Champs/Dr. Alozie’s office value your relationship with us and we know that respect for your privacy is the foundation of that relationship. We are committed to protecting the privacy of your protected health information (PHI) that is in our possession and only using and disclosing your PHI as necessary to providing you with medical and social services. PHI is any information that we possess, use and disclose that identifies you and relates to your past, current or future physical and mental health condition or illness and the medical and social services that have been provided to you through our program.

This “Notice of Privacy Practices” (Notice) has been created to help you understand our legal duties to protect your PHI and how we may use and disclose your PHI in relation to your past, present, and future physical or mental health condition or illness and its treatment. We will mainly use and disclose your PHI in relation to the medical and social services that we provide you. Specifically, we will use and disclose your PHI as necessary to provide treatment to you. This Notice also describes the legal rights that you have related to your PHI that is in our possession. We take matters described in this Notice very seriously because of our relationship with you and the requirement that we comply with this Notice.

Your PHI will only be used and disclosed as described in this Notice. Should a need arise for disclosure of your PHI occur that is not described in this Notice, we will obtain your written authorization before the use and disclosure.

Your Rights With Respect To Your PHI

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) provides you with several rights related to your PHI. These rights are summarized below.

1. You have the right to receive this written Notice of Privacy Practices describing how we will protect your PHI and your rights related to PHI. You are entitled to request this written Notice at any time.
2. You have the right to request a limitation of our use and disclosure of your PHI. But please be aware that we may not be able to agree to your requested limitation if it results in our not being able to provide medical and social services to you or if we are required to use and disclose the PHI under federal or state law.
3. You have the right to review or receive photocopies of our records that contain your PHI, to the extent that these records are part of a designated record set as defined by HIPAA. We will be pleased to allow you to review such records at no charge during normal business hours. If we are unable to provide our records to you, we will provide you a written explanation of why we are not able to provide the records.
4. You have the right to request changes in the content of your PHI contained in our records where you believe the content is incomplete, inaccurate, or for some reason needs to be changed. We may not be able to agree to your requested change if we no longer have the records or if the requested change would cause your PHI to become inaccurate. If we are not able to agree to your requested change, we will notify you in writing as to why we are not able to agree. You will then have the right to submit to us a written statement of disagreement, to which we may elect to further respond in writing to you.
5. You have the right to request we communicate with you about your PHI in a confidential manner and only to locations (such as a post office) or by means(such as personal cellular telephone) specified by you. All requests for confidential communications must be identified during the initial intake process with Project CHAMPS/Dr. Alozie staff, SMS consent is not shared with third parties for marketing purposes.
6. You have the right to file a complaint if you believe that we have violated your rights as described above, and to not fear retaliation or adverse action by us against you for exercising your right. You can file the complaint with us directly. Please be assured that we will work with you to resolve any complaint, including providing you with the address for filing a complaint with the Texas Department of State Health Services.

If you questions about any of your rights as described above. Please contact our staff at the address or telephone number of our office.

Ways That We May Use and Disclose Your PHI

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) requires that this Notice tell you how we may use and disclose your PHI. These uses and disclosures are summarized below, but if you would like more information about any of these please contact our Office at the address or telephone number of our agency.

1. Treatment: HIPAA defines treatment as “the provision, coordination, or management of medical and social services by one of more providers, including coordination or management of medical and social services with a third party: consultation between medical and social providers relating to the client: or the referral of a client for mental an social care from one health care provider to another.” We will maintain records that contain your PHI, and we will use and disclose your PHI as necessary to provide medical and social services to carry out and support your treatment. As the agency, we may use and disclose your PHI as necessary to maintain a patient profile on you, which may include information about you: your medical condition, medications, and prescription devices that use: any allergies that may have: and other information, such as any health insurance that you may have. We may use and disclose your PHI in providing services, including counseling you and your caregivers about proper use of your services. We may discuss such problems with your other health care professionals, such as your physician or dentist, and through such discussions we may use and disclose your PHI.
2. Health care operations. HIPAA defines health care operations as those activities necessary and related to our providing of medical and social services to you. These activities include, but may not be limited to , the following:
   
   • Conducting quality assessment and improvement activities, case management and care coordination, and contacting of medical and social providers and clients with information about treatment alternatives and related functions that do not include treatment.
   • Conducting or arranging for medical review, legal services and auditing functions including fraud and abuse detection and compliance programs.
   • Our management and general administrative activities, including, but not limited to, activities relating to implementation of and compliance with the requirements of HIPAA.
   • We will use and disclose your PHI to carry out the above activities as necessary or required, and especially to monitor and improve the quality of the medical and social services that are provided to you by us.
   • In addition to treatment, medical and social operations as described above, we may use and disclose your PHI for the following purposes listed in 3-14.
3. Business associates. The nature of the medical and social is such that we may not be able to provide medicaland social services to you without the involvement of other businesses or persons. Depending on what these other businesses or persons do for us, they may become “business associates” as defined by HIPAA. In many situations, it will be necessary for us to provide your PHI to these business associates so that they can carry out the activities that we need to have performed in order to provide you medical services. One of our most common businessassociates is a health insurance company or a company that processes claims that we submit for payment for medical and social services that we provide to you if you have health insurance that pays for your prescription medications.Contracts have or will be submitted to all of our business associates to whom we provide your PHI so that they cancarry out their activities on our behalf. Very importantly to you, these contracts require our business associates to give us their assurance that they, like us, will protect the privacy of your PHI.

4. Disclosures of your PHI not involving treatment, payment, medical and social services. In providing services to you, we may find it necessary to communicate with businesses and individuals not already described above. Most of these disclosures will be related to providing treatment to you, and to carrying out payment and medical and social services as discussed above. In addition to communicating with these businesses and individuals, we may also communicate with you directly, as well as others who assists you with your care. We will disclose your PHI to these caregivers, or appropriate others, as we believe necessary and appropriate of your care.
5. Communications with you concerning your health and treatment. We want to do whatever we can to assist youwith maintaining your health and obtaining the most benefit from your treatment. We routinely monitor your prescription medications for appropriateness and take other steps to help you use your services properly.
6. Federal and state government agencies. We may disclose your PHI to federal and state government agencies for a variety of purposes, most of which are directed at monitoring medical and social services quality and safety, and government programs related to medical services and our compliance with laws applicable to services. Disclosingyour PHI for such surveillance may be necessary.
7. Federal and state government medical and social programs. If you apply for and receive benefits fromfederal and state health care programs, such as Medicare or Medicaid, your PHI may be disclosed to the agency granting these benefits.
8. Matters of public health and safety. There are a number of federal and state laws that require health care providers to report various government agencies matters related to public health. If your physical or mental health conditionand illness is of a nature that federal or state law requires that it be reported, they we will disclose your PHI togovernment agencies. In other situations we are required to submit reports, such as suspected domestic, child orelder abuse, or neglect.
9. Law enforcement activities. A number of federal, state, and local government agencies are charged withenforcing the health care laws, and other laws in relation to the health care products and services that we mayprovide to you. These agencies may engage in a number of activities designed to monitor and improve federal and state programs and systems, including conducting inspections and investigations of our activities and services that we provide to our patients. At any time we are required by federal or state laws, or by court order, subpoena or other legal mandate, to disclose your PHI, we will do so as necessary.
10. Legal disputes. Lawsuits and other legal disputes may involve your PHI that we possess. In the event that you areinvolved in a lawsuit or other legal proceeding, whether as a plaintiff or a defendant, and without regard to the basis of the lawsuit, such as medical malpractice or divorce, we will disclose your PHI when required to comply with a court order, subpoena, discovery proceeding, such as a deposition, or other legal mandate served upon us.
11. Disclosures for the benefit of you and others. A variety of events could occur where we would use and disclose your PHI for your benefit and to prevent or reduce the risk of harm to you. For example, if you are in a car accident and are unconscious in a hospital emergency room and the emergency room, medical staff calls us with a request for you PHI, we may disclose it for the purpose of assisting in your prompt medical treatment. Finally, we may disclose your PHI where necessary to protect the health and safety of others.
12. Disclosures for national security and intelligence. We are legally required to disclose your PHI where necessary to nationalsecurity activities and intelligence and counterintelligence activities. Disclosures related to this may also include thosewhere required in relation to the protection of the President of the United States. Any disclosure for these purposes would be made only to authorized government officials.
13. Disclosure if you are in the military or a veteran. We may disclose your PHI, if you are a member of any branch of thearmed services, whether on active or reserve status as required by the U.S Military. If you are a veteran, we may release yourPHI, particularly if you are receiving health care services from the Veterans Services. Any disclosure for these purposes would be made only to authorized government officials.
14. Disclosure of a miscellaneous nature. This last category of disclosures includes a variety of disclosures that we may make in accordance with HIPAA. We may be required to disclose your PHI if you are placed into the custody of a federal or state correctional system if necessary: to protect the health and safety of you and others. Health care in an area where much research is being conducted an we may disclose your PHI for purpose of a research project. Finally, given the national need for organ donations, we may disclose your PHI to organizations that manage organ transplantation programs.

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT WAYS THAT WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE YOUR PHI AS DESCRIBED ABOVE. PLEASE CONTACT OUR CLINICAL PRIVACY OFFICER AT

1201 E SCHUSTER BLDG 7 EL PASO, TX 79902 OR 915-229-6448.

Uses and Disclosures Not Contained in this Notice

If a use and disclosure of your PHI is not contained in this Notice, then we will obtain your written authorization before theuse and disclosure, or if you grant the authorization before the use and disclosure. You may have the right to refuse the authorize the use and disclosure, or if you grant the authorization, to revoke that authorization at any time. If such authorization is requested, we will provide you with a form that describes that proposed use and disclosure and your rights related to the requested authorization.

Conclusion

HIPAA requires that we give you this “Notice of Health Privacy Practices” and make a good faith effort to obtain your written acknowledgment that you were given this Notice. Upon giving you this Notice you will be asked to sign a document acknowledging that you received this. We appreciate your cooperation in reviewing this Notice and in giving us your written acknowledgment.

HIPAA requires that this Notice, at a minimum, covers the following three areas.

1. How we will use and disclose your protected health information.
2. Your rights with respect to your protected health information.
3. Our legal duties to protect the confidentiality of your protected health information. In preparing this Notice, we made every effort to comply with this HIPAA requirement. Also, we want to advise you that in addition to the privacy and other rights given to you by HIPAA, our state may from time to time enact laws that also provide you privacy and other rights in relation to your health care and your protected health information.

Please consult Project CHAMPS/Dr. Alozie’s staff if you have any questions or want more information concerning your medical and social services and privacy rights under HIPAA or the laws of our state, or our privacy practices. Also, you should consult staff if you wish to file a complaint about our privacy practices or if you believe we have violated any of your rights as described in this Notice.

Effective Date: 10/2015