Cornwall Manor Notice of Privacy Practices for Protected Health Information
Understanding Your Health Record Information:
Each day at Cornwall Manor, information is being recorded in your health information record by members of our healthcare team. Typically, this record contains your symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment, and a plan for future care or treatment.
This information, often referred to as your health, or medical record, serves as a:
- Basis for planning your care and treatment
- Means of communication among the many members of your healthcare team who contribute to your care
- Legal document describing the care you receive
- Means by which you or a third-party payer can verify that services billed were actually provided
- A tool for educating health professionals
- A source of data for medical research
- A source of information for public health officials charged with improving the health of the nation
- A source of data for facility planning and marketing
- A tool with which we can assess and continually work to improve the care we render and the outcomes we achieve.
Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to:
- Ensure its accuracy
- Better understand who, what, when, where, and why others may access your health information
- Make more informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to others.
Your Health Information Rights:
Although your health record is the physical property of Cornwall Manor, the information belongs to you. You have the right to:
- Obtain a paper copy of the notice of Information Practices upon request
- Inspect and obtain a copy of your health record as provided for in 45 CFR 164.524.
- Request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your health information as provided by 45 CFR 164.522.
- Amend your health information record as provided in 45 CFR 164.528.
- Obtain an accounting of disclosures of your health information as provided in 45 CFR 164.528.
- Request communications of your health information by alternative means or at alternative locations
- Revoke your authorization to use or disclose health information except to the extent that action has already been taken.
Our Responsibilities:
Cornwall Manor is required to:
- Maintain the privacy of your health information
- Provide you with a notice as to our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to information we collect and maintain about you
- Abide by the terms of this notice
- Notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction
- Accommodate reasonable requests you may have to communicate health information by alternative means or at alternative locations.
We reserve the right to change our practices and to make the new provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain. Should our information practices change, we will mail a revised notice to the address you've supplied us with.
We will not use or disclose your health information for purposes other than treatment, payment, or healthcare operations without your authorization, except as described in this notice.
For More Information, or to Report a Problem:
If you have questions and would like additional information, you may contact the Administrator of Health Services at: 717.273.2647.
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with the Administrator of Health Services, or with the secretary of Health and Human Services. There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint.
Examples of Disclosures for Treatment, Payment & Healthcare Operations:
We will use your health information for treatment, for example:
Information obtained by a nurse, physician, or other member of your healthcare team will be recorded in your record and used to determine the course of treatment that should work best for you. Your physician will document in your record his or her expectations of the members of the healthcare team. Members of your healthcare team will then record the actions they took and their observations. In that way, the physician will know how you are responding to treatment.
We will also provide your physician(s) and other healthcare providers with copies of various reports from your record that should assist him or her in treating you during your stay here, or after your discharge.
We will use your health information for payment, for example:
A bill may be sent to you or a third-party payer, such as Medicare or Medicaid. The information on or accompanying the bill may include information that identifies you, as well as your diagnosis, procedures and supplies used.
We will use your health information for regular healthcare operations, for example:
Members of the nursing staff, the Quality Improvement Manager, our therapists, and other members of the interdisciplinary care plan team may use the information in your health record to assess the care and outcomes in your case and others like it. This information will then be used in an effort to continually improve the quality and effectiveness of the healthcare and services we provide.
Business Associates: There are some services provided at Cornwall Manor through contracts with business associates. Examples include therapy, podiatry, optometry, dental services providers, physician services, radiology, and laboratory services. When these services are contracted, we may disclose your health information to our business associates so that they can perform the job we've asked them to do and bill you or your third-party payer for the services they have rendered. To protect your health information, however, we require business associates to appropriately safeguard your information.
Directory: Unless you notify us that you object, we will use your name and location in the facility for directory purposes. This information will be available in the lobby and in the front office, where it will be provided to other people who ask for you by name.
Notification: We may use or disclose information to notify or assist in notifying a family member, personal representative, or another close personal friend, or any other person you have identified as responsible for your care of your location and general condition.
Communication with Family: Health professionals, using their best judgment, may disclose to a family member, other relative, close personal friend, or any other person you have identified, health information relevant to that person's involvement in your care or payment related to care.
Research: We may disclose information to researchers when their research has been approved by Cornwall Manor's administration, and this staff has reviewed and approved the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your health information.
Funeral Directors: We may disclose health information to funeral directors consistent with applicable law to carry out their duties.
Organ Procurement Organizations: Consistent with applicable law, we may disclose health information to organ procurement organizations or other entities engaged in the procurement, banking, or transplantation of organs for the purpose of tissue donation and transplant.
Marketing: We may contact you to provide appointment reminders or information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.
Fund Raising: We may contact you as a part of a fund-raising effort. You have the right to request a restriction on the use of your information for this purpose.
Food & Drug Administration (FDA): We may disclose to the FDA health information relative to adverse events with respect to food, supplements, product and product defects, or post marketing surveillance information to enable project recalls, repairs or replacement.
Workers Compensation: We may disclose health information to the extent authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with laws relating to workers compensation or other similar programs established by law.
Public Health: As required by law, we may disclose your health information to public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability.
Governing Agencies: We may be required to disclose health information to other governing agencies that monitor us for compliance with state and federal regulations, and for purposes of payment. These agencies could include the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Department of Welfare, the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid, the Area Agency on Agency (Ombudsman), and Adult Protective Services.
Law Enforcement: We may disclose health information for law enforcement purposes as required by law or in response to a valid subpoena or court order. Federal law makes provision for your health information to be released to an appropriate health oversight agency, public health authority or attorney, provided that a work force member or business associate believes in good faith that we have engaged in unlawful conduct or have otherwise violated professional or clinical standards and are potentially endangering one or more residents, workers or the public.
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