This includes such things as obtaining verbal and written information about your medical condition and treatment from you as well as from others, such as doctors and nurses who give orders to allow us to provide treatment to you. We may give your PHI to other health care providers involved in your treatment, and may transfer your PHI via radio or telephone to the hospital or dispatch center.

This includes any activities we must undertake in order to get reimbursed for the services we provide to you, including such things as submitting bills to insurance companies, making medical necessity determinations and collecting outstanding accounts.

This includes quality assurance activities, licensing, and training programs to ensure that our personnel meet our standards of care and follow established policies and procedures, as well as certain other management functions.

We may also contact you to provide you with a reminder of any scheduled appointments for non-emergency ambulance and medical transportation, or to provider information about other services we provide.

MCPS is permitted to use PHI without your written authorization, or opportunity to object, in certain situations, and unless prohibited by a more stringent state law, including:
For the treatment, payment or health care operations activities of another health care provider who treats you;
For health care and legal compliance activities;
To a family member, other relative, or close personal friend or other individual involved in your care if we obtain your verbal agreement to do so or if we give you an opportunity to object to such a disclosure and you do not raise an objection, and in certain other circumstances where we are unable to obtain your agreement and believe the disclosure is in your best interests;
To a public health authority in certain situations as required by law (such as to report abuse, neglect or domestic violence;
For health oversight activities including audits or government investigations, inspections, disciplinary proceedings, and other administrative or judicial actions undertaken by the government (or their contractors) by law to oversee the health care system;
For judicial and administrative proceedings as required by a court or administrative order, or in some cases in response to a subpoena or other legal process;
For law enforcement activities in limited situations, such as when responding to a warrant;
For military, national defense and security and other special government functions;
To avert a serious threat to the health and safety of a person or the public at large;
For workers’ compensation purposes, and in compliance with workers’ compensation laws;
To coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors for identifying a deceased person, determining cause of death, or carrying on their duties as authorized by law;
If you are an organ donor, we may release health information to organizations that handle organ procurement or organ, eye or tissue transplantation or to an organ donation bank, as necessary to facilitate organ donation and transplantation;
For research projects, but this will be subject to strict oversight and approvals;
We may also use or disclose health information about you in a way that does not personally identify you or reveal who you are.
Any other use or disclosure of PHI, other than those listed above will only be made with your written authorization. You may revoke your authorization at any time, in writing, except to the extent that we have already used or disclosed medical information in reliance on that authorization.

This means you may inspect and copy most of the medical information about you that we maintain. We will normally provide you with access to this information within 30 days of your request. We may also charge you a reasonable fee for you to copy any medical information that you have the right to access. In limited circumstances, we may deny you access to your medical information, and you may appeal certain types of denials. We have available forms to request access to your PHI and we will provide a written response if we deny you access and let you know your appeal rights. You also have the right to receive confidential communications of your PHI. If you wish to inspect and copy your medical information, you should contact our privacy officer.This means you may inspect and copy most of the medical information about you that we maintain. We will normally provide you with access to this information within 30 days of your request. We may also charge you a reasonable fee for you to copy any medical information that you have the right to access. In limited circumstances, we may deny you access to your medical information, and you may appeal certain types of denials. We have available forms to request access to your PHI and we will provide a written response if we deny you access and let you know your appeal rights. You also have the right to receive confidential communications of your PHI. If you wish to inspect and copy your medical information, you should contact our privacy officer.

You have the right to ask us to amend written medical information that we may have about you. We will generally amend your information within 60 days of your request and will notify you when we have amended the information. We are permitted by law to deny your request to amend your medical information only in certain circumstances, like when we believe the information you have asked us to amend is incorrect. If you wish to request that we amend the medical information that we have about you, you should contact our privacy officer.

You may request an accounting from us of certain disclosures of your medical information that we have made in the six years prior to the date of your request. We are not required to give you an accounting of information we have used or disclosed for purposes of treatment, payment or health care operations, or when we share your health information with our business associates, like our billing company or a medical facility from/to which we have transported you. We are also not required to give you an accounting of our uses of protected health information for which you have already given us written authorization. If you wish to request an accounting, contact our privacy officer.

You have the right to request that we restrict how we use and disclose your medical information that we have about you. MCPS is not required to agree to any restrictions you request, but any restrictions agreed to by MCPS in writing are binding on MCPS.

If we maintain a web site, we will prominently post a copy of this Notice on our web site. If you allow us, we will forward you this Notice by electronic mail instead of on paper and you may always request a paper copy of the Notice.

MCPS reserves the right to change the terms of this Notice at any time, and the changes will be effective immediately and will apply to all protected health information that we maintain. Any material changes to the Notice will be promptly posted in our facilities and posted to our web site, if we maintain one. You can get a copy of the latest version of this Notice by contacting our privacy officer.

You also have the right to complain to us, or to the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy rights have been violated. You will not be retaliated against in any way for filing a complaint with us or to the government. Should you have any questions, comments or complaints you may direct all inquiries to our privacy officer.

Release of EMS Patient Information and Records:

Patient Care Reports, Basic or Advanced Life Support, may be, from time to time, requested by the patient, the patient’s legal guardian, executor, administrator, or next of kin for various purposes; examples include:

• Processing of insurance claims
• Legal counsel use
• Court of law use

Medical information covered by the patient/­physician privilege may be released to any person who presents a properly authenticated release for the information signed by the patient or legal designee.

A release is properly authenticated if it adheres to any of the following:

The patient provides written documentation requesting release of the information in person, with picture identification available to verify his/her ID.

The signature of the patient’s legal guardian, executor, administrator, or next of kin is present and verified through picture identification

Medical information covered by the patient/­physician privilege shall not be released by field personnel to any government or private agency for the purpose of obtaining data for study projects, statistics, or similar uses without the consent of each patient, the personal representative of each patient's estate, or if there is no personal representative of an estate, that patient's next of kin. (EXCEPTION: Proper Waiver of Authorization obtained from a recognized Institutional Review Board for purposes of medical research.)

During daily operations, all EMS personnel will take every step possible to ensure the privacy and security of patient information is maintained. Proper procedure to following include at a minimum the following:

Patient Care Reports will remain in secure locations at all times (clipboard, secured desk drawer designated for patient records, and/or devices designated for safe and secure transport of all patient records.

During verbal and written disclosure of protected health information, all employees will conduct business in a manner that minimizes the “incidental disclosure” of confidential information. This will include:

• Discussion of patient information in private locations and not in the open hall or waiting rooms of receiving facilities.
• Destruction of all documents not deemed part of the medical record in such a manner that all identifiable information becomes unrecognizable.
• Disclosure and release of the minimum necessary information to carry out the needs of the department’s daily health care operations.

The phone number of Administrative Officer at 1 (910) 947-6500.

Ask the individual to request information concerning the release of medical information for a specific patient(s)

Inform the individual requesting the information that in order for the patient medical records to be released, one or more of the following may need to be provided:
 

• The signature of the patient whose records are being requested
• Verification that the signature is valid.
• A subpoena directed to the Custodian of Medical Records requesting release of patient medical records to the courts (applies only if the patient is different from the individual requesting records) with accompanying patient/guardian authorization.
• A Court Order mandating the release of Medical information pursuant to an issued subpoena
• Proof and signature of Legal guardianship, administrator, executor, or next of kin of the patient in question.