• To Provide Treatment:
  Gracious Care Hospice may use your personal health information to coordinate care within the Community or At Home and with others who are involved in your care, such as your attending physician, members of Gracious Care Hospice’s interdisciplinary team and other health care professionals who have agreed to assist Gracious Care Hospice in coordinating care. Gracious Care Hospice also may disclose your health care information to individuals outside of Gracious Care Hospice involved in your care including family members, caregivers, clergy who you have designated, pharmacists, suppliers of medical equipment or other health care professionals.
  
  
• To Obtain Payment:
  Gracious Care Hospice may use and disclose your health information to collect payment from third parties for the care you receive while at Gracious Care Hospice. Your health information may be used and disclosed on invoices, correspondence and other communications with your health care insurer. Gracious Care Hospice also may need to obtain prior approval from your insurer and may need to use and disclose health information to explain to the insurer your need for care and the services that will be provided to you. Gracious Care Hospice will respect the right to restrict certain disclosure to third party if you opt to pay for services in full and notify Gracious Care Hospice in writing of your right to restrict disclosure of your health information to such third party.
  
  
• To Conduct Health Care Operations:
  Gracious Care Hospice may use and disclose health information for its own operations in order to facilitate the function of Gracious Care Hospice and as necessary to provide quality care to all of Gracious Care Hospice’s patients/residents/clients.



• For Marketing Activities:
  Gracious Care Hospice will request separate consent for use any personal health information or patient’s images to be used for marketing activities.
• For Fundraising Activities:
  Gracious Care Hospice will request separate consent for use of any personal health information in fundraising activities.
• For Appointment Reminders:
  Gracious Care Hospice may use and disclose your personal health information to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for a visit.
• For Treatment Alternatives:
  Gracious Care Hospice may use and disclose your personal health information to tell you about or recommend possible treatment options or alternatives.

• When Legally Required:
  Gracious Care Hospice will disclose your personal health information when it is required to do so by any Federal, State or local law.
• When There Are Risks to Public Health:
  Gracious Care Hospice may disclose your personal health information for public activities and purposes.
• To Report Abuse, Neglect, or Domestic Violence:
  Gracious Care Hospice is allowed to notify government authorities if Gracious Care Hospice believes a patient is the victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence. Gracious Care Hospice will make this disclosure only when specifically required or authorized by law or when the patient agrees to the disclosure.
• To Conduct Health Oversight Activities:
  Gracious Care Hospice may disclose your health information to a health regulator for activities including audits, civil administrative or criminal investigations, inspections, licensure or disciplinary action. Gracious Care Hospice, however, may not disclose your health information if you are the subject of an investigation and your health information is not directly related to your receipt of health care or public benefits.
• In Connection With Judicial and Administrative Proceedings:
  Gracious Care Hospice may disclose your health information in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding in response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal as expressly authorized by such order or in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process, but only when Gracious Care Hospice makes reasonable efforts to either notify you about the request or to obtain an order protecting your personal health information.
• For Law Enforcement Purposes:
  As permitted or required by State law, Gracious Care Hospice may disclose your health information to a law enforcement official for certain law enforcement purposes.
• To Coroners and Medical Examiners:
  Gracious Care Hospice may disclose your health information to coroners and medical examiners for purposes of determining your cause of death or for other duties, as authorized by law.
• To Funeral Directors:
  Gracious Care Hospice may disclose your health information to funeral directors consistent with applicable law and if necessary, to carry out their duties with respect to your funeral arrangements. If necessary to carry out their duties, Gracious Care Hospice may disclose your health information prior to and in reasonable anticipation of your death.
• For Organ, Eye or Tissue Donation:
  Gracious Care Hospice may use or disclose your health information to organ procurement organizations or other entities engaged in the procurement, banking or transplantation of organs, eyes or tissue for the purpose of facilitating the donation and transplantation.
• For Research Purposes:
  Gracious Care Hospice may, under very select circumstances, use your health information for research. Before Gracious Care Hospice discloses any of your health information for such research purposes, the project will be subject to an extensive approval process.
• In the Event of a Serious Threat to Health or Safety:
  Gracious Care Hospice may, consistent with applicable law and ethical standards of conduct, disclose your health information if Gracious Care Hospice, in good Notice of Privacy Practice faith, believes that such disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to your health or safety or to the health and safety of the public.
• For Specified Government Functions:
  In certain circumstances, the Federal regulations authorize Gracious Care Hospice to use or disclose your health information to facilitate specified government functions relating to military and veterans, national security and intelligence activities, protective services for the President and others, medical suitability determinations and inmates and law enforcement custody.
• For Worker’s Compensation:
  Gracious Care Hospice may release your health information for worker’s compensation or similar programs.

• Right to Request Restrictions:
  You may request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your health information. You have the right to request a limit on Gracious Care Hospice’s disclosure of your health information to someone who is involved in your care or the payment of your care. However, Gracious Care Hospice is not required to agree to your request. If you wish to make a request for restrictions, please contact the Privacy Officer. Gracious Care Hospice will restrict access to psychotherapy notes unless written permission is granted by you.
• Right to Receive Confidential Communications:
  You have the right to request that Gracious Care Hospice communicate with you in a certain way. For example, you may ask that Gracious Care Hospice only conduct communications pertaining to your health information with you privately with no other family members present. However, Gracious Care Hospice cannot grant your request if you are under the care and control of a responsible party, conservator, or guardian. If you wish to receive confidential communications, please contact the Privacy Officer. Gracious Care Hospice will not request that you provide any reasons for your request and will attempt to honor your reasonable requests for confidential communications.
• Right to Inspect and Copy your Health Information:
  You have the right to inspect and copy your health information, including billing records. A written and signed request to inspect and copy records which specifically notes the type of records, designated recipient, receiving address, and in what specific format (Paper or Electronic) containing your health information may be made to the Privacy Officer. If you request your records electronically please note transmission to an unsecure email address there is a risk of breach due to un‐encryption status of the health information. Your request will be provided within thirty (30) days of receipt of your request. Gracious Care Hospice may request an additional thirty (30) days extension for circumstance of off‐site storage. Gracious Care Hospice may charge a reasonable fee for copying and assembling costs associated with your request.
• Right to Amend Health Care Information:
  You or your representative have the right to request that Gracious Care Hospice amend your records if you believe that your health information is incorrect or incomplete. That request may be made as long as the information is maintained by Gracious Care Hospice. A request for an amendment of records must be made in writing to the Privacy Officer. Gracious Care Hospice may deny the request if it is not in writing or does not include a reason for the amendment. The request also may be denied if your health information records were not created by Gracious Care Hospice, if the records you are Notice of Privacy Practice requesting are not part of Gracious Care Hospice’s records, if the health information you wish to amend is not part of the health information you or your representative are permitted to inspect and copy, or if, in the opinion of Gracious Care Hospice, the records containing your health information are accurate and complete.
• Right to an Accounting:
  You or your representative have the right to request an accounting of disclosures of your health information made by Gracious Care Hospice for certain reasons, including reasons related to public purposes authorized by law and certain research. The request for an accounting must be made in writing to the Privacy Officer. The request should specify the time period for the accounting starting on or after April 14, 2003. Accounting requests may not be made for periods of time in excess of six (6) years. Gracious Care Hospice will provide the first accounting you request during any12‐month period without charge. Subsequent accounting requests may be subject to a reasonable cost‐based fee.
• Right to Notice of Breach:
  You or your representative have a right to be notified by Gracious Care Hospice in writing of a breach of unsecure protected health information. Gracious Care Hospice will notify you in writing within sixty (60) days of breach discovery date.
• Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice:
  You or your representative have a right to a separate paper copy of this Notice at any time even if you or your representative have received this Notice previously. To obtain a separate paper copy, please contact the Privacy Officer.

• Obtaining written associate consent to such disclosure or dissemination;
• The disclosed data completes a financial transaction requested or authorized by the associate;
• Disclosure is required by state or federal law or municipal ordinance; or
• Disclosure is required pursuant to a valid warrant or subpoena issued by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Retention Schedule

• The initial purpose for collecting or obtaining such biometric data has been satisfied, such as the termination of the associate’s employment with Gracious Care Hospice or the associate moves to a role within Gracious Care Hospice for which the biometric data is not used; or
• Within 3 years of the associate’s last interaction with Gracious Care Hospice.

Data Storage