Notice of Privacy Practices
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND
DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.
PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
These Privacy Practices apply to
Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg & Calhoun Counties (RMC) including, without limitation, the following facilities:
Bamberg - Barnwell Emergency Medical Center,
Urgent Care-Santee,
Mabry Center for Cancer Care,
HEALTHPLEX at Regional Medical Center,
HEALTHPLEX-Santee,
HEALTHPLEX-Branchville,
HEALTHPLEX-Holly Hill,
HEALTHPLEX-St. Matthews,
Orangeburg Surgical Associates,
Palmetto Surgical Group,
Palmetto Urology,
South Carolina Orthopaedic Institute,
RMC Cardiology (George Castro, MD, John Hutto, MD, Samuel King, MD; Mark Krzyston, MD),
RMC Cardiac Imaging,
RMC Internal Medicine (Lamar Dawkins, MD),
RMC Obstetrics & Gynecology (David Gillespie, MD; Thomas Key, MD, Dorwin T. Moore, MD, FACOG, Bruce
B. Williams, DO, FACOG),
RMC Occupational Medicine, and
Edisto Regional Health Services to include:
RMC Primary Care-Bamberg;
RMC Primary Care – Bowman;
RMC Primary Care-Branchville;
RMC Primary Care-Holly Hill;
RMC Primary Care-Orangeburg (two locations: 1. 1619 Carolina Avenue and 2. 1750 Village Park Drive); and
RMC Primary Care-St. Matthews, all of which are referred to as RMC in this notice. These Privacy Practices
also apply to
physicians, such as
radiologists,
pathologists and
anesthesiologists, while they are treating you at RMC. These physicians may not be employed
by RMC but participate in an organized health care arrangement with RMC,
and RMC and the physicians are permitted to use and disclose your health
information among each other for their joint treatment, payment and health
care operations.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR HEALTH RECORD AND HEALTH INFORMATION:
Each time you visit a hospital, physician, or other health care provider,
a record of your visit is made. 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 health professionals who contribute
to your care
- legal document describing the care you received
- means by which you or a third-party payer can verify that services billed
were actually provided
- tool in educating health professionals
- source of data for medical research
- source of information for public health officials charged with improving
the health of the nation
- source of data for facility planning and marketing tools 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 the health care
provider or facility that compiled it, the information belongs to you.
You have the right to request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures
of your information. This includes the right to obtain a paper copy of
the Notice of Privacy Practices and upon request, inspect, and obtain
a copy of your health record.
You have the right to request that RMC communicate with you in a certain
way. For example, you may ask that RMC only conduct communications about
your health information with you privately with no other family members
present. If you wish to receive confidential communications, please inform
your admission personnel or your nurse. RMC will not request that you
provide any reasons for your request and will attempt to honor your reasonable
requests for confidential communications. You have the right to obtain
an accounting of disclosures of your health information, and the right
to revoke your authorization to use or disclose health information except
to the extent that action has already been taken.
If you believe that your health information records are incorrect or incomplete,
you may request that RMC amend those records. That request must be made
in writing to RMC’s Privacy Officer. The request to amend your health
record may be denied if:
- the information you wish to amend is not maintained by RMC
- the request is not in writing or does not include a reason for the amendment
- your health information records were not created by RMC
- the records you are requesting are not part of RMC’s records
- the health information you wish to amend is not part of the health information
you or your legal representative are permitted to inspect and copy
- in the opinion of RMC, the records containing your health information are
accurate and complete.
OUR RESPONSIBILITIES:
This organization 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 post the revised notice. We will
not use or disclose your health information without your written 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
RMC’s Privacy Officer at 803-395-2100. If you believe your privacy
rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with the Privacy Officer
or with the secretary of Health and Human Services. You may also file
an anonymous complaint with the National Hotline Service at 1-888-398-2633.
There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint.
EXAMPLES OF DISCLOSURES FOR TREATMENT, PAYMENT AND HEALTH CARE OPERATIONS
-
We will use your health information for treatment. For example: Information obtained by a nurse, physician, or other member
of your health care team will be recorded in your record and used to determine
your course of treatment. Your physician will document in your record
his or her expectations of the members of your healthcare team. Members
of your health care 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 or a subsequent health
care provider with copies of various reports that should assist him or
her in treating you once you’re discharged from this hospital.
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We will use your health information for payment. For example: A bill may be sent to you or a third-party payer. 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 health care operations. For example: Members of the medical staff, the risk or quality improvement
manager or members of the quality improvement team may use 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 health care and service we provide.
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Business associates. There are some services provided in our organization through contacts
with business associates. Examples include some physician and radiologist
services, certain laboratory tests, certain pharmacy companies, medical
transcriptionists and a copy service we use when making copies of your
health record. When these services are contracted, we may disclose your
health information to our business associate so that they can perform
the job we’ve asked them to do and bill you or your third-party
payer for services rendered. To protect your health information, however,
we require the business associate to appropriately safeguard your information.
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Directory: Unless you notify us that you object, we will use your name, location
in the facility, general condition, and religious affiliation. This information
may be provided to members of clergy and, except for religious affiliation,
to other people who ask for you by name.
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Notification: We may use or disclose information to notify or assist in notifying a
family member, personal representative, or other person responsible for
your care, of your location, and general condition.
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Communication with family: If you are incapacitated or otherwise unable to give your permission
in advance, or if there is an emergency, Health Care Professionals, using
their best judgment, may disclose to a family member, other relative,
close personal friend or any other person you identify, health information
relevant to that person’s involvement in your care or payment related
to your care.
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Research: We may disclose information to researchers when an institutional review
board that has reviewed the research proposal, and established protocols
to ensure the privacy of your health information has approved their research.
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Funeral directors: We may disclose health information to funeral directors consistent with
applicable law to carry out their duties.
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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.
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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.
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Fund raising: Unless you object, we may contact you as part of a fundraising effort.
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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.
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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, disability, abuse, neglect or domestic violence.
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Health oversight activities: RMC may disclose your health information to government or other health
agencies for activities including audits, civil administrative or criminal
investigations, inspections, licensure or disciplinary action. We may
not, however, 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.
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Correctional institution: Should you be an inmate of a correctional institution, we may disclose
to the institution or agents thereof health information necessary for
your health and the health and safety of other individuals.
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Law enforcement: We may disclose health information for law enforcement purposes as required
by law or in response to a valid subpoena. 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 patients, workers,
or the public.
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 14, 2003
Revised: June 21, 2018
How to Get Copies of Your Medical Information
Only patients can authorize the release of his/her records, but the patient
can authorize the release to another individual. After death, only the
person appointed as the “personal representative” by Probate
Court can authorize the release of the deceased’s medical records.
If you submit a request for a medical record, there will be a reasonable
charge in accordance with state and federal laws. Regional Medical Center
does not charge a fee for information requested by or for your physician
for continuity of care. For questions regarding requests for copies of
medical records, please contact the Health Information Management Department
at 803-395-2272. Business hours are 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday.
My Patient Record Online
RMC patients can access a portion of their electronic medical records through
My Patient Record on our website. Patients can view and print labs, documents, medications,
allergies and visit summaries, and they can communicate securely with
their RMC physician office for an appointment or questions. If you would
like to access your patient record online, please contact an RMC Registration
staff member or your RMC physician office. You will need to show a picture
ID and verify some information and then you will receive an email invitation.
Once you receive the email, click on the link and answer the questions
to complete your registration. Only adults 18 years and older are permitted
to access their records online at this time. For technical questions about
My Patient Record online, please call 1-877-621-8014 between 8:00 am to
8:00 pm (EST), Monday through Friday except holidays.