THIS NOTICE TAKES EFFECT AUGUST 15, 2020, AND WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL WE REPLACE IT. UPDATES WILL BE POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE.

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL, MENTAL HEALTH, ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUG RELATED INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

If you have any questions regarding this notice, please contact Sunbeam’s Privacy Officer at (405) 528-7721.

WHO WILL FOLLOW THIS NOTICE. This notice describes Sunbeam’s practices and that of:

• All Sunbeam staff (employees, volunteers, students), and independent contractors of Sunbeam;
• All Sunbeam entities, sites, and locations follow the terms of this notice and may share protected health information (PHI) with each other in the manner described in this notice.

LEGAL DUTY TO SAFEGUARD PHI. We respect your right to privacy regarding the services you receive through Sunbeam Family Services. Protected health information (PHI) includes information about you, including demographic information that may identify you and relates to your past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition and related health care services. Sunbeam provides many safeguards to protect your right to confidentiality. We create records to document the services you receive from Sunbeam Family Service. We need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with certain legal requirements. We will obtain your consent any time it is required, giving Sunbeam permission to use or disclose your PHI. You may revoke your consent at any time by notifying your Sunbeam provider. This notice applies to all your records generated by Sunbeam regarding your care at Sunbeam. This notice will tell you about the ways in which we may use and disclose your PHI. We also describe your rights and certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of PHI.

We are required by federal, state and local law to:

• Make sure that PHI that identifies you is kept private;
• Give you notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to PHI about you;
• Give you notice in the event of any breach of unsecured PHI about you; and
• Follow the terms of the notice of privacy practices that is currently in effect.

HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE PHI ABOUT YOU. The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose PHI. For each category of uses or disclosure, we will explain what we mean and try to give an example.

Used and Disclosures which do NOT require your authorization:

For treatment. We may use your PHI to provide you with mental health or other services. We may share this information with therapists, case managers, or other Sunbeam staff involved in helping serve you at Sunbeam. For example, different areas of Sunbeam may share PHI about in order to coordinate different services you may want or need within Sunbeam. We also may disclose your PHI for the treatment activities of any other health care providers with your consent, unless otherwise permitted by law.

For payment. We may use and disclose PHI about you so that services you receive at Sunbeam may be billed to and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company or a third party, including Medicaid and/or Medicare. For example, we may need to give your health plan information about the services you received so that your health plan will pay us or reimburse you. We may also disclose PHI to your health plan, insurance company, HMO, or utilization review contractor to obtain prior approval or to determine with your services will be covered.

For operations. We may use and disclose PHI about you for health care operations. These uses and disclosures are necessary to run Sunbeam and make sure Sunbeam clients receive quality care. For example, we may use PHI to review our services and to evaluation the performance of our staff in caring for you.

Business Associates. We may disclose your PHI to other entities that provide a service to Sunbeam or on our behalf that requires the disclosure of client PHI. Sunbeam will only make disclosures to these Business Associates (BA) if we have received satisfactory assurance that the BA will properly safeguard PHI. For example, we may contract with another entity to provide billing or other contracted services. All BA are required to comply with privacy and security protections in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Disclosures which are made WITHOUT your Consent

Required by law. We will disclose information about you when required to do so by federal, state, and/or local law.

To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety. We may use and disclose PHI about you when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person. Any disclosure, however, would only be to someone able to help prevent the threat.

Workers’ Compensation. We may release your PHI to your employer or his/her designee for workers’ compensation or similar programs. These programs provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness.

Public Health Risks. We may disclose PHI about you for public health activities. These activities generally include the following:

1. To prevent or control disease, injury or disability;
2. To report deaths;
3. To report child abuse or neglect;
4. To report reactions to medications or problems with products;
5. To notify a person who may have been exposed to a disease or may be at risk for contracting or spreading a disease or condition;
6. To notify the appropriate government authority if we believe a client has been the victim of abuse or neglect.

Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose identifying information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law. These oversight activities include, for example, audits, investigations, licensure and inspections. These activities are necessary for the government to monitor the health care system, government programs and compliance with civil rights laws.

Accrediting Organizations. We may disclose PHI to an organization that Sunbeam has contracted with for purposes of accreditation such as Council on Accreditation (COA), Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA), Department of Human Services (DHS), etc.

Lawsuits and Disputes. If you are involved in a lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose information about you in response to a court order. We may also disclose your PHI in response to a discovery request or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.

Law Enforcement. We may release PHI if asked to do so by a law enforcement official, including.

1. In response to a court order, subpoena, warrant, summons or similar process;
2. To identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person;
3. About the victim of a crime, if under certain limited circumstances, we are unable to obtain the person’s agreement;
4. About a death we believe may be the result of criminal conduct; and
5. About criminal conduct at any Sunbeam facility or against any Sunbeam staff member while performing duties as a Sunbeam staff member.

Research. We may use or disclose your PHI for research purposes in limited circumstances. We will ask for your specific permission if the researcher will have access to your name, address, or other identifying information, or will be involved in your care at Sunbeam. 

Coroners, Medical Examiners and Funeral Directors. We may release PHI to a coroner or medical examiner. This may be necessary, for example, to identify a deceased person or determine the cause of death. We may also release PHI about clients of Sunbeam to funeral directors as necessary to carry out their duties.

Military, National Security and Intelligence Activities. We may release PHI about you to authorized federal officials for intelligence, counterintelligence and other national security activities authorized by law. If you are a member of the armed forces, Sunbeam may disclose your PHI as required by military command authorities.

Protective Services for the President and Others. We may disclose PHI about you to authorized federal officials so they may provide protection to the President, other authorized persons or foreign heads of state or conduct special investigations.

Inmates. If you are an inmate of a correctional facility or under the custody of law enforcement official or agency, we may disclose PHI about you to the correctional facility or law enforcement official or agency.

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING CLIENT INFORMATION ABOUT YOU.

You have the following rights regarding PHI we maintain about you:

Right to inspect and copy. You have the right to inspect and copy of your PHI. To request access to your PHI, you must submit a written consent to Sunbeam. You may receive this information on paper, or in the electronic format that you prefer if the information is readily available in that format. If you request access to or a copy of your PHI, we may charge a fee authorized by statute. We may deny your request to inspect and copy in certain circumstances. If your request is denied, you will receive a written explanation for the denial, and you may request that the denial decision be reviewed. A licensed health care professional chosen by Sunbeam will review your request and denial decision. The person conducting the review will not be the person who denied your original request. We will comply with the outcome of the review

Right to Amend. If you believe that PHI we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information. You have the right to request an amendment for as long as the information is kept by or for Sunbeam. Your request must be made in writing and submitted to your primary Sunbeam provider. In addition, you must provide a reason that supports your request.

We may deny your request for an amendment if it is not in writing or does not include a reason to support the request. In addition, we may deny your request if you ask us to amend information that:

• Was not created by us, unless the person or entity that created the information is no longer available to make the amendment;
• Is not part of the PHI kept by or for Sunbeam;
• Is not part of the information which you would be permitted to inspect and copy; or
• Is accurate and complete

Right to an Accounting of Disclosures. You have the right to request an accounting of disclosures we made for the six (6) years prior to the date you submit your request. This is a list of disclosures we made of PHI about you for purposes other than treatment, payment, or healthcare operations. The list of disclosure also will not include any disclosure made to you of your own information, disclosures required or permitted by law, information disclosed pursuant to your authorization, and disclosure for national security or intelligence purposes. To request this list of accounting of disclosures, you must submit your request in writing to your primary Sunbeam provider. The first list you request in a twelve-month period will be free. For additional lists, we may charge you the cost of providing the list. We will notify you of the cost involved and you may choose to withdraw or modify your request at that time before any costs are incurred.

Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the PHI we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment or business operations. You also have the right to request a limit on the information we disclose about you to someone involved in your care or the payment for your services, like a family member or friend. We are not required to agree to your request. If we do agree, we will comply with your request unless the information is necessary to provide you with emergency services.

To request restrictions, you must make a written request to Sunbeam. In your request, you must state

1. what information you want to limit,
2. whether you want to limit our use, disclosure or both, and
3. to whom you want the limits to apply, for example, disclosures to your spouse.

You also have a right to request that we restrict disclosures to a health plan or insurance company if the disclosure is for the purpose of carrying out payment or healthcare operations and is not otherwise required by law, and the PHI pertains solely to a health care item or service for which you (or a person other than the health plan or someone else on your behalf) have paid Sunbeam in full. We cannot deny this request for a restriction.

Right to Request Communications in a Certain Manner. You have the right to request that we communicate with you about service matters in a certain way or at a certain location. For example, you can ask that we only contact you at work or by mail. Some Sunbeam programs may offer to communicate with you through secure email or a secure web-based system. While Sunbeam can ensure that such messages are secure at the time of sending and once received by Sunbeam, Sunbeam cannot ensure that such communications when received or stored by your mobile phone, your computer, your internet service provider, or your mobile telephone carrier or when such communications are transmitted through such carriers will remain secure. If you choose to utilize these methods of communication offered by Sunbeam by initiating communication by these methods, Sunbeam will understand that you acknowledge the potential risks. You have the right to opt out of such communications at any time by providing Sunbeam a written request. To request a certain manner of communication, you must make your request in writing to Sunbeam. We will not ask you the reason for your request. We will accommodate all reasonable requests. Your request must specify how or where you wish to be contacted.

Right to a Copy of this Notice. You have a right to a paper copy of this notice. You may ask us to give you a copy of this notice at any time. To obtain a copy of this notice, please contact your primary Sunbeam provider.

CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE. We reserve the right to change this notice. We reserve the right to make revised or changed notice effective for PHI we already have about you as well as any information we receive in the future. We will post a copy of the current notice at our Sunbeam’s administration office. The notice will contain on the first page, in the top right-hand corner, the effective date. In addition, each time you are admitted to Sunbeam for services or treatment you will be provided a copy of the current notice in effect.

COMPLAINTS. If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with Sunbeam or with the Secretary of Health and Human Services. To file a complaint with Sunbeam, contact the Privacy Officer at (405) 528-7721. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

OTHER USES OF PHI. Other uses and disclosures of PHI not covered by this notice or applicable laws will be made only with your written authorization, including any fundraising requests or any proposed sale of your PHI by Sunbeam. If you provide us with authorization to use or disclose PHI about you, you may revoke that authorization, in writing, at any time. If you revoke your authorization, we will no longer use or disclose PHI about you for the reasons covered by your written authorization. You understand that we are unable to take back any disclosures we have already made with your authorization, and that we are required to retain our records of the care that we provide to you.