As of April 14, 2003, federal law provides a baseline of privacy protections for your personal health information. In order to protect your personal health information, you need to know what protections and rights you have and what you can do if you believe they have been violated. All individuals have the following rights:
- You have the right to be told how your health care professional will use your personal health information. Most health care professionals and health plans must give you a notice of privacy practices. This notice tells you how your personal information about your health will be used. It tells you who will see your information, what your rights are, and where you can file a complaint. Generally, your health care professional uses your health information to treat you and to refer you to other recommended services. Your information is also used to bill your insurance company.
- You have the right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your personal health information.
- You have the right to request confidential communications of your personal health information.
- You have the right to request to inspect or receive a copy of your personal health information maintained by your health care professional or health plan.
- You have the right to request an amendment of your personal health information.
- You have the right to request an accounting of disclosures of your personal health information that you did not specifically authorize or that was not used for treatment, payment, and heath care operations.
This is only a brief description of your rights and does not add to, change, or replace the rights described in the notice of privacy practices provided by various Orange County programs or by individual health care providers or insurers.
For access to form related to HIPAA Privacy Rights please visit the Orange County Health Care Agency Custodian of Records by clicking here.
