Practice Privacy Notice
1. The State of California Information Practices Act (IPA) of 1977 requires the University of California hospitals to give you the following information about why we need to obtain and record personal information about you.
2. Authority to Obtain/Maintain Information We need information about you to assure the identification and consistency of medical care, as well as for our financial records and billing activities. We are authorized to obtain and maintain this information by federal statutes, the California Administrative Code (Title 22. Licensing and Certification of Health Facilities and Referral Agencies) and University of California policy.
3. Voluntary information: We need, if you can provide as much of your and your family’s past medical history as possible. We need identifying information so that, if necessary we can get your other pertinent medical records and so we can bill your medical insurance carrier. This kind of information can help us provide better service than if we had to treat you without it, and it lets ups assist you in handling the financial part of your health care.
4. Medical Review Organization (for federally funded patients, Medicare, Medi-Cal, Maternal and Child Health): There is a Medical Review Organization to which we must provide information about your hospitalization as a check on whether you admission, length of stay, transfer, and the tests and procedures we perform are appropriate for your diagnosis. We do not collect any extra information about you for this purpose. If at any time during your stay it is found that the type of care you need should be provided in a different type of health care facility, you and your physician will be notified in writing and your federal funding must be terminated for your current hospitalization in our facility.
5. Safeguards to Privacy: We consider your records confidential, and except as indicated below, your privacy in protected because we usually need your authorization to release information about you. We may release some information without your consent in certain cases, such a to your referring physician (unless you instruct us otherwise), to University faculty and students for research and educational purposes (in accordance with our respect for your privacy, nothing that identifies you is revealed by them), non-medical information to appropriate parties to permit effective management and collection of hospital and physician bills, or if required by law (for example, contagious disease reports to public health agencies).
6. Right to Review Records: You have the right to review your records (in most cases) in accordance with the IPA and university Policy. Information about these policies can be obtained from the officials responsible to keeping the information:
|
Medical Record San Diego, CA 92103 |
Billing File Office of the Manager Patient and Billing Collections UCSD Medical Center 200 West Arbor Drive |
UCSD Medical Group PO Box 232410 San Diego, CA 92103 |
|
Medical Review Organization 3435 Wilshire Blvd Suite 200 |
7. Privacy Notice – Social Security Number: Under the authority of the Regents of the University at California (Article IX, Section 9 of the California Constitution), the hospital has maintained record systems which require your social security number to verify your identity. These record systems have been in effect since before 1 January 1975.
In accordance with the Feral Privacy Act of 1974, you are notified that we may request your social security number (especially for Medicare, which requires it) to verify your identity in our medical care and payment systems. Such a request would be in keeping with Regulation 4, Section 404.1256. Code of Federal Regulations under Section 218, Title II of the Social Security Act, as amended.
