Notice of Privacy Practices
Mercy Health is committed to protecting the privacy of medical information we create or receive about you. Medical information that identifies you includes your medical record and other information relating to your care or payment for care.
Our Notice of Privacy Practices
Mercy Health will provide you with the Notice of Privacy Practices (Notice) which describes how your medical information may be used and disclosed and how you can access your medical information. The first time you receive care on or after December 19, 2022, you will receive a copy of our current Notice and a request to acknowledge its receipt. Mercy Health may need to change its privacy policies and practices from time to time and will update the Notice accordingly.
If you would like a paper copy of our Notice you may ask for a copy from any Mercy Health location. The Notice is also available here on our website for your convenience. Simply click on the link below to view and print a copy of our current Notice.
English Notice of Privacy Practices
Spanish Notice of Privacy Practices (Aviso de Prácticas de Privacidad)
(Effective 12/19/2022)
Your Rights Regarding Your Medical Information
An important part of the Notice is the section that explains your rights regarding your medical information. Our Notice explains that you (or your personal representative) have the right to:
- Inspect or receive a copy of your medical information
- Request an amendment or an addendum to the information in your medical record(s)
- Request an accounting of disclosures
- Request restrictions
- Request confidential communications
- Request a paper copy of this Notice
- Choose someone to act for you
Health Information Exchange (HIE)
We may participate in an electronic Health Information Exchange (“HIE”) to facilitate the sharing of your medical information for treatment purposes. The HIE is a network in which providers, such as doctors and other health care providers, participate to exchange patient information in order to facilitate health care. There are many circumstances when it is beneficial for a non Mercy Health health care provider to have timely access to patient medical records to coordinate care. For example, if you arrive unconscious in the Emergency Room (ER), then it would be ideal for the treatment team to know medications you are currently taking, so they can avoid any harmful drug interactions. If the hospital where you are being treated is not part of Mercy Health, then your doctors and nurses may be able to have direct access to your medical information maintained at Mercy Health through the HIE so they can better coordinate your care. Please contact your Privacy Office representative for state-specific information regarding your rights to opt in or opt out of sharing your medical information via an HIE.
Sharing Information within an Organized Health Care Arrangement
We maintain our Designated Record Set through the use of an electronic health record (“EHR”). Through this EHR, your medical information is combined with that of other health care providers or “Covered Entities” that participate in the EHR (each, a “Participating Covered Entity” and collectively, the “Participating Covered Entities”), such that each of our patients, including you, have a single, longitudinal health record with respect to all services provided by the Participating Covered Entities.
Through the EHR, the Participating Covered Entities have formed one or more organized systems of health care in which the Participating Covered Entities participate in joint utilization review and/or quality assurance activities, and as such qualify to participate in Organized Health Care Arrangement(s) (“OHCA(s)”). As OHCA participants, all Participating Covered Entities, including us, may use and disclose the PHI contained within the EHR for the Treatment, Payment, and Health Care Operations purposes of each of the OHCA participants.
COMMUNITY CONNECT PROVIDERS WITH DESIGNATION AS PARTICIPATING IN THE SHARED EMR
Contact Mercy Health Privacy Office for Questions or Concerns
If you have any questions about this Notice, or any concern about the privacy of your medical information, please contact the Privacy Office listed below.
Privacy@BSMHealth.org
1-888-302-9224
1701 Mercy Health Place
Cincinnati, OH 45237