How We May Use and Disclose Information About You

The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose medical information. For each category, we will explain our meaning and give examples. Not every use or disclosure will be listed, but all of the ways that we are permitted to use and disclose medical information will fall within one of the categories.

• For Treatment: We may use medical information about you to provide you with medical treatment and/or services. We may disclose information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, or other hospital, surgery center or clinic personnel who are involved in your care. For example, a doctor treating you for a broken leg may need to know if you have diabetes because diabetes may slow the healing process. The doctor may tell the dietician so appropriate meals can be arranged for you. Different departments of the hospital may also share information about you to coordinate the various things you need, like x-rays, lab work, and prescriptions. We may also disclose information about you to people outside our health system who may be involved in your medical care after you leave our system.
• For Payment: We may use and disclose medical information about you so that your medical treatment and services may be billed to, and payment collected from, your insurance company or other third party (like your auto insurance company, if applicable). This includes Workers Compensation. We may also tell your health plan about treatment you may receive to obtain prior approval or to determine whether your plan will cover the treatment.
• For Health Care Operations: We may use and disclose medical information about you for hospital, surgery center and clinic functions. These uses and disclosures are necessary to run our facilities and to make sure that our patients receive quality care. For example, we may use your medical information to review your treatment and services, and to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you. We may also combine medical information about many of our patients to decide what additional services we should offer, or whether certain new treatments are effective. We may also disclose medical information to care personnel for review and learning purposes. We may also combine medical information we have with medical information from other hospitals to compare how we are doing and see where we can make improvements in the care and services we offer. We may remove information that identifies you from this set of medical information so others may use it to study health care and its delivery without learning who the specific patients are.
• Emergency treatment: We are not required to get your consent before emergency care as long as we try to get your consent after treatment, or if we try to get your consent but you are unconscious or in severe pain, and we think you would consent if you were able to do so.
• For Appointment Reminders: We may use and disclose medical information to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for treatment or care at one of our facilities.
• For Health Related Benefits and Services: We may use and disclose medical information to tell you about health related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.
• For Research: Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose medical information about you for research purposes. For example, a research project may involve comparing the health and recovery of all patients who received one medication to those who received another medication for the same condition. All research projects are evaluated for balance between research needs and patients' needs for privacy.
• As Required By Law: We will disclose medical information about you when required to do so by federal or state law.
• To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety: We may use and disclose medical information about you when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety, or the health and safety of the public. Any disclosure, however, would only be to someone able to help prevent the threat.
• Organ and Tissue Donation: If you are a donor, we may release medical information to organizations that handle organ procurement or transplantation, as necessary to facilitate organ or tissue donation and transplantation.
• Military and Veterans: If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release medical information about you as required by military command authorities. We may also release information about foreign military personnel to the appropriate foreign military authority.
• Public Health Risks: We may disclose medical information about you for public health purposes. These purposes generally include the following:
  • To prevent or control, disease, injury or disability;
  • To report births and deaths;
  • To report suspected child abuse or neglect;
  • To report reactions to medications or problems with products;
  • To notify people of recalls of product they may be using;
  • 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;
  • To notify the appropriate government authority if we believe a patient has been the victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence. We will only make this disclosure if you agree OR when required by law.
• Health-Oversight Activities: We may disclose medical information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law (for example, Department of Health, Medicare, and DSHS). These activities may include, for example, audits, investigations, inspections and licensure. These activities are necessary for the government to monitor the health care system, government programs, and compliance with civil rights laws.
• Lawsuits and Disputes: If you are involved in a lawsuit or dispute, we may disclose medical information about you in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose medical information about you in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute.
• Law Enforcement: We may release medical information if asked to do so by a law enforcement official:
  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;
  5. About criminal conduct at the hospital; and
  6. In emergency circumstances to report a crime, the location of the crime or victims, of the identity, description or location of the person who allegedly committed the crime.
• Coroners, Medical Examiners and Funeral Directors: We may release medical information 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 information about patients to funeral directors as necessary to carry out their duties.
• Fundraising: To contact you for Cascade Valley Hospital and Clinics Foundation fundraising purposes. We would only release information such as your name, address, phone number and the dates that you received treatment or service from us. You will be given the opportunity to instruct us not to contact you for this purpose.
• National Security and Intelligence Activities: We may disclose medical information about you to authorized federal officials for intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities authorized by law.
• Protective Services for the President and Others: We may disclose medical information about you to authorized federal officials so that you may provide protection to the President, other authorized persons, or foreign heads of state, or to conduct special investigations.
• Inmates: If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or under the custody of a law enforcement official, we may release medical information about you to the correctional institution or law enforcement official. This would be necessary for the institution to provide you with health care, to protect your health and safety or the health and safety of others, or for the safety and security of the correctional institution.

Two Uses and Disclosures that You Have the Opportunity to Object To:

• For Hospital, Surgery Center and Clinic Directories: We may include certain limited information about you in these directories while you are at the facility. This information may include your name, location, general condition (for example, fair, stable, etc.) and your religious affiliation. The directory information, except for religious affiliation, may be released to people who ask for you by name. Your religious affiliation may be given to clergy, even if they do not ask for you by name. This is so your family, friends and clergy can visit you and generally know how you are doing.
• Disclosures to Family, Friends and Others: We may provide your medical information to a family member, friend or other person that you indicate is involved in your care, or in the payment for your care, unless you object in whole or in part.