A female Nurse is sitting next to an elderly male patient and taking notes on a patient logger

Privacy Policy

This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information.

While you are a patient here, we will use and disclose your medical information:

To provide treatment to you and to keep a record describing your care
To receive payment for the care we provide
To administer the clinic properly
To comply with law

This notice summarizes the ways we may use and disclose medical information about you. It also describes your rights and our duties regarding the use and disclosure of your medical information. This notice applies to all records of your care at High Plains Community Health Center.

When we use the word "we" or "clinic", we mean High Plains Community Health Center, the Staff of High Plains Community Health Center, professionals and other parties who assist us in our business.

We are required by law:

To keep your medical information confidential in accordance with legal requirements
To give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your medical information
To follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect

Persons covered by this notice

All employees, staff and personnel

Uses and disclosures of your medical information

We use and disclose medical information in the ways described below.

Treatment. We may use your medical information to provide medical treatment or services to you. We may disclose medical information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical, nursing or other health care personnel taking care of you. 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. In addition, the doctor may need to tell the dietitian if you have diabetes so you can have appropriate meals. We also may disclose your medical information to health care facilities if you need to be transferred to a hospital, a nursing home, a home health provider or a rehabilitation center.

Payment. We may use and disclose your medical information so that the treatment and services you receive can be billed and collected from you, an insurance company or another third party.

Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose your medical information for operations, such as for peer review, performance improvement, risk management, and our compliance with licensure, accreditation or certification requirements. For example, we may disclose your medical information to providers on our Medical Staff who review treatment of patients. We may combine medical information about many patients to decide what services we should offer, and whether new services are cost effective and how we compare with other clinics. Sometimes, we may remove identifying information from this medical information so others may use it to study health care and health care delivery without learning who you are. We may disclose information to other health care providers involved in your treatment to permit them to carry out the work of their facility or to get paid.

Activities of Accountable Care Organizations in Which We Participate. We may disclose information about you to health care providers participating in our ACO. Such disclosures would be made in connection with our services, your treatment under a health plan arrangement, and other activities of the ACO.

Required By Law. We will disclose your medical information when federal, state or local law requires it. For example, we must comply with child abuse reporting laws and laws requiring us to report certain diseases or injuries to state or federal agencies.

Serious Threat to Health or Safety. We may use and disclose your medical information when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person.

Note: Federal Law provide protection for certain types of health information, including information about alcohol or drug abuse, mental health and AIDS/HIV, and may limit whether and how we may disclose information about you to others.