Effective Date: April 14, 2003

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

TO WHOM THIS NOTICE APPLIES.   Return to top

This notice describes the information sharing practices of the Detroit Medical Center, and our medical staff, when they are providing services to you as a patient of our health system. That system includes: Detroit Receiving Hospital; Harper University Hospital; Hutzel Women’s Hospital; Sinai-Grace Hospital; The Cancer Hospital; The Orthopaedic Specialty Hospital; The Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan; Children’s Hospital of Michigan; Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital; the Oakland Virtual Medical Center; DMC Nursing Centers West & Northwest; as well as multiple hospital based, and free-standing clinics located throughout southeast Michigan.

Most of the information sharing within our health system is done to treat you, to obtain payment for that treatment, for administrative purposes, and to evaluate the quality of care that you’ve received while you were our patient. There are times, as described in this notice, when we may share information about you for other reasons. We keep this information in what is generally referred to as a "medical record". The medical record is the physical property of the DMC.

Keep in mind that many of the physicians on our medical staff are not employees of the DMC. Therefore, should you see them in a private setting, in their private office for example, they may have different policies or notices regarding the use or disclosure of your medical information.

HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU.   Return to top

Each of the following categories describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed.

• For Treatment. We may use medical information about you to provide you with medical treatment or services. We may disclose medical information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, or other hospital personnel who are involved in taking care of you at the DMC. 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. Different departments of the DMC may share medical information about you in order to coordinate the different things you need, such as prescriptions, lab work and x-rays.
• For Payment. We may use and disclose medical information about you so that the treatment and services you receive at the DMC may be billed to, and payment may be collected from, an insurance company or a third party. For example, we may need to give your insurance provider information about surgery you received at the DMC so your insurer will pay us or reimburse you for the surgery.
• For Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose medical information about you for health care operations. These uses and disclosures are necessary to run our health system and make sure that all of our patients receive quality care. For example, we may use medical information to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you. We may also disclose information to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, and other hospital personnel for review and learning purposes.
• Appointment Reminders. We may use and disclose medical information to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for treatment or medical care with us.
• Treatment Alternatives. We may use and disclose medical information to tell you about or recommend possible treatment options or alternatives that may be of interest to you.
• 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.
• Fundraising Activities. We may use medical information about you to contact you in an effort to raise money for our health system and our operations. We may disclose medical information to a foundation related to the DMC so that the foundation may contact you in raising money for us. We will only release contact information, such as your name, address and phone number and the dates you received treatment or services at the DMC.
• Hospital Directory. We may include certain limited information about you in our systems directory while you are our patient. This information would include your name, location in our system, your general condition (e.g., fair, stable, etc.) and your religious affiliation. The directory information, except for your religious affiliation, may also be released to people who ask for you by name. Your religious affiliation may be given to a member of the clergy, such as a priest or rabbi, even if they don’t ask for you by name. This is so your family, friends and clergy can visit you in the hospital and generally know how you are doing.
• Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care. We may release medical information about you to a friend or family member who is involved in your medical care. We may also give information to someone who helps pay for your care. We may also tell your family or friends your condition and that you are in the hospital. In addition, we may disclose medical information about you to an entity assisting in a disaster relief effort so that your family can be notified about your condition, status and location.
• 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, for the same condition. All research projects, however, are subject to a special approval process. This process evaluates a proposed research project and its use of medical information, trying to balance the research needs with patients' need for privacy of their medical information. Before we use or disclose medical information for research, the project will have been approved through this research approval process, but we may, however, disclose medical information about you to people preparing to conduct a research project, for example, to help them look for patients with specific medical needs, so long as the medical information they review does not leave the hospital.
• As Required By Law. We will disclose medical information about you when required to do so by federal, state or local 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 or another person. Any disclosure, however, would only be to someone able to help prevent the threat.

SPECIAL SITUATIONS   Return to top

• Organ and Tissue Donation.If you are an organ donor, we may release medical information to organizations that handle organ procurement or organ, eye or tissue transplantation or to an organ donation bank, 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 medical information about foreign military personnel to the appropriate foreign military authority.
• Workers' Compensation. We may release medical information about you for workers' compensation or similar programs. These programs provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness.
• Public Health Risks. We may disclose medical information about you for public health activities. These activities generally include the following: Reporting births and deaths; prevention or control of disease; to report child abuse or neglect; to report reactions to medications or problems with products; to notify people of recalls of products 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 and as required by law.
• Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose medical information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law. These oversight activities include, for example, audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure.
• Lawsuits and Disputes. If you are involved in a lawsuit or a 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. As deemed appropriate and allowable, DMC will obtain an order protecting the information requested.
• Law Enforcement. We may release medical information to law enforcement official. We might do this in order to help identify or locate a suspect, fugitive or material witness. Or we may release medical information when it is the subject of a subpoena or other court order.
• 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 medical information about patients of the hospital to funeral directors as necessary to carry out their duties.
• National Security and Intelligence Activities. We may release 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 they may provide protection to the President, other authorized persons or foreign heads of state or 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 release would be necessary (1) for the institution to provide you with health care; (2) to protect your health and safety or the health and safety of others; or (3) for the safety and security of the correctional institution.

THESE ARE YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR MEDICAL INFORMATION.   Return to top

You have the following rights regarding medical information we maintain about you:

• Right to Inspect and Copy. You have the right to inspect and copy medical information that may be used to make decisions about your care. Usually, this includes medical and billing records, but does not include psychotherapy notes.
  We may deny your request to inspect and copy in certain very limited circumstances. If you are denied access to your medical information, you may be entitled to have that denial reviewed. In those instances, another licensed health care professional chosen by the hospital will review your request and the denial. The person conducting the review will not be the person who denied your request. We will comply with the outcome of the review.
• Right to Amend. If you feel that medical information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information. You have the right to request an amendment for as long as the information is kept by or for the hospital.
  We will deny your request for an amendment if it is not in writing or does not include a reason to support the request. In addition, we will deny your request if you ask us to amend information that was not created by us, unless the person or entity that created the information is no longer available to make the amendment. We will deny your request if you ask us to amend information that is not part of the medical information kept by or for the DMC. We will deny your request if it is not part of the information you are permitted to inspect or copy. We will deny your request when our information is accurate and complete.
• Right to an Accounting of Disclosures. You have the right to request an "accounting of disclosures." An accounting of disclosures is a list of the people and/or organizations we’ve given your medical information to, with a number of notable exceptions. Those exceptions include, but are not limited to: disclosures of your medical information for purposes of treatment, payment or healthcare operations, or disclosures we’ve made pursuant to a valid authorization.
• Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the medical information we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment or health care operations. You also have the right to request a limit on the medical information we disclose about you to someone who is involved in your care or the payment for your care, like a family member or friend. We are not required to agree to your request.
• Right to Request Confidential Communications. You have the right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way or at a certain location. For example, you can ask that we only contact you at work or by mail.
• Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice. You have the right to a paper copy of this notice. You may ask us to give you a copy of this notice at any time.

CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE   Return to top

We reserve the right to change this notice. We reserve the right to make the revised or changed notice effective for medical information we already have about you as well as any information we receive in the future. We will post a copy of the current notice throughout our system. The notice will contain the effective date on the first page. In addition, each time you register at or are admitted into our health system for treatment or health care services as an inpatient or outpatient, we will offer you a copy of the current notice in effect.

OTHER USES OF MEDICAL INFORMATION.   Return to top

Other uses and disclosures of medical information not covered by this notice or the laws that apply to us will be made only with your written permission. If you provide us permission to use or disclose medical information about you, you may revoke that permission, in writing, at any time. If you revoke your permission, we will no longer use or disclose medical information about you for the reasons covered by your written authorization. You understand that we are unable to take back any disclosures we have already made with your permission, and that we are required to retain our records of the care that we provided to you.

INFORMATION & COMPLAINTS   Return to top

For further information concerning this notice, contact the DMC Privacy Official at (313) 993-0317. Privacy complaints must be submitted in writing to: DMC Privacy Official c/o Sinai-Grace Hospital, 6071 W. Outer Drive, 7th Floor Lourdes Bldg., Detroit, MI 48235. You may also file a complaint with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Detroit Medical Center strictly adheres to its Non-Retribution/Non-Retaliation Policy for those who file complaints.