These notices of HIPAA Privacy Practices which are found below for persons served and for employee health plans are part of a compliance requirement for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
The HIPAA Privacy Rule creates national standards to protect individuals' personal health information and gives individuals increased access to their medical records/health information. As required by HIPAA, the Privacy Rule covers health plans, health care clearinghouses, and those health care providers who conduct certain financial and administrative transactions electronically. "Health care provider" is further defined "as a provider of medical or health services for the purposes of Medicaid and any other person or organization who furnishes, bills or is paid for health care in the normal course of business." Examples of health care providers are; physician offices, public health authorities, life insurers, billing agencies, information systems vendors, service organizations and universities.
Being a service organization that provides services and bills Medicaid for these services, DSNWK is considered a "health care provider". As a health care provider under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, DSNWK is required to have policies and procedures in place to address how we will handle your health information, identify what information is protected as health information, determine how and to whom DSNWK can use and disclose your health information, what your rights are regarding your health information, etc.
To view the Notice of Privacy Practices for Persons Served, click here.
In addition, as a health plan provider, DSNWK is responsible to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Acountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) regarding health plans. At DSNWK, employee health plans covered by HIPAA include health, dental, prescription, and cancer insurance, medical spending accounts under the Cafeteria Plan, and the employee assistance plan.
To view the Notice of Privacy Practices for Health Plans, click here.
To view the Summary of the Notice of Privacy Practices for Health Plans, click here.