Privacy Notice

    Notice of Privacy Practices

    Northeast Community Clinic, Inc. (NECC) offers you access to health care through a number of programs, plans, clinical seftings, and its Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). By law, NECC is required to protect your health informafion. 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.

    Your Rights

    Below are your rights regarding your health informafion including claims records. Each of these may have rules, limits, and/or exceptions.

    Getting a Copy of Your Health Information

    • You may request a copy of any of your health information. To do so, your request must be made in writing and you must present a valid form of identification. NECC may charge a nominal fee for its costs to copy and mail records over to you.
    • You can expect to receive a copy of your health information within 30 days of your request.
    • NECC may omit parts of certain health records as authorized by law.

    Asking for Health Information Corrections

    • You may submit a written request to have any incomplete or incorrect information that NECC has about you corrected.
    • NECC may deny your request if the information is not originally created by NECC or if NECC believes the information is complete and correct. NECC will notify you within 60 days with reason(s) for its decision. If your request is denied, you may ask NECC to reconsider its decision. You may also submit a statement that explains your disagreement along with your request for reconsideration, which NECC will keep with your records.

    Requesting Confidential Means of Communication

    • You may request that NECC contact you using your preferred method of communication. Examples include your cell phone, home phone, work phone, or even an alternative address where to send you mail.
    • NECC will consider all reasonable requests, but NECC is required to agree if you inform NECC that not doing so may put you in danger.

    Asking NECC to Limit What is Used or Shared

    • You may ask that NECC not use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or its operations.
    • NECC may decline your request if it potentially impacts your care negatively.

    Getting a List of Those with Whom NECC Has Shared Your Health Information With

    • You may ask for a list of the times when NECC has shared your health information up to 6 years before your request date.
    • You may ask for a list of the type of informafion shared, who NECC has shared your informafion with, when, and why.
    • NECC will provide you with all disclosures except for those related to treatment, payment, its operafions, and certain other cases (such as specific disclosures you have requested NECC not to make).

    Gefting a Copy of this Notice

    • You may ask for a paper copy of this Nofice at any time.
    • You may find a copy of this Nofice on NECC’s website.

    Choosing Someone to Act for on Your Behalf

    • If you have given a person power of aftorney or if this person is your legal guardian, this person holds your rights and can make choices about your health informafion.
    • NECC will make sure this person has the authority and can act on your behalf before taking any acfion.

    Filing a Complaint if You Feel Your Rights Have Been Violated

    • If you feel NECC has violated your rights, you can contact us using the informafion in this Nofice.
    • If you file a complaint, NECC will not retaliate against you.

    Using a Self-Pay Restricfion

    • If you pay for a service in whole, you may ask your doctor not to share the informafion about this service with NECC. If you or your provider submits a claim to NECC, we are not obligated to agree to a restricfion. If disclosure if required by law, NECC does not have to agree to a restricfion.

    Telling NECC Your Preferences Regarding What Health Informafion is Shared

    • If you have a specific preference for how NECC shares your informafion, please contact NECC. In most cases, if we use or share your Protected Health Informafion (PHI) for reasons other than treatment, payment, or operafions, NECC must first seek your wriften permission. Even after you grant NECC permission to share or disclose your health informafion:
      •  You may revoke it by submifting a request in wrifing at any fime. Although NECC cannot reverse any prior use or disclosure of your informafion that has occurred with your permission, NECC will stop using or disclosing your health informafion going forward.
      •  You have both the right and opfion to tell NECC to share informafion with your family, close friends, or others involved in the payment for your care.
      • You may also tell NECC to share informafion in a disaster relief situation.
    • NECC will never share your informafion without your wriften authorizafion in the following situafions:
      • NECC must obtain your authorization for any use or disclosure of psychotherapy notes, except under limited circumstances to carry out certain treatment, payment, or healthcare operations.
      • For marketing purposes.
      • NECC will never sell your information.

    Uses and Disclosures of Your Health Information

    Your information may be used or disclosed by NECC only for treatment, payment, and its operations related to NECC, including its PACE program if you are so enrolled. NECC may use and disclose your information via health information exchanges with providers involved in your care. The information NECC uses and discloses includes, but is not limited to, your name, your address, the history of your care and treatment, and any cost or payment for your care. Below are some examples of how NECC shares your information with those involved with your care:

     

    Helping to Manage the Your Health Care Treatment

    • NECC may use and disclose your health information with professionals who are treating you.
      • For Example: A doctor sends NECC information about your diagnosis and treatment plan so NECC can arrange for additional services. NECC will share information with doctors, hospitals, and others to get you the care you need.

    Managing NECC’s Healthcare Operations

    •  NECC may use and disclose your health information to run its operations and contact you when necessary.
      • For Example: NECC uses your health information to develop better services for you, which may include reviewing the quality of care and services you receive. NECC may also use this information in audits and regulatory investigations.
    • NECC is not allowed to use genetic information to make decisions on your benefits coverage and cost of that coverage.

    Paying for Your Health Services

    •  NECC may use and disclose your health informafion as it pays for the goods and services associated with your care.
      • For Example: NECC shares informafion with health care providers who bill us for your care. NECC may also forward bills to other health plans and/or organizafions for payment.

    Administering Your Health Plan

    • NECC may share your health informafion with health plans, payers, and related programs including, as applicable, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and/or the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for plan administration.
      • For Example: DHCS contracts with NECC in providing health coverage and NECC provides
        DHCS with certain stafisfics.

    Uses and Disclosures of Your Health Information

    NECC is permitted or even required to disclose your information in other cases, typically for purposes that benefit public health and research. NECC must meet many conditions with the law before NECC discloses your health information for these purposes. These include:

    • Help with Public Health and Safety Issues – NECC may disclose your health information for certain situations such as preventing disease, helping with product recalls, reporting adverse reactions to medicines, reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety.

    • Compliance with the Law – NECC will disclose your health information if required by law.

    • Responding to Organ and Tissue Donafion Requests and Work with a Medical Examiner or Funeral Director – NECC may disclose your health informafion with organ procurement organizafions. NECC may also disclose this informafion to a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies.

    • Addressing Workers’ Compensafion, Law Enforcement, and Other Governments Request – NECC may use or disclose your health informafion for workers’ compensafion claims, for law enforcement purposes, with health oversight agencies for acfivifies as authorized by law, and for special government funcfions, such as military, nafional security, and presidenfial protecfive services.

    • Responding to Lawsuits and Legal Actions – NECC may disclose your health informafion in response to a court or administrafive order, or in response to a subpoena.

    • Complying with Special Laws – There are special laws that protect some types of health informafion, such as mental health services, treatment for substance use disorders, and HIV/AIDS tesfing and treatment. NECC will abide by these laws when they are more restricfive than this Nofice. There are also laws that limit NECC’s use and disclosure to reasons directly connected to the administrafion of our programs. 

    Responsibilities of NECC

    NECC’s responsibilities include the following:

    • NECC is required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your PHI.
    • NECC will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your informafion.
    • NECC must follow the dufies and privacy pracfices described in this Nofice and give you a copy of it.
    • NECC will not use or disclose your informafion other than as described here unless you tell us it can in wrifing. Even if you tell NECC it can, you may change your mind at any fime. Let NECC know in wrifing if you change your mind.

    Changes to The Terms of This Notice

     NECC reserves the right to change this Nofice. Any updated Nofice will be posted on NECC’s website. This Notice applies to all NECC programs, including Medi-Cal. For a full list of NECC programs, please visit our website: https://www.northeastcommunityclinics.com/ or call us at the number below.

    Contact NECC

    To exercise any rights as explained in this Nofice, please call or send correspondence to:

    Northeast Community Clinic
    Compliance Department
     2550 W. Main Street, Suite 301
    Alhambra, CA 91801
    Phone: +1 (626) 457-6900
    Hotline: + 1 (855) 395-5453

    If you believe that NECC has not protected your privacy and wish to file a complaint or grievance, you may write or call NECC at the address and phone number above. Alternafively, you may contact the following agencies:.

    California Department of Health Care Services
    Privacy Officer
    c/o: Office of HIPAA Compliance
    Department of Health Care Services
    P.O. Box 997413, MS 0010
    Sacramento, CA 95899-7413
    Email:privacyofficer@dhcs.ca.gov
    Phone: +1 (916) 445-4646
    Fax: +1 (916) 440-7680

    U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
    Office for Civil Rights Regional Manager
    90 Seventh St. Suite 4-100 San Francisco CA 94103
    Email: OCRComplaint@hhs.gov
    Phone: +1 (800) 368-1019 Fax: +1 (415) 437-8329
    TDD: +1 (800) 537-7697

    Use Your Rights Without Hesitation

    NECC cannot revoke your healthcare benefits or retaliate against you in any way if you file a complaint or exercise any of the privacy rights as described in this Nofice.

    Please contact us to request a copy of this nofice in other languages or to get a copy in another format, such as large print or Braille.

    ______________________________________

    Northeast Community Clinic, Inc.
    NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
    Effecfive: September 2013
    Update: October 2024