You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/comlaints/.

We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Your Choices

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, we will follow your instructions.

In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to:

• Share information with your family, close friends or others involved in payment for your care.
• Share information in a disaster relief situation.
• Contact you for fundraising efforts.

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example, if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

In these cases, we never share your information unless you give us written permission:

• Marketing purposes
• Sale of your information.

Our Uses and Disclosures

How do we typically use or share your health information? We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.

Help manage the health care treatment you receive. We can use your health information and share it with professionals who are treating you.

Example: A doctor sends us information about your diagnosis and treatment plan, so we can arrange additional services.

Run our organization. We can use and disclose your information to run our organization and contact you when necessary.

We are not allowed to use genetic information to decide whether we will give you coverage and the price of that coverage. This does not apply to long term care plans.

Example: We use health information about you to develop better services for you.

Pay for your health services. We can use and disclose your health information as we pay for your health services.

Example: We share information about you with your dental plan to coordinate payment for your dental work.

Administer your plan. We may disclose your health information to your health plan sponsor for plan administration.

Example: Your company contracts with us to provide a health plan, and we provide your company with certain statistics to explain the premiums we charge.

How else can we use or share your information? We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index/html.

Help with public health and safety issues. We can share information about you for certain situations such as:

• Preventing disease
• Helping with product recalls
• Reporting adverse reactions to medications
• Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
• Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety

Do research. We can use or share your information for health research.

Comply with the law. We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.

Respond to organ and tissue donation requests and work with a medical examiner or funeral director. We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.

We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual die.

Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests. We can use or share health information about you:

• For workers’ compensation claims
• For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official
• With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law
• For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services.

Respond to lawsuits and legal actions. We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order or in response to a subpoena.

Conduct outreach, enrollment, care coordination and case management. We can share your information with other government benefits programs like Covered California for reasons such as outreach, enrollment, care coordination, and case management.

Appeal a DHCS decision

We can share your information if you or your provider appeal a DHCS decision about your health care.

Apply for a full scope Medi-Cal. If you are applying for full score Medi-Cal benefits, we must check your immigration status with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Join a managed care plan. IF you are joining a new managed care plan, we can share your information with that plan for reasons such as care coordination and to make sure that you can get services on time.

Administer our programs. We can share your information with our contractors and agents who help us administer our programs.

Comply with special laws. There are special laws that protect some types of health information such as mental health services, treatment for substance use disorders, and HIV/AIDS testing and treatment. We will obey these laws when they are stricter than this notice.

We will never market or sell your personal information.

Our Responsibilities

• We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
• We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.
• We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.

For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/noticepp.html

Changes to the Terms of This Notice. We can change the terms of this notice and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request and on our website.

This Notice of Privacy Practices applies to the following organizations. This notice applies to all DHCS programs, including Medi-Cal. For a full list or programs currently run by DHCS, please visit our website at www.dhcs.ca.gov/services.

For More Information

• Please contact us to request a copy of this notice in other languages or to get a copy in another format, such as large print or Braille.
• DHCS does not have full copies of your medical records. If you want to look at, get a copy of, or change your medical records, please contact your doctor, dentist, or health plan first.