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.

If you have any questions about this notice or your privacy rights, please contact:

Compliance & Privacy Office

901-545-6554

[email protected]

 

Regional One Health Main Number:

901-545-7100

This joint notice covers the privacy practices of Regional One Health, our affiliated sites, and physicians or other professional healthcare providers when they see or treat you in one of our facilities or outpatient clinics.  Regional One Health and the Affiliated Covered Entities (ACE) listed below may share medical information for treatment, payment, or health care operations purposes as described within this notice.

 

REGIONAL ONE HEALTH

UT REGIONAL ONE PHYSICIANS, INC

An ACE is a group of legally separate covered entities that are affiliated or under common ownership or control and designate themselves as a single covered entity for purposes of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and its implementing regulations. Regional One Health may modify the covered entities designated as part of its ACE from time to time and, if covered entities are added to the ACE.

It’s possible those entities may not be listed above.

OUR PLEDGE TO YOU

At Regional One Health our greatest concerns are your health and privacy. We are committed to using and disclosing your health information responsibly. This Notice of Privacy Practices describes how Regional One Health may collect, use, and disclose information, along with your patient rights regarding your protected health information.

Protected health information, or “PHI”, is information about you, including demographic information, that can reasonably be used to identify you and which relates to your past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition, the provision of healthcare to you or the payment for that care. For purposes of this notice, PHI means any information, whether verbal, paper, or electronic, created or received by Regional One Health relating to your health, or the provision or payment for your healthcare.

OUR RESPONSIBILITIES

We are required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, also known as “HIPAA”, to maintain the privacy of your PHI. In addition to the responsibilities outlined in this notice, the law requires us to:

  • Provide you with notification if we discover a breach of unsecured PHI unless there is a demonstration, based on a risk assessment, that there is a low probability that the PHI has been compromised.
  • Obtain your written authorization before we use or disclose your psychotherapy notes, except for use by the originator of the psychotherapy notes for treatment; or use or disclosure by Regional One Health to defend itself in a legal action or other proceeding brought by the individual.
  • Provide you with this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices concerning information we collect and maintain about you.
  • Ensure all healthcare professionals, employees, students, and other healthcare personnel abide by the terms of the Regional One Health Notice of Privacy Practices currently in effect.

HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE YOUR PHI WITHOUT YOUR AUTHORIZATION

Generally, we may not use or disclose your PHI without your written authorization. However, in certain circumstances, we are permitted to use your PHI without authorization. This Notice describes different ways that we may use and disclose your PHI without your written authorization. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose your PHI without your written authorization should fall within one of these categories.

Healthcare Treatment

Your PHI may be used and disclosed to provide or manage your healthcare and related services. This may include communicating with other healthcare providers, including physicians, nurses, and technicians, or other medical personnel about treatment, as well as coordinating and managing your healthcare with others. We may use and disclose PHI when you need a prescription, lab work, an x-ray, or other healthcare services. Additionally, we may disclose PHI about you when referring you to another healthcare provider.

Payment of Services

Your PHI may be used and disclosed so the treatment and services you receive may be billed and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company, or a third party. For example, we may need to give information to your insurance carrier about the surgery you received so your health plan will pay us per your benefits. We may also tell your insurance carrier about an outpatient treatment to obtain prior approval or to determine whether your plan will cover the treatment. We may need to share your demographic information with another provider who also rendered care to you so that they can bill for their services.

Healthcare Operations

Your PHI may be used and disclosed in performing business activities, which we refer to as “healthcare operations”. These healthcare operations allow us to improve the quality of care we provide and reduce healthcare costs. The following are examples:

    • To review and improve the quality, efficiency, and cost of care provided to you and other patients including using artificial intelligence technologies to support activities such as quality assessment and improvement, care coordination, performance evaluation, and operational efficiency;
    • To improve healthcare and lower costs for people who have similar health problems to help manage and coordinate their care. We may use PHI to identify groups of people with similar health problems to give them information about treatment alternatives, classes, or new procedures;
    • To provide training programs for students, trainees, healthcare providers, or non-health professionals;

To cooperate with outside organizations that assess the quality of the care provided. Such organizations might include government agencies, licensing boards, or accrediting bodies;

  • To assist individuals in reviewing our healthcare operations. For example, doctors reviewing the services provided to you, as well as accountants, lawyers, and others who assist us in complying with applicable laws may view your PHI;
  • To plan for the organization’s future operations and fundraising to benefit our organization;
  • To conduct business management and general administrative activities related to services we provide;
  • To review activities and the use or disclosure of PHI in the event the organization is sold or control of our business and/or property is given to someone else.

 

Health Information Exchange

Many facilities participate in one or more health information exchanges (HIE). HIE facilitates sharing of information among health care organizations such as hospitals, clinics, health plans, and state or federal- mandated reporting organizations. Information about your past and current medical conditions and medications can be available to us or your non-Regional One Health providers or hospital if they participate in the HIE. You may opt out and restrict others from accessing your Regional One Health record by contacting our Privacy Office. Your opt-out will not affect our obligation to disclose your medical information when required under the law.

Patient Communications

We may use a limited amount of information about you to contact you for appointment reminders and other general communications, such as patient satisfaction surveys and sharing of health awareness materials. This includes contacting you by mail, telephone, email, text message, or messages through the patient portal.

Treatment Alternatives

We may use and disclose your medical information to tell you about or recommend possible treatment options or alternatives that may be of interest to you.  This includes reviewing your medical information to see if you meet the criteria to be eligible to participate in clinical trials.

Fundraising Activities

We may use certain information (such as your name, address, telephone number, dates of service, age, gender, and department of service) to contact you in the future to raise money for Regional One Health. The money raised is used to expand and improve the services and programs we provide to the community. You have the right to opt out of receiving these communications by contacting our Privacy Office at 901-545-6554. Your decision to opt out will have no impact on your ability to receive treatment or services at our facility.

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 corrections 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.

Patient Objections

Unless you object, we may use or disclose your PHI in the following circumstances:

  • If you are inpatient, we may share your name, room and telephone numbers, and condition in our patient listing with people who ask for you by name. We may also share your religious affiliation with clergy.
  • We may share with a family member, relative, or other person identified by you, PHI that is directly related to that person’s involvement in your care or payment for your care. We may share with a family member or other person responsible for your care PHI necessary to notify them of your location, general condition, or death.

If you object to our use or disclosure of PHI in any of the circumstances listed above, please notify your caregiver, a Patient Advocate, or the Privacy Office.

Uses and Disclosures Not Requiring Authorization

The law permits us to use and disclose your PHI without your written authorization in certain circumstances, including the following examples:

  • As required by law, including for judicial, administrative, or other legal proceedings;
  • For public health and government oversight activities, including disease prevention and control, reporting abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, health oversight activities, audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure actions;
  • For law enforcement and correctional purposes, including disclosures to law enforcement officials and correctional institutions when permitted or required by law;
  • For research, health care planning, and statistical reporting activities permitted by law;
  • To coroners, medical examiners, funeral directors, and organ, eye, or tissue donation organizations as necessary to carry out their responsibilities;
  • To prevent or lessen a serious threat to the health or safety of an individual or the public;
  • For specialized government functions, including military and veterans’ activities, national security and intelligence activities, protective services, and other activities authorized by law;
  • For workers’ compensation or similar programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illnesses; and
  • To support health care operations, including the use of approved technologies and tools, such as artificial intelligence applications that assist with activities such as documentation, transcription, analysis, quality improvement, care coordination, and operational efficiency, as permitted by law.

 

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU

Uses and disclosures of your medical information that are not described in this Notice or permitted by law will be made only with your written authorization. You may revoke your authorization at any time by notifying us in writing. Your revocation will not affect any actions we have already taken in reliance on your authorization, and we are required to maintain records of the care and services we provide.

  1. Right to Request Restrictions on Use and Disclosure

You have the right to request restrictions on how we use or disclose your protected health information (PHI) for treatment, payment, or health care operations. You may also request restrictions on information we share with family members, friends, or others involved in your care or payment for your care. While we will consider all requests, we are not required to agree to them. If we do agree to a restriction, we will honor it unless the information is needed to provide emergency treatment or disclosure is otherwise required by law.

  1. Right to Access, Inspect, and Copy

You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of your protected health information maintained in our designated record set. This may include medical records, billing records, payment and claims records, and other records used to make decisions about your care. Requests for access must be submitted in writing, and a reasonable fee may apply as permitted by law. With your advanced agreement, we may provide a summary or explanation of the information instead of a copy of the record. In certain circumstances, we may deny your request. If this occurs, we will provide you with a written explanation of the reason for the denial and inform you of any rights you may have to request a review of our decision. To inspect or obtain a copy of your health information, please contact the Health Information Management Department.

  1. Right to Amend

You have the right to request an amendment to your health information if you believe it is incorrect or incomplete. Requests must be submitted in writing and include a reason for the amendment. We may deny your request in certain circumstances, including if the information was not created by us, is not part of the records used to make decisions about you, or is already accurate and complete. If we deny your request, we will notify you in writing and explain any rights you may have to disagree with or seek review of the denial. If we approve your request, we will add the amendment to your record and make reasonable efforts to inform others who may need the corrected information. To request an amendment, contact the Privacy Office.

  1. Right to an Accounting of Disclosures

You have the right to request an accounting of disclosures. This is a list of disclosures we made of medical information about you for reasons other than treatment, payment, or health care operations. You may ask for disclosures made up to 6 years before your request. For example, the list would include disclosures that we are required by law to make, such as reporting communicable diseases to the county health department. The list will include the date of the disclosure, the name and address of the person or organization receiving the information, a brief description of the information disclosed, and the purpose of the disclosure. To request this accounting of disclosures, contact the Privacy Office.

  1. Right to Be Notified of a Breach

A breach is the unauthorized use or disclosure of your PHI. If a breach occurs and it poses a significant risk of financial, reputational, or other harm, Regional One Health is required to notify you in writing.

  1. Right to Request Confidential Communications

You have the right to request how and where we contact you about PHI. For example, you may request that we contact you at your work phone number or by email. You may request a change to your confidential communications address and phone number by submitting a written request to the Privacy Office. Regional One Health will accommodate all reasonable requests.

  1. Right to Paper Copy of This Notice

You have the right to request a paper copy of this notice at any time during your visit by asking any caregiver. At any other time, you may send a written request to the Privacy Officer, or you can read and download a copy from our website at www.regionalonehealth.org.

 

SPECIAL PROTECTIONS FOR SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER RECORDS

Records relating to substance use disorder treatment that are protected by 42 CFR Part 2 receive additional privacy protections beyond HIPAA. As permitted by law and based on your consent where required, these records may be used and disclosed for treatment, payment, and health care operations.

Part 2-protected records generally may not be used or disclosed in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceedings against you without your specific consent or a court order that satisfies Part 2 requirements.

You have additional rights regarding Part 2 records, including the right to request an accounting of certain disclosures, request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures, and opt out of fundraising communications, if applicable.

 

CONTACT INFORMATION

You have rights related to the use and disclosure of your PHI.  To exercise these rights, you may contact the following:

Regional One Health and UT Regional One Physicians

Health Information Management
877 Jefferson Ave, Memphis, TN 38103
Phone: 901-545-7581
Compliance & Privacy Office
877 Jefferson Ave, Memphis, TN 38103
Phone: 901-545-6554
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.regionalonehealth.org/patient-rights-and-privacy/

COMPLAINTS

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may contact Regional One Health or file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We will not retaliate against you for raising a concern or filing a complaint.

  • Compliance & Privacy Office: 901-545-6554
  • Patient Advocate (available 24/7 for inpatients): 901-545-7123
  • Compliance Hotline: 1-844-260-0009

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

  • Online: www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa
  • Mail: 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201

 

CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE

We may change the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices at any time. Any changes will apply to all protected health information we maintain, including information we created or received before the changes were made. The most current version of this Notice will be posted at our facilities and on our website at www.regionalonehealth.org. You may request a copy of the current Notice at any time.

 

Effective Date: August 10, 2026