Notice of Privacy Practices

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

Effective Date:
January 6, 2025

Your Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities.

This notice describes how medial information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

  • Get a copy of your paper or electronic medical record.
  • Amend your paper or electronic medical record.
  • Request confidential communication.
  • Ask us to limit the information we share.
  • Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information.
  • Get a copy of this privacy notice.
  • Choose someone to act for you.
  • File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.

Your Choices

You have some choices in the way that we use and share information as we:

  • Tell family and friends about your condition.
  • Provide disaster relief.
  • Include you in a hospital directory.
  • Provide mental health care.
  • Market our services and sell your information.
  • Raise funds.

Our Uses and Disclosures

We may use and share your information as we:

  • Treat you.
  • Run our organization.
  • Bill for your services.
  • Help with public health and safety issues.
  • Do research.
  • Comply with the law.
  • Respond to organ and tissue donation requests.
  • Work with a medical examiner or funeral director.
  • Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests.
  • Respond to lawsuits and legal actions.

Your Rights

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.

Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record

  • You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you. You may submit your request in writing to the California University of Science and Medicine, ATTN: CUSM Health, 1501 Violet Street, California, 92324.
  • We will provide a copy or a summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

Ask us to amend your medical record

  • You can ask us to amend health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. You may submit your request in writing to the California University of Science and Medicine, ATTN: CUSM Health, 1501 Violet Street, California, 92324.
  • We may say “no” to your request, but we’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days. For example, we may say “no” because we did not create the information, the information is not part of the medical record we maintain, or the information is correct and complete. Even if we say “no,” you can give us a statement of 250 words or less and ask us to include it in your record whenever we use or share your health information.

Request confidential communications

  • You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address. To request confidential communications, you may submit your request in writing to the California University of Science and Medicine, ATTN: CUSM Health, 1501 Violet Street, California, 92324.
  • We will say “yes” to all reasonable requests.

Ask us to limit what we use or share

  • You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care. You may submit your request in writing to the California University of Science and Medicine, ATTN: CUSM Health, 1501 Violet Street, California, 92324.
  • If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer. We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information.

Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your health information

  • You can ask for a list (accounting) of disclosures of your health information for six years prior to your request, who we shared it with, and why.
  • We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations by CUSM, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months. We will tell you the cost in advance and you may choose to take back or change your request before you have to pay the fee.

Get a copy of this privacy notice

You can request a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically. We will provide a paper copy promptly.

Choose someone to act for you

  •  If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information.
  •  We may give health information about you to a family member or friend who is involved in you medical care.

File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated

  •  You may file a complaint with CUSM Health in writing to the California University of Science and Medicine, ATTN: Privacy Officer, CUSM Health, 1501 Violet Street, California, 92324, cusmhealth.hotline@cusm.edu. 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/complaints/.
    • You will not be penalized 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, and we will follow your instructions.

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

  • Share information with family, close friends, or others involved in your care
  • Share information in a disaster relief situation

If you are unable to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may share 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 written permission:

  • Marketing purposes
  • Sale of your information
  • Most sharing of psychotherapy notes

In the case of fundraising:

  • We may contact you for fundraising efforts, but you can tell us not to contact you again.

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.

Treat you
We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you.
Example: A doctor treating you for an injury asks another doctor about your overall health condition

Run our organization
We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary.
Example: We use health information about you to manage your treatment and services. 

Bill for your services
We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities. 
Example: We give information about you to your health insurance plan so it will pay for your services. 

How else can we use or share your health 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 health 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

We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.

Work with a medical examiner or funeral director

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

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.

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.
  • We will not share your SMS consent with third parties.

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, in our office, and on our web site.

Other Instructions for Notice

  • Effective date for this notice: January 6, 2025
  • Last modified on: November 4, 2025
  •  To the extent required by federal or state law, we will not share any substance abuse, mental health, HIV, reproductive or gender affirming treatment records without your written permission.