Disclosures
Disclosures & Uses of Health Information
For Treatment
We may use health information about your child and family to provide your child with health treatment or services. Different departments of the Agency also may share health information about your child and family in order to coordinate services. We may also discuss information about your child within the treatment team. For example, the psychiatrist may need to discuss medication or other health issues with your child's therapist/caseworker.
For Payment
In some cases we may disclose health information so that services your child and family receive may be billed to and payment collected from a third party. For example, if your child is in residential care, a therapist/caseworker will be talking with the Iowa Foundation for Medical Care to authorize payment from the Department of Human Services. In addition, the information on any bill may contain information that identifies you or your child, the child's diagnosis, and any treatment or supplies used in the course of treatment
For Health Care Operations
We may use and disclose health information about your child and family for Agency operations. These uses and disclosures are necessary to run the Agency and make sure that all of our clients receive quality care. For example, we may use health information to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for your child. We may send you a Client Satisfaction Survey. In addition, we may use information gathered from many client records to describe our work and treatment outcomes for program evaluation, marketing, and fundraising. We will remove information that identifies your child and family from this information to ensure confidentiality.
Fundraising Activities
We may disclose contact information about your child and family (name, address, phone number, dates of service) to the Development Office of the Agency who may contact you as part of a fundraising campaign. If you do not want to participate, feel free to decline by informing your child's therapist/caseworker.
Research
Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose health information about your child and family for research purposes. For example, a research project may involve comparing the progress of all clients who receive one medication to those who received another for the same condition. All research projects, however, are subject to a special approval process. We will ask for your specific permission if the researcher will have access to your name, address, or other information that reveals who you and/or your child are or others who will be involved in your child's care at the Agency.
We may disclose health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law. For example, these oversight activities include audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure. These activities are necessary for the government to monitor the health care system, government programs, and compliance with civil rights laws.
Law Enforcement
We may release health information to a law enforcement official:
- To identify or locate a missing person
- About criminal conduct at the Agency
- About death at the Agency
- If your child runs away from treatment
As Required by Law
We will disclose health information about you when required to do so by Federal, State, or local law. For example, disclosure may occur when required by court order or a mandatory report of suspected child abuse or neglect.
Complaints
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us or with the Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
To file a complaint with us, see below for our list of complaint officers for each Orchard Place division:
Jodie Warth
Child Guidance Center
808 5th Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50309
(515) 244-2267
jwarth@orchardplace.org
Amber Rand
Orchard Place Campus
925 SW Porter Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50315
(515) 285-6781
arand@orchardplace.org
Sonni Vierling
PACE Center
820 High Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50309
(515) 697-5701
svierling@orchardplace.org
All complaints must be submitted in writing. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
Changes to this Notice
We reserve the right to change this notice. We reserve the right to make the revised or changed notice effective for health information we already have about your child and family as well as any information we receive in the future. We will post a copy of the current notice at the Agency. The notice will contain on the first page, in the top right hand corner, the effective date. In addition, each time your child is admitted for treatment we will offer you a copy of the current notice in effect.