Uses & Disclosures of Medical Information

We use and disclose medical information about you for treatment, payment, and health care operations.

Treatment: We may use and disclose your medical information to a physician or other health care provider in order to provide medical or dental treatment or other health services to you. This includes coordination of your care with other health care providers, with health plans, consultation with other providers, and referral to other providers or community services related to your care. As part of your treatment plan and for your safety, we may use artificial intelligence, cameras, photography, recording, videography, streaming, and/or other technology.

• Appointment Reminders, Routine Instructions, and Healthcare Related Messages: Memorial Hermann and affiliated physicians may send you helpful health information such as appointment reminders, prescription refill reminders, pre-operative instructions, lab results or other health information by regular (unencrypted) text message or emails, by phone, or through My Memorial Hermann (patient portal). There is some risk that the information in regular text or email could be read by someone other than you. By sharing your phone number or email address, we presume you have consented to be contacted at that phone number or email address. You may manage your communication preferences through the My Memorial Hermann patient portal or by communicating your preferences at the time of your visit.
• Community Connect sites: Some non-employed, affiliated physicians use Community Connect, an extension of Memorial Hermann’s Epic System, as their medical record and patient portal. Your medical, billing, and communication preferences will be shared between Memorial Hermann and those physicians using Community Connect.
• Health Information Exchanges: Memorial Hermann participates in electronic Health Information Exchanges (“HIEs”) including but not limited to Epic’s Care Everywhere. HIEs allow participating healthcare providers, including Memorial Hermann, to share portions of your medical record electronically. For example, if you receive care outside of Memorial Hermann, that provider may be able to access portions of your Memorial Hermann medical record for the provider’s own treatment purposes.
  Memorial Hermann will allow other providers to see your medical record through HIEs unless you inform us, by calling (713) 222-CARE, that you do not want other participating providers to see your medical records. Opting out will not affect health information that was shared prior to your request to opt-out.
• Outside Healthcare Providers: Memorial Hermann may communicate with referring or follow-up providers, post-acute providers or facilities to which you may be transferred or receive care.
• Reproductive Health Care: We will only use and disclose your reproductive health information as permitted or required under applicable federal and state law.
• Sensitive Information: Your medical record may contain sensitive information about HIV or other communicable or sexually transmitted diseases, mental health, genetic testing and results, social issues, and/ or substance use issues or treatment. When required by law, Memorial Hermann will ask for your permission before sharing this information with other healthcare providers.
• Psychotherapy Notes: Except as otherwise permitted by law, we will not use or disclose your psychotherapy notes without your written authorization.

Payment: We may use and disclose your medical information to obtain payment for services we provide to you. Payment includes submitting claims to health plans and other insurers, justifying our charges for and demonstrating the medical necessity of the care we deliver to you, determining your eligibility for health plan benefits for the care we furnish to you, obtaining pre-certification, preauthorization for your treatment or referral to other health care providers, participating in utilization review of the services we provide to you and the like. We may disclose your medical information to another health care provider or entity subject to federal and state laws to obtain payment for services.

Health Care Operations: We may use and disclose your medical information in connection with our health care operations. Health care operations include:

• Quality assessment and improvement activities;
• Reviewing the competence or qualifications of health care professionals, evaluating practitioner and provider accreditation, certification, licensing or credentialing activities;
• Medical Review;
• Legal services and auditing, including fraud and abuse detection and compliance; • Business planning and development;
• Business management and general administrative activities, including management activities relating to privacy, customer service, resolution of internal grievances, and creating de-identified medical information or a limited data set; and
• The use of artificial intelligence, cameras, photography, recording, videography, streaming, and/or other technology as part of health care operations.
• Body worn cameras and/or other technology may be used by Memorial Hermann to record events for safety and security purposes.

We will not electronically disclose your medical information to another person without your authorization unless such disclosure is authorized or required by law and as described in this Joint Notice. We may disclose your medical information to another provider or health plan that is subject to the Privacy Rules, as long as that provider or plan has or had a relationship with you and the medical information is for their health care quality assessment 5 and improvement activities, competence and qualification evaluation and review activities, or fraud and abuse detection and prevention.

Social Media: Memorial Hermann participates in and facilitates postings on online, public social media platforms or sites. If you share information, including your health information on Memorial Hermann social media pages, the information is considered public, and is no longer protected by privacy laws, including HIPAA, and may be reposted or reshared by Memorial Hermann or others.

On Your Authorization: You may give us written authorization to use your medical information or to disclose it to anyone for any purpose. Under Texas law, you must give us your authorization to electronically disclose your medical information to another person, except for electronic disclosures made in furtherance of treatment, payment, or health care operation activities. If you give us an authorization, you may revoke it in writing at any time.

To Your Family & Friends and in Emergencies: We may disclose your medical information to a family member, friend, or other person to the extent necessary to help with your medical care or with payment for your health care. We may use or disclose your name, hospital location, and general condition or death to notify, or assist in the notification of (including identifying or locating) a person involved in your care or needed to make healthcare decisions. We may also disclose your medical information to whomever you give us permission. If you are not present, or in the event of your incapacity or an emergency, we will disclose your medical information based on our professional judgment of whether the disclosure would be in your best interest. We will also use our professional judgment and our experience with common practice to allow a person to pick up filled prescriptions, medical supplies, or other similar forms of medical information.

Facility Directory: We may use your name, your location, your general medical condition, and your religious affiliation in our census/facility directories. We will disclose this information to members of the clergy and, except for religious affiliation, to other persons who ask for you by name. We will provide you with an opportunity to restrict or prohibit some or all disclosures from the census/facility directories unless emergency circumstances prevent your opportunity to object.

Disaster Relief: We may use or disclose your medical information to a public or private entity authorized by law or by its charter to assist in disaster relief efforts. Health-Related Services: We may use your medical information to contact you with information about health-related benefits and services or about treatment alternatives that may be of interest to you. We may disclose your medical information to a business associate to assist us in these activities.

Business Associate: We may contract with one or more third parties (our business associates) in the course of our business operations. We may provide access to or disclose your medical information to business associates in order to provide the contracted services. We require that our business associates sign a business associate agreement and agree to safeguard the privacy and security of your medical information.

Marketing: Except as otherwise permitted by state or federal law, we will not use or disclose your medical information for marketing purposes without your written authorization. However, we may communicate with you in the form of face-to-face conversations about services and treatment alternatives. We may also provide you with promotional gifts of nominal value. We may also communicate about certain patient assistance and prescription drug saving or discount programs.

Fund-raising: We may use your demographic information, the dates of your health care, your department of service information, your treating physician, your health outcome information and your insurance status to contact you for our fund-raising purposes. We may disclose this information to a business associate or foundation to assist us in our fund-raising activities. If you would like more information on the Memorial Hermann Foundation call (713) 222-CARE (2273). You may also optout of any and all fund-raising communications by calling (713) 222-CARE (2273) and requesting an Opt-out form or by following the opt-out instructions in any fund-raising communication.

Sale of Your Medical Information: Except as otherwise permitted by law, we will not sell your medical information to another person without your authorization.

Public Benefit and Safety Activities: We may use or disclose your medical information as authorized by law for the following purposes deemed to be health oversight activities, in the public interest, or benefit:

• Public Health activities including disease and vital statistics reporting, child and adult protective services reporting, and FDA oversight.
• Employers, regarding work-related illness or injury
• Notifying the appropriate government authority if we believe a patient has been the victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence. We will only make this disclosure if you agree or when authorized by law.
• Cancer Registry
• Trauma Registry
• Birth Registry

Health Oversight Activities: We may disclose your medical information to a health oversight agency for oversight activities authorized by law, including audits; civil, administrative, or criminal investigations; inspections; licensure or disciplinary actions; civil, administrative, or criminal proceedings or actions; or other activities necessary for the appropriate oversight of health care, government benefit programs or other entities for which medical information is necessary to determine compliance.

Judicial and Administrative proceedings: We may disclose your medical information in response to a court and administrative orders, subpoena, discovery request, and other lawful processes.

Law enforcement purposes: Pursuant to an administrative request, subpoenas and other lawful processes, crime victims, suspicious deaths, crimes on our premises, reporting crimes in emergencies, and for purposes of identifying or locating a suspect or other person.

To coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors

To avert a serious threat to health or safety

Specialized government functions: We may release information necessary to certain government functions:

• To correctional institutions and law enforcement regarding inmates and persons in lawful custody.
• To the military, to federal officials for lawful intelligence, counterintelligence, and national security activities.

To organ procurement organizations: We may release information to organizations involved in eye, organ, and tissue procurement to facilitate organ or tissue donation or transplantation as authorized by you or as required by law.

Research: Memorial Hermann conducts and participates in research activities with academic institutions and others conducting research. We may use and disclose health information for research purposes subject to state and federal laws.

As authorized by state worker’s compensation laws