Patient Rights & Privacy Practices
Hills & Dales Patient Rights
Hills & Dales Patient Rights Include: The right to impartial access to treatment, regardless of color, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, national origin, gender identity or handicap.
Hills & Dales Healthcare Notice of Privacy Practices
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.
Hills & Dales Healthcare uses health information about you for treatment, to obtain payment for treatment, for administrative purposes, and to evaluate the quality of care that you receive. Your health information is contained in a medical record that is the physical property of Hills & Dales Healthcare. Hills & Dales Healthcare may share health information about you to licensed professionals seeing and treating patients at Hills & Dales General Hospital.
How Hills & Dales Healthcare May Use or Disclose Your Health Information
For Treatment: Hills & Dales Healthcare may use your health information to provide you with medical treatment or services. For example, information obtained by a health care provider, such as a physician, nurse, or other person providing health services to you, will record information in your record that is related to your treatment. This information is necessary for healthcare providers to determine what treatment they should receive. Healthcare providers will also record actions taken by them in the course of your treatment and note how you respond to the actions.
For Payment: Hills & Dales Healthcare may use and disclose your health information to others for purposes of receiving payment for treatment and services that you receive. For example, a bill may be sent to you or a third-party payor, such as an insurance company or health plan. The information on the bill may contain information that identifies you, your diagnosis, and treatment or supplies used in the course of treatment.
For Health Care Operations: Hills & Dales Healthcare may use and disclose health information about you for operational purposes. For example, your health information may be disclosed to members of the medical staff, risk or quality improvement personnel, and others to:
evaluate the performance of our staff;
assess the quality of care and outcomes in your cases and similar cases;
learn how to improve our facilities and services; and
determine how to continually improve the quality and effectiveness of the health care we provide
Appointments: Hills & Dales Healthcare may use your information to provide appointment reminders or information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.
Required by Law: Hills & Dales Healthcare may use and disclose information about you as required by law. For example, Hills & Dales Healthcare may disclose information for the following purposes:
for judicial and administrative proceedings pursuant to legal authority;
to report information related to victims of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence; and
to assist law enforcement officials in their law enforcement duties.
Public Health: Your health information may be used or disclosed for public health activities such as assisting public authorities or other legal authorities to prevent or control disease, injury, or disability, or for other health oversight activities.
Decedents: Health information may be disclosed to funeral directors or coroners to enable them to carry out their lawful duties.
Organ/Tissue Donation: Your health information may be used or disclosed for cadaveric organ, eye or tissue donation purposes.
Research: Hills & Dales Healthcare may use your health information for research purposes when an institutional review board or privacy board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your health information has approved the research.
Health and Safety: Your health information may be disclosed to avert a serious threat to the health or safety of you or any other person pursuant to applicable law.
Government Functions: Your health information may be disclosed for specialized government functions such as protection of public officials or reporting to various branches of the armed services.
Workers’ Compensation: Your health information may be used or disclosed in order to comply with laws and regulations related to Workers’ Compensation.
Other Uses: Other uses and disclosures will be made only with your written authorization and you may revoke the authorization except to the extent Hills & Dales Healthcare has taken action in reliance on such.
Your Health Information Rights
You have the right to:
Complaints: You may complain to Hills & Dales Healthcare and to the Department of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy rights have been violated. You will not be retaliated against for filing a complaint.
Obligations of Hills & Dales Healthcare
Hills & Dales Healthcare is required by law to:
Hills & Dales Healthcare reserves the right to change its information practices and to make the new provisions effective for all protected health information it maintains. Revised notices will be made available to you upon future visits to Hills & Dales Healthcare.
Contact Information:
If you have any questions or complaints, please contact:
Cassie VanValkenburgh
Hills & Dales Healthcare
4675 Hill Street
Cass City, MI 48726
(989) 912-6296
As a recipient of Federal financial assistance, Hills & Dales General Hospital and Clinics does not exclude, deny benefits to, or otherwise discriminate against any person on the ground of race, color, or national origin, or on the basis of disability or age in admission to, participation in, or receipt of the services and benefits under any of its programs and activities, whether carried out by Hills & Dales General Hospital directly or through a contractor or any other entity with which Hills & Dales General Hospital arranges to carry out its programs and activities.
Section 1557: Interpretation Services. Please click here for additional language interpretation services available.