Privacy

We recommend that you discuss health care issues with your parents. However, if you strongly feel you cannot, you can receive certain confidential services.

• Anyone 18 and over has the legal right:
  • To choose who will have access to their health information
  • To make health care decisions on their own
• Anyone 17 and under has the legal right to make some health care choices:
  • Without parents’ knowledge or permission, minors can receive services related to:
    • Pregnancy
    • Birth Control
    • Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)
    • Alcohol and drug issues
    • Otherwise, your parents have the right to see your records and discuss them with us without your consent.
  • Without parents’ permission, minors can receive services related to:
    • Parenting
    • Making an adoption plan
    • Abortion - with both parents knowledge, or after getting permission from a judge to not tell your parents.
      *WSTC does not provide abortion services.*
• However, as health care professionals, we are required by law to report to county Child Protection Services if we suspect that anyone 17 and under has been physically, sexually or emotionally abused and/or neglected, regardless of the reason for the visit.

Each time you visit a health care provider or hospital a record of your visit is made. Usually this record has your symptoms, exam and test results, diagnoses, treatment, and a plan for future care or treatment. This information is often called your health or medical record. It serves as a:

• Basis to plan your care and treatment.
• Way the health professionals who care for you communicate with each other.
• Legal document describing the care you received.
• Way you and/or your insurance company can be sure that services billed were actually done (if billing is done)
• Source of data for facility and service planning (planning for the future).
• Source of information to improve the care and services we give to our patients.
• Source of information for public health officials who have the goal of improving the health of the nation.

Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to:

• Be sure it is correct.
• Know who, what, when, where, and why others may have your health information.
• Make better decisions when allowing disclosure to others.

Although your health record belongs to West Suburban Teen Clinic, the information in it belongs to you. You have the right to:

• Ask to restrict certain uses and disclosures of your record. Write down your request and give it to the clinic manager. We have a form to help with this. We do not have to agree to your request if it is not practical for us to do so or if we believe it will have a negative impact on the care we may give you.
• Get another paper copy of the current Notice of Information Practices (this notice). Ask the front desk staff for this.
• Look at and/or ask for a copy of your health record. Ask the clinic manager how to do this.
• Ask for a correction or change to your health record. Write down your request and give it to the clinic manager. We do not have to make the change you request.
• Get a list of where and to whom your health information has been sent for reasons other than treatment, payment, or health care operations. Write down your request and give it to the clinic manager. We have a form to help you with this.
• Ask for communications of your health information by other means or at other locations. This would include requests such as contacting you at a specific telephone number or by mail to a specific address. Ask the front desk staff to make any changes in your record.
• Cancel your authorization to use or disclose health information except when the action has already been taken. Write down your request and give it to the clinic manager.

West Suburban Teen Clinic is required to:

• Keep your health information private.
• Give you this notice about our privacy practices.
• Do what we say in this notice.
• Tell you if we are unable to agree to a request.

West Suburban Teen Clinic reserves the right to change our privacy practices for all protected health information we keep. If our Notice changes, we will post the current copy in the clinic. You may also ask for the current copy when you are in one of our clinics.

We will not use or give out your health information without your permission, except as described in this notice.

• We will use your health information for treatment. For example: Information the nurse, provider or other member of your healthcare team gets about you will be put in your record and used to decide the best course of treatment for you.
• West Suburban Teen Clinic currently does not bill your insurance company, however, if we do bill insurance companies in the future, we will use your health information for payment. For example: A bill may be sent to you or your insurance company. The information on or with the bill may include information that identifies you, as well as your diagnosis, procedures, and supplies used. Please be assured that if West Suburban begins billing for insurance, we will only bill your insurance with your permission. We are committed to providing confidential care to our clients.
• We will use your health information for regular health operations. For example: Members of the clinical staff or the quality improvement team may use information in your health record to assess the care and outcomes in your case and others like it. This information will then be used to improve the quality and effectiveness of the health care and service we provide.
• Business Associates. There are some services we provide through business associates. Examples include some lab tests, a copy service for making copies of your health record, and transcription services for provider notes. We may disclose your health information to our business associates so that they can do the job we’ve asked them to do. We require the business associates to follow privacy standards to protect your health information.
• Patient Communications. We may contact you to remind you of appointments. We may also contact you about health-related services that may be of interest to you.

These are other examples of disclosures we may make without your permission.

• Required by Law. We may disclose health information for law enforcement purposes as required by law or in response to a valid subpoena.
• Public Health. As required by law, we may disclose your health information to public health or legal authorities that have the goal of preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability.
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA). We may need to report problems with products. The FDA may also need to have information if there are product recalls, repairs or replacements.
• Workers’ Compensation. We may disclose health information when necessary to follow laws relating to workers’ compensation or other similar programs established by law.