|
WEB
SITE PRIVACY STATEMENT
Your privacy is important to us. First Plan of Minnesota maintains
high standards for the protection of your privacy at our Web
site. Here’s what you can expect when you visit our site.
• We won’t sell, rent or share any personally identifiable
information you provide on this site without your consent
• We won’t send you any unsolicited e-mail (spam)
• No personally identifiable information collected at
this site will ever be used to affect your coverage by or
premiums paid to First Plan of Minnesota
The
information we collect
Our Web servers automatically capture your domain name, the
IP address of the Web page from which you enter our site,
the pages you visit on our site and the amount of time you
spend here. We do not collect any information that can reveal
your personal identity unless you voluntarily provide it when
you register to use interactive features of the site or receive
information from us. Any section of this site that is directed
to children or teens will be protected by a screening mechanism
to help ensure that parental consent is obtained before we
collect or use personal information from children under 13.
We do not knowingly collect or use information from children
under 13 without the consent of a parent or guardian.
Use
of the information this site gathers or tracks
Any personally identifiable information you give us on this
site will be used only to provide the product, service or
information you have requested or for which you registered.
Your personally identifiable information, including your e-mail
address, gathered on this site will not be sold, rented, licensed,
or otherwise shared with third parties. The non-personally
identifiable information we gather may be used to improve
our site. Personal information you voluntarily provide and
the non-personally identifiable information we collect will
not affect your coverage, eligibility, premiums or claims
payment by First Plan of Minnesota.
Making
changes to the information you provide to us
At any time, you can change, update, or remove any information
you have voluntarily provided on this site.
Cookies
When you visit our site, we may place a cookie on your computer
that will allow us to customize and enhance your experience
on our site, to make improvements, or to report site activity.
Our cookies will never be used to track your activity on any
third party Web sites or to send spam, nor will cookies provide
us with any personally identifiable information about you.
Sites
we link to
If you choose to use any of the links we provide to our affiliates
and other third-party resources, you will be leaving our Web
site and going to a new Web site. Protection of your privacy
at those other sites will be governed by the privacy policies
at those sites. We’ve taken special care in selecting
the companies that we provide links to on our site to try
to ensure that they respect your privacy as we do, but please
take the time to read the privacy policies at their sites.
Changes
to this statement
If we make any changes to this statement, we’ll let you
know the effective date of the change and provide a tool for
you to understand what has changed.
Effective
as of Oct. 1, 2001
NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
For
your protection
This notice describes how medical information may be used
and disclosed, and how you can get access to this information.
Please review this notice carefully.
First
Plan of Minnesota has always been committed to maintaining
the security and confidentiality
of the information we
receive from our members. Whether it’s your medical
information or identifiable information (such as your
name, address,
phone number or member identification number), we maintain
careful safeguards to protect you against unauthorized
access and use.
You
should know that we are required by law to provide
you this notice about our legal duties and privacy
practices. We hope that this notice will
clarify our responsibilities
to you and provide you with a good understanding of
your rights.
How
First Plan safeguards your health information
Our privacy officer has the overall responsibility
to implement and enforce privacy policies and procedures
to protect
your personal health information. You can be assured
that every
effort is taken to comply with federal and state
laws — physically,
electronically and procedurally — to safeguard your
information. In some situations, where state laws provide
greater protection for your privacy, we will follow the
provisions of that state law.
First
Plan requires all of its employees, business associates
(such as Delta Dental or Prime Therapeutics),
providers
and vendors to adhere to our privacy policies and
procedures under our strictest standards. Following
are descriptions
of how your personal health information is handled
throughout our administration of your health plan.
Permitted
handling of health information
At First Plan, your personal health information
is handled in a number of different ways as we
administer
your health
plan benefits. The following examples show you
the various uses we are permitted by law to make
without
your authorization:
Treatment. We may disclose your personal health information to
health care providers (doctors,
dentists, pharmacies,
hospitals and other caregivers) who request
it to aid in your treatment.
We
may also disclose your personal health information
to these health care providers in our effort
to provide you
with preventive health, early detection and
disease and case management programs.
Payment. To administer your health benefits, policy or contract,
we must use and disclose
your health
information to determine:
• Eligibility
• Claims payment
• Utilization and management of your benefits
• Medical necessity of your treatment
• Coordination of your care, benefits and other services
• Responses to complaints, appeals and external review requests
We may also use and disclose your health information to determine
premium costs, underwriting, rates and
cost-sharing amounts.
Health
care operations. To perform our health plan functions,
we may use and disclose your
health information to provide
the following programs and evaluations:
• Health improvement or health care cost-reduction programs
• Competence or qualification reviews of health care professionals
• Fraud and abuse detection and compliance programs
• Quality assessment and improvement activities
• Performance measurement and outcome assessments, health claims
analysis and health services outreach
• Case management, disease management and care coordination
services
We may also disclose your health information
to First Plan affiliates and business
associates (like
Delta
Dental or
Prime Therapeutics) that perform payment
activities and conduct health care operations
for us on
your behalf.
Service
reminders. We may contact you to remind you to obtain
preventive
health services or
to inform
you of
treatment
alternatives and/or health-related
benefits and services, which may be of interest
to you.
Additional
uses and disclosures
In certain situations, the law permits
us to use or disclose your personal
health information
without
your
authorization.
These situations include:
Required
by law. We may use or disclose your personal health
information,
as we are required
to do so
by state or federal
law, including disclosures to the
U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services.
Also, we are
required to
disclose your
personal health information to
you in accordance with the law.
Public
health issues. We may disclose your health information
to an authorized
public
health authority
for public
health activities in controlling
disease, injury or disability.
For example, we may disclose your
personal health information to
the childhood
immunization registry.
Abuse
or neglect. We may make disclosures to government authorities
concerning
abuse, neglect
or domestic
violence as required
by law.
Health
oversight activities. We may disclose your health information
to a government
agency authorized
to conduct
health care system or governmental
procedures such as audits, examinations,
investigations,
inspections
and
licensure activity.
Legal
proceedings. We may disclose your health information
in
the course of any
legal proceeding,
in response
to a court order or administrative
judge and, in certain cases,
in response to a subpoena,
discovery request
or other
lawful process.
Law
enforcement. We may disclose your health information
to
law enforcement officials.
For example, disclosures
may be made in response to
a warrant or subpoena or
for the
purpose
of identifying or locating
a suspect, witness or missing
persons
or to
provide
information
concerning
victims
of crimes.
Coroners,
medical examiners, funeral directors and organ
donations. We may disclose
your
health information
in
certain instances to coroners
and
medical examiners during
their investigations. We
may also
disclose health information
to funeral
directors so that
they may carry out
their duties.
We may disclose personal
health information to organizations
that handle donations
of organs, eyes or tissue
and
transplantations. For example,
if you are an organ donor,
we can release
records to an organ donation
facility.
Research. We may disclose your health information
to researchers
only if
certain established
measures are
taken to protect
your privacy. For example,
we may disclose to a
teaching university
to conduct
medical research.
To
prevent a serious threat to health or
safety. We
may disclose
your health
information
to
the extent necessary
to avoid
a serious and imminent
threat to your health
or safety
or to the
health or
safety of
others.
Military
activity and national security. We may disclose
your health information
to armed
forces
personnel
under certain circumstances,
and to authorized
federal officials for national
security and intelligence
activities.
Correctional
institutions. If you are an inmate,
we may disclose
your health
information
to
your correctional
facility to help
provide you
health care
or
to provide safety
to you or others.
Workers’ compensation.
We may disclose your health information as required
by workers’ compensation
laws.
Others
involved in your health
care. Unless you
notify us
in writing, we
may disclose
certain billing information
to
a family member
who
calls on your
behalf. The kind
of information
we
will disclose
is the
status
of
a claim,
amount paid and
payment date.
We will
not, however,
disclose medical
information,
such as diagnosis
or the name of
the provider.
Your
employer. If your coverage
is
through
your employer,
we may disclose
information
to your
employer to
review group claims
data or to
conduct an
audit.
All information
that could
be used to identify
specific
participants
is removed
unless such identification
is necessary.
Your
Authorization
Any uses and
disclosures
not described
in
this notice
will require
your
written authorization.
Keep in
mind that
you may cancel
your authorization
in writing
at
any time.
Your
rights
First Plan
would like
you to
know that beginning
on April
14, 2003,
you have
additional
rights
regarding
your personal
health
information.
Your additional
rights
are described
below:
Your
right to request
restrictions. You
have
the right to
request
restrictions
on the
way we
handle
your
personal health
information
for treatment,
payment
or health
care
operations
as described
in the “Permitted
handling
of health
information” section
of this
notice.
The law,
however,
does
not require
us to
agree
to these
restrictions.
If we
do agree
to a
restriction,
we will
send
you a
written
confirmation
and will
not use
or disclose
your
health
information
in violation
of that
restriction.
If we
don’t
agree,
we will
notify
you in
writing.
Your
right
to
confidential communications. We
will make
every
effort
to
accommodate
reasonable
requests
to
communicate with
you
about your
health
information
at
an alternative
location.
For
our records,
we
need your
request
in
writing.
It
is
important
that
you
understand
that
any
payment
or
payment
information
may
be
sent
to
the
original
address
in
our
records.
Your
right
to
access. You
have
the
right
to
receive,
by
written
request,
a
copy
of
your
personal
health
information
that
is
contained
in
a “designated record set,” with
some specified exceptions. For example, if your doctor
determines that your records are sensitive, we may not
give you access
to your records.
What
is a
Designated Record
Set?
It’s a group of records used to administer your health
benefits, including:
• Enrollment
• Payment
• Claims adjudication
• Case or medical management records
Your
right to amend your health information. You have the
right to ask us to amend any personal health information that is contained
in
a “designated record set.” For
our records, your request for an amendment must be in writing.
First
Plan will
not amend
records in
the following
situations:
• First Plan does not have the records you want amended
• First Plan did not create the records that you want amended
• First Plan has determined that the records are accurate and
complete
• The records have been compiled in anticipation of a civil,
criminal or administrative action or proceeding
• The records are covered by the federal Clinical Laboratory
Improvement Act
If
you have
requested an
amendment under
any of
these situations,
we will
notify you
in writing
that we
are denying
your request.
You have
the right
to file
a written
statement of
disagreement with
us, and
we have
the right
to rebut
that statement.
Please note
that changes
of addresses
are not
required in
writing.
Your
right to
information about
certain disclosures.
You
have the
right to
request (in
writing) information
about the
times we
have disclosed
your personal
health information
for any
purpose other
than the
following exceptions:
•
Treatment, payment, or health care operations as described
in the “Permitted handling of health information” section
of this notice
• Disclosures that you or your personal representative have
authorized
• Certain other disclosures, such as disclosures for national
security purposes
The
requirement that
we provide
you with
information about
the times
we have
disclosed your
personal health
information applies
for six
years from
the date
of the
disclosure. This
applies only
to disclosures
made on
or after
April 14,
2003.
Future
changes
Although
First Plan
follows the
privacy practices
described in
this notice,
you should
know that
under certain
circumstances these
practices could
change in
the future.
For example,
if privacy
laws change,
we will
change our
practices to
comply with
the law.
Should this
occur:
• We will send a new notice to you prior to making a significant
change in our privacy practices
• The changes will apply to all personal information we have
in our possession, including any information created or
received before we change the notice
Questions & Answers
Q: Will you
give my personal
health
information
to
my family
or others?
A. We will
only share
your personal
health
information
with
others if
either of
these apply:
1. You
are present,
in
person
or
on the
telephone,
and give
us permission
to
talk to
the other
person, or
2.
You sign
an authorization
form.
Q:
Who should
I contact
to get
more information
or to
get an
additional
copy
of this
notice?
A:
For additional
information,
questions
about this
Notice of
Privacy Practices,
or
if
you want
another
copy,
please
visit
the First
Plan Web
site at
www.firstplan.org.
You
may also
call or
write us
at the
number
or
address listed
on
the
back of your
member
ID
card
with
questions
or to
obtain
forms.
Q:
What should I do if I believe my privacy rights have been
violated?
A: If you think that we may have violated your privacy rights,
or you disagree with a decision we made about access to your
personal health information, you may either:
1. Call us at the number on the back of your member ID card
2. File a written complaint with our privacy officer at the
address shown on the back of your member ID card
3. Contact the Minnesota Department of Commerce at (651) 282-5600
or call toll free at 1-800-657-3916
4. Notify the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS). Send your complaint to:
Office
for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
233 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 240
Chicago, IL 60601
Voice Phone: (312) 886-2359 or
Fax:
(312) 886-1807 or
TDD:
(312) 353-5693
5.
Call the
HHS Voice
Hotline number
at 1-800-368-1019
Please
be assured that we will not take retaliatory action against
you if you file a complaint about our privacy practices either
with us or HHS.
|
