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.
I. About This Notice
This notice describes the privacy practices of SelectHealth, Inc. and SelectHealth Benefit Assurance Co., Inc. (collectively SelectHealth). This notice is intended for our health plan members. SelectHealth is part of Intermountain Healthcare, which is a health care delivery system, consisting of hospitals, health plans, doctors, and other practitioners that work together to provide health care. Each part of the health care system performs a different role in the delivery of health care.
For the purposes of this notice, we have defined the following terms:
- "Intermountain" refers to SelectHealth, Inc., SelectHealth Benefit Assurance Co., Inc., and IHC Health Services, Inc.
- "SelectHealth" or "we" refers to all coverage plans offered by SelectHealth, Inc. and SelectHealth Benefit Assurance Co., Inc. but does not include plans offered by other companies that contract to use the SelectHealth panel of providers.
- "Intermountain Healthcare" means the hospitals, clinics, doctor offices, and other healthcare facilities owned and operated by IHC Health Services, Inc., as well as the individuals employed by Intermountain Healthcare at these facilities.
- "Affiliated Providers" are doctors and other health care practitioners who are not employed by Intermountain Healthcare but either have a contractual relationship with SelectHealth or are credentialed to admit patients to an Intermountain hospital.
- "Personal Information" means your personal medical information that describes your physical or mental health or the payment for the provision of your health care as well as any other financial information that we may have collected about you.
- "Personal Representative" means an individual who has authority under law to make health care decisions on behalf of another person, e.g. a parent for a minor child.
In some situations, Intermountain Healthcare and Affiliated Providers have different privacy practices than SelectHealth because of the type of services they provide. As a result, if you are a patient of Intermountain Healthcare or an Affiliated Provider, you may receive a separate notice of their privacy practices. To request a copy of the privacy notices of Intermountain Healthcare, please contact 1-800-442-4845; to receive a copy of the privacy notices of Affiliated Providers, please contact those providers directly.
II. SelectHealth's Privacy Responsibilities
We are committed to protecting your privacy as described in this document. In addition, certain laws require that we maintain the privacy of your Personal Information and provide you with this notice. This notice describes our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to Personal Information. When we use or disclose Personal Information, we must abide by the terms of this notice (or other notice in effect at the time of the use or disclosure).
III. Collection of Personal Information
We may collect Personal Information from you, health care providers, and other payers of health care. We may also collect Personal Information from governmental agencies, legal proceedings, and consumer reporting agencies.
IV. Uses and Disclosures With an Authorization
An authorization is a written document signed by you or your Personal Representative that gives us permission to use your Personal Information for a specific purpose. We will only use your Personal Information without an authorization in ways described in the next section of this notice entitled Uses and Disclosures Permitted by Law Without an Authorization. You may revoke an authorization, at any time, in writing, except to the extent that we have taken an action in reliance on the use or disclosure indicated in the authorization.
V. Uses and Disclosures Permitted by Law Without an Authorization
A. Use or Disclosure by SelectHealth for Payment or Health Care Operations. SelectHealth uses Personal Information for the following routine purposes:
Payment. SelectHealth uses and discloses Personal Information for payment of health coverage premiums and to determine and fulfill its responsibility to provide you benefits for example, to make coverage determinations, administer claims, and coordinate benefits with other coverage you may have. SelectHealth may also disclose Personal Information to consumer reporting agencies or other individuals or companies that assist with its payment activities.
Finally, SelectHealth will disclose Personal Information about any dependent on a policy to the subscriber, his or her spouse, or the authorized representative of either of these people. This is limited to information necessary to understand how a claim was processed. We disclose this information to allow the subscriber and his or her spouse to manage the policy effectively. You may have rights to limit these disclosures. See the subsection "Your Right to Request Confidential Communications" in the "Your Individual Rights" section.
Health Care Operations. SelectHealth uses and discloses Personal Information for its Health Care Operations, which include internal administration, planning, and various activities that improve the quality of the health care that we pay for. For example, we may use your Personal Information to assess insurance rates and to evaluate how many of the children on our plans have received the recommended immunizations. SelectHealth may disclose Personal Information to individuals or companies that assist with Health Care Operations. However, such disclosures are only made if the person or company agrees to safeguard Personal Information as required by SelectHealth's privacy policy.
In addition, SelectHealth may disclose Personal Information as follows:
- To another health care entity for its health care operations.
- To Affiliated Providers and Intermountain Healthcare to improve the overall Intermountain system as well as to help them better manage your care. For example, Intermountain has programs in place to manage the treatment of chronic conditions, such as diabetes or asthma, and as part of these programs, we share information with Affiliated Providers and Intermountain Healthcare to facilitate improved coordination of the care members receive for these conditions.
We may use Personal Information to identify health-related services and products that may be beneficial to your health and then contact you about these services and products.
Treatment. SelectHealth may disclose Personal Information to health care providers to support them in providing treatment.
Special Protections for Certain Types of Information. SelectHealth may request Personal Information for underwriting purposes. If the health insurance is not placed with us, we will not use or disclose this information for any other purpose. We may request an HIV/AIDS test for underwriting purposes, but only if we provide proper notice and follow other requirements of State law. If we do require an HIV/AIDS test, we will not release the results of this test unless we have specific written permission to do so. Additionally, we will not request private genetic information from asymptomatic individuals for underwriting purposes. However, we may request private genetic information in certain circumstances to determine our obligation to pay for health care services.
B. Disclosures to the Sponsor of Your Health Plan. SelectHealth discloses enrollment and disenrollment information to the plan sponsor of your health plan (this is usually your employer, if your health insurance is offered through your employer). SelectHealth may also share information with the plan sponsor that summarizes the claims history, expenses, or types of claims of individuals enrolled in your health plan. SelectHealth shares such summary health information with your plan sponsor for your plan sponsor to obtain premium bids from other health insurance companies or to make decisions about modifying, amending, or terminating your health plan.
SelectHealth may also share limited Personal Information with your plan sponsor. However, SelectHealth will only do so if the plan sponsor specifically requests Personal Information for the administration of your health plan and agrees in writing not to use your Personal Information for employment-related actions or decisions.
C. Public Health Activities. We may disclose Personal Information for the following public health activities and purposes: (1) to report health information to public health authorities for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability, as required by law and public health concerns; (2) to report child abuse and neglect to public health authorities or other government authorities authorized by law to receive such reports; (3) to report information about products under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; and (4) to alert a person who may have been exposed to a communicable disease or may otherwise be at risk to contracting or spreading a disease or condition.
D. Disclosure to Relatives and Close Friends. We may use or disclose Personal Information to a family member, other relative, a close personal friend or any other person identified by you when you are either present for or otherwise available prior to the disclosure, if we (1) obtain your agreement; (2) provide you with the opportunity to object to the disclosure and you do not object; or (3) reasonably infer that you do not object to the disclosure.
If you are not present, or the opportunity to agree or object to a use or disclosure cannot practicably be provided because of your incapacity or an emergency circumstance, we may exercise our professional judgment to determine whether a disclosure is in your best interest. If we disclose information to a family member, other relative or a close personal friend, we would disclose only information that is directly relevant to the person's involvement with your health care.
E. Victims of Abuse, Neglect, or Domestic Violence. If we reasonably believe you are a victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, we may disclose your Personal Information to a government authority, including a social service or protective services agency, authorized by law to receive reports of such abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.
F. Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose Personal Information to a health oversight agency that oversees the health care system and ensures compliance with the rules of government health programs such as Medicare or Medicaid.
G. Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. We may disclose Personal Information in the course of a judicial or administrative proceeding in response to a legal order or other lawful process.
H. Law Enforcement Officials. We may disclose Personal Information to the police or other law enforcement officials as required by law or in compliance with a court order.
I. Health or Safety. We may use and disclose Personal Information to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to an individual's or the public's health or safety.
J. Specialized Government Functions. We may disclose to Military authorities the Personal Information of Armed Forces personnel under certain circumstances. We may disclose to authorized federal officials Personal Information required for lawful intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities.
K. Workers' Compensation. We may disclose Personal Information as necessary to comply with workers' compensation laws.
L. Research. We may use or disclose Personal Information without your consent or authorization for purposes of research if an Institutional Review Board or Privacy Board approves a waiver of authorization for disclosure.
An Institutional Review Board or a Privacy Board is responsible for reviewing research that involves human subjects and for reviewing the effect of the research on the subjects¿ privacy rights. Either board must have at least one member on the board not affiliated with Intermountain.
M. Required by Law. We may use or disclose Personal Information to the extent that:
Such use or disclosure is required by law; and
The use or disclosure complies with and is limited to the relevant requirements of such law.
VI. Your Individual Rights
A. For More Information; Complaints. If you would like more information about your privacy rights, are concerned that we have violated your privacy rights, or disagree with a decision that we made about access to Personal Information, you may contact our Privacy Office. Please see the last section of this notice, entitled "Privacy Office," for information on contacting our Privacy Office. You may also file written complaints with the Director of the Office of Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Upon request, the Privacy Office will provide you with the correct address for the Director. We will not take action against you if you file a complaint with us or the Director.
B. Right to Request Additional Restrictions. You may request restrictions on our use and disclosure of Personal Information (1) for payment and health care operations or (2) to individuals (such as a family member, other relative, close personal friend, or any other person identified by you) involved with your care or with payment related to your care. While we will consider all requests for additional restrictions carefully, we are not required to agree to a requested restriction.
C. Right to Inspect and Copy Your Personal Information. You may request access to our records which (1) we use for decision-making purposes and (2) contain your Personal Information, including your enrollment, payment, claims adjudication, case, medical management records, and your billing records. You may request access in order to inspect and ask for copies of the records. Under limited circumstances, we may deny you access to a portion of your records. If you request a copy or copies of your record, you will be charged a cost-based fee for each copy. If you wish to access the Personal Information maintained by an Affiliated Provider or by Intermountain Healthcare, please contact them directly.
D. Right to Request Amendment to Your Records. You have the right to request an amendment to your Personal Information that SelectHealth created and used for decision-making purposes. SelectHealth will comply with your request unless we are not the originator of the information or we believe that the information that would be amended is accurate and complete or other special circumstances apply. If you wish to amend the Personal Information maintained by an Affiliated Provider or by Intermountain Healthcare, please contact them directly.
E. Right to Receive an Accounting of Disclosures. Upon request, you may obtain a written summary of certain disclosures of your Personal Information made by us. Your request must state a time period, which may not exceed the six years prior to the date of your request and may not include dates before April 14, 2003.
If you request an accounting more than once during a twelve month period, we will charge you a reasonable fee for each additional accounting statement.
F. Right to Request Confidential Communications. You have the right to receive communications about your Personal Information by alternative means or at alternative locations if the normal means/location of disclosure could endanger you. We will accommodate all reasonable written requests.
G. Right to Receive a Paper Copy of This Notice. If you have not already received one, you have the right to receive a paper copy of this notice. To request a paper copy of this notice, please contact our Privacy Office.
Note: Any Personal Representative of yours can exercise these rights related to your Personal Information.
VII. Maintaining the Privacy of Personal Information
We guard Personal Information by limiting access to this information to those who need it to perform assigned tasks and through physical safeguards (e.g., locked filing cabinets and password-protected computer systems).
In addition, when you or someone else acting on your behalf calls our Member Services department, the Member Services Representative may need to limit the Personal Information disclosed. This is done to help safeguard your Personal Information. The Representative may ask for information to verify the identity of the caller before disclosing any Personal Information. The amount and type of Personal Information that we can release depends on several factors:
- Who is requesting the Personal Information
- What that persons relationship is to the subject of the Personal Information
- For what purpose the Personal Information is being requested
- If the Personal Information relates to the treatment of certain conditions.
We realize that these restrictions may at times seem inconvenient, but the restrictions help us maintain the privacy of your Personal Information.
VIII. Effective Date and Duration of This Notice
A. Effective Date. This notice describes the privacy practices of SelectHealth as of July 1, 2007.
B. Right to Change Terms of this Notice. We may change the terms of this notice at any time. If we change this notice, we may make the new notice terms effective for all Personal Information that we maintain, including any information created or received prior to issuing the new notice. If we change this notice, we will post the new notice on our Web site at www.selecthealth.org and will distribute it via our member materials. You may also obtain any new notice by contacting the Privacy Office.
IX. Privacy Office
You may contact the Privacy Office at:
Intermountain Privacy Office
4646 West Lake Park Blvd.
Salt Lake City, UT 84120
800-442-4845
E-mail: privacy@imail.org
Privacy Practices on selecthealth.org
Public Information - This site offers access to information on Intermountain and SelectHealth services and facilities, affiliated physicians, and other health-related content to anyone who accepts the Terms of Use. SelectHealth, through selecthealth.org, makes this information publicly available without the need for the user to disclose any personally identifiable information. When you access www.selecthealth.org, you are not required to register or otherwise provide any personal information.
Proprietary Information - In addition to the publicly available information, selecthealth.org also provides access to personal health-related information to those who provide the necessary information to make that possible. For example, in the "My Health" section, a user can view his or her personal online health records, provided that they have registered and logged in a user name and password. We do collect limited information relevant to your use of www.selecthealth.org, such as the number of visitors, site traffic reports, and path analysis. This information is not personally identifiable.
System Security - Intermountain has taken reasonable steps and has employed industry-standard practices and technology to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of personally identifiable information; but because even the most secure computer system can be violated, Intermountain cannot guarantee security.
HIPAA Requirements - Protected health information associated with intermountainhealthcare.org and selecthealth.org is managed in accordance with HIPAA regulations. Accordingly, protected health information is not shared except as explained in the Notice of Privacy Practices above.
Third Party Services. selecthealth.org and intermountainhealthcare.org offers the opportunity to apply online for employment with Intermountain. This online employment service is provided through a third party entity ("Recruitsoft") under contract with Intermountain. A statement of Recruitsoft's privacy practices can be accessed by selecting the corresponding link to the side of this page. This Web site contains links to other Web sites. We have no control over, and are not responsible for privacy policies or content of such sites.
Use of Cookies. Like many sites, selecthealth.org and intermountainhealthcare.org utilizes "cookies". A cookie is an alphanumeric file that transfers to the user's computer during a session to help improve their Internet experience. selecthealth.org and intermountainhealthcare.org uses cookies: (1) to keep track of the pages previously selected during the session, in order to enable "Back to Previous Section" capability; (2) to enable general usability statistics that can be used to make the site better; and (3) in situations where users proactively identify themselves (e.g. with a user name and password), cookies help serve up personalized functionality without the need for users to continually re-identify themselves during their session. Cookies are randomly generated, are used only for one session and are then destroyed, and are incapable of identifying the user. Intermountain does not control the use of cookies used or linked by contracted or third party services (such as Recruitsoft).