Patient Rights

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Notice of Privacy Practices and Patient Rights

The HIPAA Privacy Rule gives individuals the right to be informed of privacy practices and their privacy rights. It requires that agencies provide patients with a written notice describing their privacy practices. You must make a good faith effort to obtain a written acknowledgement from the patient of receipt of the notice. In the event that the patient is unable to sign or you are otherwise unable to obtain a written acknowledgement, the reason you were unable to obtain the acknowledgement must be documented.

Right To Access

The HIPAA Privacy Rule gives an individual the legal right to see and obtain a copy of their own PHI for as long as the information is maintained. In general, these rules must be followed:

• Allow an individual to inspect or obtain a copy of the PHI no later than 30 days after receiving the request.

• All requests for access to PHI must be made in writing.

• All written requests for access to PHI must be kept with the medical record for as long as the records are maintained.