Specialty Pharmacy Welcome Booklet 2025 | Page 21

� Health Information Exchanges( HIEs). UAB Medicine participates in certain health information exchanges that allow us to securely share your electronic health information( EHI) for treatment, payment, or health care operations purposes, as permitted by law, with other health care providers or entities who share in the exchange. Our participation in these exchanges helps improve the quality and coordination of care you receive. A list of the HIEs in which we participate can be found on our website at www. uabmedicine. org / legal / notice-of-health-information-practices or may be requested from the Entity Privacy Coordinator listed below. You may choose not to have your electronic health information included in these HIEs by submitting a written request using the required form to an Entity Privacy Coordinator. Even if you opt out, we may still share information when required by law or as necessary to report certain public health information as described below.

� Organized Health Care Arrangements( OHCAs). We may participate in arrangements with other health care providers or entities in which we may use or disclose your health information to participate in joint activities for the purposes of treatment, payment, or health care operations, as permitted by law. These arrangements enable the participating entities to better address your health care needs. A list of OHCAs in which we participate can be found on our website at www. uabmedicine. org / legal / notice-of-healthinformation-practices or requested by contacting the Entity Privacy Coordinator. However, if this HIPAApermitted use or disclosure is prohibited or limited by other applicable law, such as 42 CFR Part 2, then we will follow the more stringent requirements of that law.

� Payment. We may use and disclose your health information so that the treatment and services you receive through UAB Medicine Enterprise may be billed to and payment may be collected from you, your insurance company, or another third party. For example, we may give your health plan information about surgery you received at UAB Medicine Enterprise so your health plan will pay us or reimburse you for the surgery. We may also tell your health plan about a treatment you are going to receive to obtain prior approval or to determine whether your plan will pay for the treatment. We will share only the information necessary to obtain payment for the services provided.

� Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose your health information for the routine health care operations of UAB Medicine Enterprise. These uses and disclosures are necessary to operate our organization and to maintain and improve the quality and safety of the care we provide. For example, we may use your health information to review treatment and services we provide and to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you. We may combine health information from many patients to determine what additional services should be offered, which services are not needed, and whether new treatments are effective. We may share information with doctors, nurses, technicians, medical residents and students, and other personnel for education, training, and quality improvement purposes. We may also compare our performance with that of other health care organizations by combining de-identified information to identify ways to improve the care and services we offer. When information is used for these purposes, we remove details that could identify you so the information cannot be linked to you personally.

� Substance Use Disorder( SUD) Records. If we maintain or receive records related to substance use disorder treatment(“ SUD records”) that are subject to 42 CFR Part 2(“ Part 2”), those records are protected by special federal confidentiality rules in addition to HIPAA which are described below. Where the requirements of Part 2 are more restrictive than HIPAA, we will follow the more restrictive Part 2 requirements. All other provisions of this Notice apply to SUD records to the extent they do not conflict with Part 2.

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Your Rights and Protections Under Part 2

Enhanced confidentiality. SUD records and any testimony or content from such records may not be used or disclosed in any civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceeding against you unless one of the following occurs:

1. You provide a written consent specifically authorizing the use or disclosure for that purpose, in accordance with Part 2; or