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Legal Notices

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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. Effective Date: April 14, 2003

Oklahoma Health Care Authority's promise to you

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) protects the privacy of your health information and follows all state and federal laws. You already have privacy protection under Medicaid and Oklahoma laws. This letter tells you about your privacy rights and what we, as an agency, may do with your health information by law.

Health Information Rights

Right to Inspect and Copy: You have the right to see and have a copy of the health information that OHCA has about you. It will not include information needed for civil, criminal, administrative actions and proceedings, or psychotherapy notes.

Right to Request an Amendment: If you feel the health information we have about you is wrong or incomplete, you may ask us in writing to fix the information. We may say no to your request if it is not in writing and it does not include a reason, or the information was not created by us, or the information is determined to be correct and complete.

Right to an Accounting of Disclosures: You have the right to request an "accounting of disclosures", a list of the names we gave your health information to, other than disclosures for purposes of treatment, payment or operations. Your request must not go back more than six years and must not include dates prior to April 14, 2003.

Right to Request Restrictions: You have the right to ask us to either not give or partially give your health care information used for treatment, payment or health care operations. We do not have to agree to your request. If we do agree, we will follow your request for restriction unless the information is used to provide you emergency care.

Right to Request Confidential Communication: You have the right to ask that we talk with you about health care matters in a certain way or at a certain place. For example, you can ask that we only contact you at work or by email. OHCA will work to meet all reasonable requests.

Right to a Paper Copy of this Notice: You have the right to ask for a paper copy of this notice. You may also print a copy of this notice from our website.

To use these rights, a request for inspecting, copying, amending, making restrictions, or obtaining an accounting of your health information must be made in writing to:

4345 N. Lincoln Boulevard
Oklahoma City, OK 73105

For more information, please call OHCA’s Member Service at (405) 522-7171 or (800) 522-0310. For the hearing and visually impaired please call our TDD/TTY line at (405) 522-7179. You may be asked to pay for copies.

How OHCA may use and disclose health care information

Your health information may be used and given by OHCA for treatment, payment and operational needs. OHCA provides many services, therefore, not all types of uses and releases can be given in this notice. We have listed some common ways that are allowed uses and releases on the other side of this page.

For Treatment: Caregivers, such as nurses, doctors, therapists and social workers may use your health information to determine your plan of care. Individuals and programs within OHCA may share health information about you to manage your services.
For Payment: OHCA may give information about you to your health plan or health insurance carrier to pay for your services. We may also share your information with other government programs such as Workers’ Compensation, Medicare, or Indian Health Services in order to better manage your benefits and payments.

For Operations: OHCA may use and give information about you to make sure that the services and benefits you get are correct and high quality. We may share your health information with business partners who perform work for OHCA. OHCA requires that our business partners use the same level of privacy and security as we do when handling your health information.

To Other Government Agencies Providing Benefits or Services: OHCA may give your health information to other government agencies that are providing you with benefits or services when the information is necessary for you to receive those benefits and services.

For Health Oversight Activities: OHCA may share your health information with other divisions within the agency and with other agencies for oversight activities as required by law. Examples of these oversight activities include audits, inspections, investigations and licensure.

For Law Enforcement: OHCA may give health information to a law enforcement official, subject to applicable federal and state law and regulations, for purposes that are required by law or in response to a court order or subpoena.
Lawsuits and Disputes: If you are involved in a lawsuit or a dispute, OHCA may give health information about you in response to a court or administrative order. We may also give health information about you in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process.

To Coroners, Medical Examiners and Funeral Directors: OHCA may release health information to a coroner, medical examiner or funeral director, as necessary to carry out duties as authorized by law.

For Organ Donations: If you are an organ donor, OHCA may give your health information to an organization that procures, banks, or transports organs for the purpose of an organ, eye or tissue donation and transplantation.

To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety: OHCA may give your health information if it is necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or to the health and safety of the public or another person.

To the Military: If you are a veteran or a current member of the armed forces, OHCA may give your health information as required by military command or veteran administration authorities.

As Required By Law: We will give health information about you when required to do so by federal, state or local law.

State and Federal laws require OHCA to maintain the privacy of your health information and to give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices. By law, we will follow the terms of this notice.

OHCA has the right to change this notice. We keep the right to make any changed notice effective for the health information we already have about you, as well as any information we create or get in the future. We will give you a copy of any new notices within 60 days. We will also post a copy of the current notice on our website.

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint by writing to Oklahoma Health Care Authority, 4345 N. Lincoln Boulevard, Oklahoma City, OK 73105, or Secretary of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20201, or call toll free 877-696-6775. You need to do this within 180 days of when the problem that caused concern happened. There will be no punishment for filing a complaint.

Oklahoma Health Care Authority believes accessibility is the right of all individuals. We are committed to making our web content accessible for people with disabilities. We are actively engaged in the ongoing process of testing our website for compliance with current accessibility standards, including those defined by Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act and the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Using the Site

Most visitors will be able to view the OHCA web site using the most popular browsers. In an effort to serve the needs of all who visit our web site, we continue to make content accessible for persons using special assistive technology.

  • Text descriptions for images
    When the mouse pointer or pointer alternative moves over an image, a small window pops up to give you a description of the image. This description is also provided to visitors who are using screen readers to access information on the page.
  • Style sheets for page format
    Content on this site are designed using cascading style sheets. This allows visitors to disable the formatting provided and apply their own formatting if they choose. Style sheets are disabled within an Internet browser's settings or preferences options. People with a slight visual impairment who need a larger font size to read comfortably will find this feature useful.
  • Skip navigation
    Direct links to main sections of each page are provided for those using Screen Readers.
  • Plug-ins
    Download the latest free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority does not discriminate on the grounds of race, disabling condition, color or national origin and no individual shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under the SoonerCare program or any activity administered by the Authority.

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority is an equal employment opportunity employer, committed to an affirmative action program, and prohibits discrimination in any of its employment practices. No one will be denied opportunities or benefits on the basis of political or religious opinions or affiliations, race, creed, gender, color or national origin or by reason of any physical handicap so long as the physical handicap does not render the employee unable to do the work for which he/she is employed.

OHCA complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. OHCA does not exclude people or treat them differently because of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.

OHCA:

  • Provides free aids and services to people with disabilities to communicate effectively with us, such as:
    • Qualified sign language interpreters
    • Written information in other formats (large print, audio, accessible electronic formats, other formats)
     
  • Provides free language services to people whose primary language is not English, such as:
    • Qualified interpreters
    • Information written in other languages

If you need these services, contact HIPAA@okhca.org.  

If you believe that OHCA has failed to provide these services or discriminated in another way on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability or sex, you can file a grievance with the agency by mail or email (below).

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) safeguards the privacy of data and medical information. If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint by mail or email as well. You need to do this within 180 days of when the problem that caused concern happened. There will be no punishment for filing a complaint. 

4345 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105

HIPAA@okhca.org

If you need help filing a grievance, contact the email address listed above.

You can also file a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, electronically through the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Portal, available at https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/portal/lobby.jsf, or by mail or phone at:   

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW
Room 509F, HHH Building
Washington D.C. 20201

1-800-368-1019, 800-537-7697 (TDD)

Complaint forms are available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/office/file/index.html

Our policy is clear: When you visit our Web site, we collect no information about you, other than information automatically collected and stored (see below), unless you choose to provide that information to us.

Statistical Information

When you browse through any Web site, certain personal information about you can be collected. We automatically collect and temporarily store the following information about your visit:

  • the name of the domain you use to access the Internet (for example, aol.com, if you are using an America Online account, or stanford.edu, if you are connecting from Stanford University's domain);
  • the date and time of your visit;
  • the pages you visited; and
  • the address of the website you came from when you came to visit.

We use this information for statistical purposes and to help us make our site more useful to visitors. Unless it is specifically stated otherwise, no additional information will be collected about you.

Security

We offer SoonerCare Secure Site service to our providers that allows for secure electronic commerce transactions and information updates about eligibility benefits. This service is operating under the industry standard Transport Layer Security (TLS). Electronically submitted information is maintained and destroyed pursuant to HIPAA regulations. Please read the OHCA HIPAA Privacy Notice.

Unauthorized attempts to upload information and/or change information on this website are strictly prohibited and are subject to prosecution under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.

If you send us information on-line

You do not need to give us personal information to visit our Web site. OHCA Web site may offer you the opportunity to ask questions, request information, or provide comments. Use of these options is voluntary.

The confidentiality of Internet transactions is not guaranteed. You must decide if you want to assume the risk that an unauthorized person may learn your email address or other personal information that you provide. We will not e-mail private health information as part of our response to you. If you would like us to answer a question that involves your personal information, please call our Customer Service at (405) 522-6205 or (800) 522-0114.

We will not share the information you give us with anyone unless required by law. We will not sell your information.

Cookies

We do not use "permanent" cookies, a file placed on a visitor's hard drive that allows the Web site to monitor the individual's visits to the site.

In order to assist you and to make certain that we give you the information that applies to you, we use a temporary session cookie. These are deleted when your Internet visit ends. No information about you is maintained on your computer as a result of a temporary session cookie.

This website may use common third party tools to track visitors to this site; as a result, your tracking data is shared with these third parties. These third parties may use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to collect or receive information from this website and elsewhere on the internet and use that information to provide measurement services and target ads. You can opt-out of the collection and use of that information for ad targeting by participating companies by visiting http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aboutads.info%2Fchoices&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHF9XatBICNjqnEKN6puV79-Ex5JA.

Links to other sites

This Web site provides access to other Web sites outside of our control. When you link to these Web sites, you leave our Web site and your communications are no longer protected by our privacy policy. OHCA is not responsible for the privacy practices nor the content of non-OHCA Web sites. We recommend that you review the privacy policy or terms and conditions of those sites to fully understand what information is collected and how it is used. The OHCA does not endorse these non-OHCA Web sites or their content.

OHCA may store name, birth date, place of birth, mother's maiden name, biometric records, Social Security number, official state- or government-issued driver license or identification number, alien registration number, government passport number, employer or taxpayer identification number or any other information that is linked or linkable to an individual, such as medical, educational, financial or employment information.

Storage of Personally Identifiable Data

OHCA may store or process sensitive data within either a FedRamp Moderate Certified Cloud Service Provider or on private servers secured in compliance with a NIST moderate control program, or better, following State of Oklahoma Standards, CMS MARS-E Standards, Privacy Act of 1974, HIPAA, HITECH Act, SSA and/or other regulatory provisions as mandated for the type of data being stored.

Disclosure of the Personally Identifiable Data

OHCA may use and disclose personally identifiable information (PII)/protected health information (PHI) in certain, limited circumstances permissible under state and federal laws, including, but not limited to HIPAA, 42 C.F.R. Part 2, the Oklahoma Open Records Act, and, for PHI, as indicated in the HIPAA Privacy Notice.

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) provides the information on this website as a public service. While we try to keep the information on the website timely and accurate, there will often be a delay between official adoption of information and its appearance on the website.

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority makes no representations as to the accuracy of the content on this site and OHCA assumes no liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in the content on the site. OHCA does not warrant that the functions contained in the OHCA material will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that this site or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or other harmful components. OHCA does not warrant or make any representation regarding the use of the OHCA materials in this site in terms of their correctness, accuracy, timeliness, reliability or otherwise. You assume the entire cost if inaccurate information on this site results in damages.

All information on this site is the property of the State of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Health Care Authority. Use of the materials on this website is limited to noncommercial use only. The use of the Great Seal of the State of Oklahoma is restricted by Oklahoma Statute.

This site contains links to other Internet sites. Such links are provided for informational purposes only, and no information in such sites has been endorsed or approved by OHCA. OHCA has provided links and pointers to internet sites maintained by third parties ("THIRD PARTY SITES") and may from time to time provide third-party materials on this site. OHCA does not control or operate in any respect any information, products or services on these third party sites. The third party materials in this site and the third party sites are provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind. OHCA does not warrant or make any representations regarding the use of, or the results of the use of, the third party materials in the third party sites in terms of their correctness, accuracy, timeliness, reliability or otherwise. You assume the entire cost if inaccurate information on this site results in damages.

This website is owned and operated by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority. The laws of the State of Oklahoma will apply to all matters relating to the use of this Web site, without giving effect to principles of conflicts of laws. Use of this website submits the user to the exclusive personal jurisdiction and venue of the District Court of Oklahoma County, State of Oklahoma, and if applicable, the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, with respect to all matters relating to the use of this website.