Delaware Health & Social Services/Division of Public Health
Notice of Privacy Practices
Effective Date:  April 14, 2003
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.

Purpose of this Notice:  Delaware Health & 
Social Services/Division of Public Health is 
required by law to maintain the privacy of 
certain confidential health care information, 
known as protected health information 
(PHI), and to provide you with a notice of 
our legal duties and privacy practices with 
respect to your PHI. This notice describes 
your legal rights, advises you of our privacy 
practices, and lets you know how Delaware 
Health & Social Services/Division of Public 
Health is permitted to use and disclose PHI.  
Delaware Health & Social Services/Division 
of Public Health is also required to agree to 
the terms of this Notice currently in effect.

Uses and Disclosures of PHI without your 
authorization: Delaware Health & Social 
Services/Division of Public Health is 
permitted to use or give out PHI without 
your permission in certain situations, 
including:
*	Treatment: We may share medical 
information about you to coordinate 
your health care.  For example, we may 
notify your doctor about care you 
receive in a Public Health clinic or we 
may contact you to remind you of an 
appointment. 
*	Payment: We may use or share 
information about you so we properly 
bill and are paid.  For example, sending 
a bill to your insurance company for 
payment.  
*	Health Care Operations: We may use 
and share information for quality 
assurance activities such as reviewing 
medical charts to ensure proper 
treatment was provided, licensing, 
training programs, obtaining legal and 
financial services, business planning, 
and processing grievances and 
complaints.
*	As Required By Law:  We will share 
information for the following: 
*	Emergency situations such as a declared 
public health emergency; 
*	To a public health authority in certain 
situations (such as reporting a birth, 
death or disease) and as part of a public 
health investigation to ensure proper 
treatment and the prevention of the 
spread of disease;
*	For health oversight activities, including 
audits or government investigations, 
inspections, disciplinary proceedings, 
and other administrative or judicial 
actions undertaken by the government 
(or their contractors) by law to oversee 
the health care system;
*	For court order, or in some cases in 
response to a subpoena or other legal 
demand; 
*	For law enforcement activities in limited 
situations, such as when there is a 
warrant for the request, or when the 
information is needed to locate a suspect 
or stop a crime; 
*	For military, national defense and 
security and other special government 
functions; and
*	For workers’ compensation purposes, in 
compliance with workers’ compensation 
laws.

Any other use or disclosure of PHI, other 
than those listed above, will only be made 
with your written authorization.  An 
authorization specifically identifies the 
information we seek to use or disclose, as 
well as when and how we seek to use or 
disclose it.  You may take back your 
authorization any time, in writing, except to 
the extent that we have already used or 
shared medical information in reliance on 
that authorization.

Patient Rights:  As a patient, you have a 
number of rights with respect to the 
protection of your PHI, including:

You have the right to correct your PHI:  
We will generally change your information 
within 60 days of your request and will 
notify you when we have corrected the 
information.  We are allowed by law to deny 
your request to correct your medical 
information only in certain circumstances, 
such as when we believe the information 
you have asked us to change is correct as 
written.  You can appeal our denial.

You have the right to receive a summary of 
certain disclosures the Division may have 
made of your medical information.  This 
summary does not include the following: 
disclosures made to you & to individuals 
involved with your care, disclosures 
authorized by you, disclosures made to carry 
out treatment, payment, and health care 
operations, disclosures for public health, 
disclosures for health professional, 
disclosures to report abuse of children, 
adults, or disabled, disclosures prior to April 
14, 2003. 

You have the right to request that we 
restrict the uses and disclosures of your 
medical information to carry out treatment, 
payment, or health care operations. You may 
also limit disclosures to individuals involved 
with your care.  Delaware Health & Social 
Services/Division of Public Health is not 
required to agree to any restrictions you 
request, but any restrictions agreed to by 
Delaware Health & Social Services/Division 
of Public Health are binding, with the 
exception of releasing your medical 
information in an emergency situation.

You have the right to be assured your 
information will be kept confidential.  You 
will need to give us your choice of 
communication or location at which you 
wish to receive information.  You do not 
need to provide us with a reason for your 
request.

You have the right to a paper copy of this 
notice even if you have previously been 
provided one.

Legal Rights and Complaints:  Notice of 
any changes in Delaware Health & Social 
Services/Division of Public Health’s privacy 
policy may be changed directly on this 
notice. 

You also have the right to complain to us, or 
to the Secretary of the federal Department of 
Health and Human Services if you believe 
your privacy rights have been violated. You 
will not be retaliated against in any way for 
filing a complaint with us or to the 
government.  

Should you have any questions, comments 
or complaints, you may direct all inquiries to 
the HIPAA Coordinator as follows:


HIPAA Coordinator
Delaware Health & Social Services/Division 
of Public Health
417 Federal Street
Dover, DE  19901
(302) 744.4706


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