April 2004
You have probably heard a lot about laws designed to protect
your personal health information, known as the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). These laws provide
standards for collecting, using, and storing your protected
health information (PHI).
The confidentiality of Madera County patient health information
has always been important to us. We placed an even greater
emphasis on protecting that information last year and will
continue to do so in the future.
Madera County used the help of Hubbert Systems Consulting
and a dedicated committee of employees to improve our efforts
to protect your PHI. We made many internal changes and formalized
our policies and procedures for handling your PHI.
We encourage you to review our Notices of Privacy Practices,
which outline the uses and disclosures of your PHI and describe
your rights to access this information and our responsibilities
to protect it. If our privacy practices change, you will
receive a revised notice on your next visit. We invite you
to call us if you have any questions regarding your PHI
or our Notices of Privacy Practices at:
Behavioral Health:
(559) 673-3508
Public Health:
(559) 675-7893
Thank you.
The Madera County HIPAA Committee:
William G. Smith, Deputy County Counsel
Stan Koehler, Assistant Administrative Officer
Stacey Gamble, Information Systems Supervisor
Sue Crandell, Public Health Administrative Analyst II
Melody Kellar, Public Health Nurse II
Tracy Wilson, Public Health Nurse II
Jeannie Turpenen, Behavioral Health Staff Svcs Manager