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Policy 2: Policy on Patient Requests for Access to PHI <br /> North State Medical Transport <br /> Policy on Patient Requests for Access to <br /> Protected Health Information <br /> Purpose <br /> The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA") grants <br /> individuals the right to access their protected health information ("PHI")contained in a <br /> designated records set ("DRS"). (See, Policy on Designated Records Sets). North State Medical <br /> Transport must afford individuals this right of access in accordance with federal and state law. <br /> To ensure that North State Medical Transport complies with its obligations,this policy outlines <br /> our procedures for handling requests for patient access and establishes the procedures by <br /> which patients or authorized representatives may request access to PHI. <br /> Scope <br /> This policy applies to all North State Medical Transport staff members who receive <br /> requests from patients for access to PHI. Generally, all access requests will be directed to the <br /> HIPAA Compliance Officer and it shall be the responsibility of the HIPAA Compliance Officer to <br /> handle all access requests. <br /> Procedure <br /> Requests for Access from the Patient or the Patient's Personal Representative <br /> 1. Patients and their authorized representatives shall be granted a right of access to <br /> inspect and obtain a copy of their PHI contained in a DRS maintained by North State <br /> Medical Transport. <br /> 2. If a patient or their authorized representative requests access to or a copy of a patient's <br /> PHI,the requestor shall be referred to the HIPAA Compliance Officer. The HIPAA <br /> Compliance Officer shall request that the patient or authorized representative complete <br /> North State Medical Transport's "Request for Access to Protected Health Information" <br /> Form. <br /> 3. The HIPAA Compliance Officer must verify the patient's identity, or, if the requestor is <br /> not the patient, the name and identity of the representative and whether the <br /> representative has the authority to act on the patient's behalf. The use of a driver's I`4 <br /> license, social security card, or other form of government-issued identification is <br /> acceptable for this purpose. If it is impossible for the requestor to physically come in to <br /> make the request and verify this information,the HIPAA Compliance Officer shall ask <br />