Privacy Policy

PRIVACY NOTICE

Summary

At SCT Management Services (SCTMS), our policy is to always safeguard your privacy by keeping your personal and medical information in the strictest confidence.

SCT Management Services Pledge Regarding Your Medical Information

Your medical information is personal and SCT Management Services is committed to keeping this information confidential. Maintaining access to a record of the care and services you receive at any hospital and clinic enables those who provide you treatment to provide you with quality care and comply with certain legal requirements. This notice applies to the use and disclosure of your medical records maintained in the SCT Management Services system.

Medical Records

Your medical records are important documents needed in order to administer the Smoking Cessation program in which you enrolled. We will insure the confidentiality of those records and how records are used to administer the smoking cessation program.

Consent for Use and Disclosure of Medical Records

We may receive from any physician and health care professional of smoking cessation services “Protected Health Information” (PHI) about you to the extent permitted by applicable law, for any permitted purpose, including but not limited to, our quality assurance, utilization review, processing of claims, financial audits or other purposes related to the payment and certain smoking cessation program operation activities. 

By participation in the smoking cessation program and availing yourself of the smoking cessation program options offered, you give consent to each physician and health care professional rendering smoking cessation services hereunder to disclose to us all information (to the extent permitted by applicable law) pertaining to you for any permitted purpose specified in the law. This consent shall not permit a use or disclosure of PHI when a separate specific authorization is required by law or when another condition must be met for such use or disclosure to be permitted under applicable law. Although the Smoking Cessation Trust is not an insurance company, it will comply with applicable Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rules and regulations, including those relating to privacy and security of your PHI.

Professional Review

We are permitted by law to use your records to conduct professional/regulatory review programs for smoking cessation services without your consent/authorization. Such review programs include, but are not limited to; the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS), and the Court monitored programs. 

In addition, there may be instances where SCT Management Services may share your protected health information with members of other health care organizations, TPA’s, quality improvement organizations, accreditation organizations, judicial officials, and quit-lines as allowed under HIPAA regulations and as necessary to carry out treatment, payment or health care operations, or the operations of the smoking cessation program. These members include patient care settings contracted by SCT Management Services, and all contracted medical staff, employees, volunteers, trainees, students and other personnel providing services as employed by other facilities. 

SCT Management Services may elect to participate in secure statewide or regional health information networks designed and developed to promote smoking cessation and general healthcare continuity. Your healthcare information may be included in this network and accessed only by healthcare personnel involved in your healthcare.

How SCT Management Services May Use and Disclose Your Medical Information

SCT Management Services may use or disclose your medical information for the following reasons:

What is PHI?

PHI is any health information about you that SCTMS sends, receives, or keeps as part of our smoking cessation program activities. This includes information sent, received, and kept by electronic, written, and oral means. Health information that clearly identifies you or that could reasonably be used to identify you and your health needs is called PHI. Medical records and claims are two common examples of PHI. 

We undertake efforts required by law to keep your PHI secure. Unless otherwise permitted or required by law, we do not disclose confidential information without your consent/authorization. As a Member, you (or your legal guardian/Personal Representative) have the right to:

  1. Request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of PHI, although SCTMS is not required to agree to a requested restriction.
  2. Receive confidential communications of PHI from SCTMS.
  3. With certain exceptions, inspect and receive a copy of PHI.
  4. Request an amendment to PHI you believe to be incorrect or incomplete.
  5. Receive an accounting of certain disclosures of PHI.
  6. Obtain a paper copy of the Notice of Privacy Practices from SCTMS upon request (even if you previously agreed to receive the Notice electronically).

Access to PHI

All confidential documents are kept in a physically secure location with access limited to authorized SCTMS personnel only, and with those who have entered into a Business Associate Agreement with SCTMS. You (or your legal guardian/Personal Representative) have the right, with certain exceptions, to request access to inspect and obtain a copy of your PHI. 

You do not have the right to inspect or obtain a copy of PHI that consists of:

  1. Psychotherapy Notes; or
  2. Information gathered in reasonable expectation of, or for use in, a civil, criminal, or administrative action or proceeding; or
  3. PHI maintained by SCTMS that is subject to the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) 42 U.S.C. 263a, to the extent the provision of access to you would be prohibited by law; or exempt from the Clinical Laboratory Improvements Amendments of 1988 (CLIA), pursuant to 42 CFR 493.3(a)(2).

Your Rights Regarding Medical Information About You

You have the following rights regarding medical information that SCT Management maintains about you:

Use of Measurement Data

It is important for us to know about tobacco-related illnesses of the Scott class beneficiaries to help improve the quality of smoking cessation services and products that physicians, providers and facilities provide. We sometime use medical data (laboratory results, diagnoses, etc.) which does not identify individual class beneficiaries for this purpose.

Internal Protection of Oral, Written and Electronic PHI Across SCTMS

To ensure internal protection of oral, written, and electronic PHI across SCTMS, the following rules are strictly adhered to:

  1. PHI is accessed by SCTMS personnel and business associates only if such information is necessary to the performance of job related tasks.
  2. PHI is not discussed inside or outside our facility, unless the data is necessary to the performance of job related tasks.
  3. PHI, reports and other written materials are reasonably safeguarded throughout our facility against unauthorized access by SCTMS personnel or public viewing.
  4. All employees, volunteers, and any external entity with a business relationship with us that involves health information will be held responsible for the proper handling of our data and business communications and are required to sign a confidentiality statement or business associate agreement, respectively.

Website Internet Information

Changes To This Notice

SCT Management Services reserves the right to change this notice. SCT Management Services reserves the right to make the revised or changed notice effective for medical information SCT Management Services already has about you as well as any information SCT Management Services receives in the future.

Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us. To file a complaint with SCT Management Services, contact SCT Management Services via the contact information below.

SCT Management Services, L3C
3445 N. Causeway Blvd., Suite 520
Metairie, LA 70002 

You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.

Other Uses of Medical Information

Other uses and disclosures of personal and medical information not covered by this notice or the laws that apply to us will be made only with your written permission. If you provide SCT Management Services permission to use or disclose medical information about you, you may revoke that permission, in writing, at any time. If you revoke your permission, SCT Management will no longer use or disclose your personal or medical information for the reasons covered by your written authorization. You understand that SCT Management Services is unable to take back any disclosures SCT Management Services already made with your permission and that SCT Management Services is required to retain.

Protection of Information Disclosed to Plan Sponsors, Employers or Government Agencies.

Our policies and procedures prohibit sharing your PHI with any fully insured employer group’s plan sponsor without your authorization (or your legal guardian/personal representative). We are careful not to release PHI to your employer as part of routine financial and operating reports. Information may be disclosed for permissible reasons, such as coordination of benefits and subrogation. 

We may disclose summary health information that does not identify you or any individual class beneficiaries to plan sponsors for allowable purposes. We may disclose information to judicial officials, government agencies or accreditation organizations that monitor our compliance with the Scott court decision, applicable laws and standards as permitted by law. 

If you have any questions about this notice, please contact:

SCT Management Services, L3C
3445 N. Causeway Blvd, Suite 520
Metairie, LA 70002 

This Privacy Notice may be updated, revised and amended in the future, due to a change in law or otherwise. You will be notified of new or updated Privacy Policies as required by law. 

THE SMOKING CESSATION TRUST IS A COURT-ORDERED SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAM WITH LIMITATIONS ON ELIGIBILITY AND PROGRAM CONTENT. IT IS NOT AN INSURANCE PLAN, AND THE PROGRAM BENEFITS ARE NOT INSURANCE BENEFITS.