Employee Manual 2023 - Flipbook - Page 74
unless provided with a written authorization from the employee. As such, the City may
request employee authorization to use or disclose PHI, but the employee is not required to
give the City authorization. If authorization is provided to use or disclose PHI for a given
purpose, the authorization can be revoked at any time by written notification.
What are an employee’s rights to their PHI and how are those rights exercised?
Employees have the right to review and access their PHI. Completion of the Health Plan Participant
Request for Access to PHI Form is required to review, access, or obtain copies of the City’s file
documents containing their PHI. The completed form should be submitted to human resources.
Employees have the right to receive an accounting of disclosures of PHI made by the City of
Plymouth to any third party in the six years prior to the date the accounting is requested. This right
does not apply to all disclosures made for purposes of treatment, payment or health care
operations, disclosures made to your or others involved in your care, disclosures made with our
authorization, disclosures made for certain governmental or law enforcement purposes or
disclosures made prior to April 14, 2004. The City reserves the right to charge a fee for providing
this service if an employee requests more than one accounting in any given year.
Employees have the right to request that the City restrict the use or disclosure of PHI for treatment,
payment or health care operations. Employees also have the right to request that the City restrict
disclosure of PHI to family members, relatives, or friends involved in their care. The City is not
required by law to agree to the restriction request. If the restriction request is granted, the City will
abide by it until such time as the employee terminates the restriction or the City, either with or
without the employee’s consent, terminates the restriction.
Employees have the right to request that the City community confidentially in ways or at locations
that are outside of the City’s usual process. For example, an employee can request that the City
forward information concerning PHI to a relative’s address. The City will consider all reasonable
requests.
What is the complaint procedure if an employee believes their rights have been violated or PHI or
a social security number has been improperly used or disclosed by the City?
If an employee of the City has violated the privacy rights or has used or disclosed PHI or social
security numbers in an improper or unlawful way, employees may register a complaint or direct
their comments or criticisms to human resources. Employees may also register a complaint with
the Secretary of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. To ensure the quality of
services provided to employees and the privacy of PHI, the City will not retaliate against any
employee registering a complaint with the City or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services.
City of Plymouth Employee manual - Page 74 – March 2023
