CARE AMBULANCE SERVICES, INC. (2)

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PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE FIRE/EMS EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION & RELATED SERVICES CITY OF SANTA ANA ITEM 8: HIPAA COMPLIANCE PLAN Care Ambulance Service is fully committed to complying with all requirements set forth by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as stated in 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164. As a health care provider that transmits Protected Health Information (PHI) electronically to Medicare and other entities, Care Ambulance meets the definition of "covered entity" under HIPAA regulations and therefore must legally comply with all segments of HIPAA. Effective April 1, 2003, Care Ambulance implemented our comprehensive program to comply with the HIPAA requirements, including those requirements specific to patient privacy. Copies of our HIPAA policies are available online at www.careambulance.net. Care Ambulance certifies that all personnel employed by our organization have been appropriately trained regarding HIPAA and signed an approved HIPAA confidentiality agreement. As part of Care's HIPAA program; Care Ambulance provides over two (2) hours of interactive HIPAA and Medicare Compliance training to all employees during an employee's first day of orientation and requires all new employees to sign a non -disclosure agreement. Annually, Care Ambulance conducts mandatory compliance refresher training for all EMTs and Field Personnel. With Care's HIPAA Compliance Plan, we ensure that PHI is only released as permitted under the HIPAA regulations. Examples of permitted releases include: • Treatment — We may use PHI to treat a patient and disclose PHI to doctors, nurses or technicians directly involved in patient care. • Payment— We may use and disclose PHI so that we or others may bill an insurance company or other third -party payer for services provided. • Health Care Operations — We may use and disclose PHI to ensure that our patients receive the highest quality care and to audit the care provided by our care givers in our official QA/QI processes. • By Law— We will disclose PHI when required to do so by federal, state or local law. Care Ambulance does not consider HIPAA compliance and the protection of patient's private information to be a static process. The protection of a patient's privacy remains an ongoing agenda item for Care's senior management and all corporate decisions are rooted in the basis of patient privacy. Care Ambulance performs routine privacy audits to ensure adherence with our HIPAA Compliance Program so that all reasonable steps are taken to guard a patient's protected health information. RFP # 18-059— CARE AMBULANCE SERVICE 31