Notice of Privacy Practices

The HIPAA Privacy Rule mandates that health care providers distribute a Notice of Privacy Practices to all patients. This document outlines how protected health information about an individual may be used and disclosed and under what circumstances specific authorization from the individual may not be required. The Notice of Privacy Practices also describes the HIPAA defined patient rights related to use and disclosure of the individual's health information.

Since the Notice must only be provided once, an electronic system has been developed to track the delivery of this notice by having the patient sign an Acknowledgement Form that confirms that they received a copy of the Notice of Privacy Practices. This system has been integrated with Epic and Medipac and allows staff checking in patients to identify whether or not the patient checking in would require the Notice and when to document that it has been provided. Any questions about the Notice may be directed to the Privacy Office at (615) 936-3594 or vumcprivacyoffice@vumc.org.   

The Privacy Rule provides that an individual has a right to adequate notice of how Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) may use and disclose protected health information about the individual, as well as his or her rights and VUMC’s obligations with respect to that information. When there is a significant update to a NPP we must inform our patients each time.