Focus, Inc., is
committed to providing high quality disability services to meet the
needs of our community and consumers. We are likewise committed to
preserving your privacy and protecting the medical and personal
information that we may receive about you. We have prepared this
privacy notice to inform you about what information we collect, to whom
we may disclose this information, and how we protect this data from
privacy violations.
What Information We Collect
In order to provide you with essential disability services, we
must obtain certain types of information about you. Much of our
information comes directly from you or your family, either by means of
applications, forms, or personal interviews. Some of this information
is required by state and federal regulations; other information is given
by you or your family in order to facilitate service provision or to
ensure health and/or safety. We also receive information from the
federal, state, and local governments, from physicians and therapists,
from testing laboratories and other health providers, and from school
systems. Examples of this information are: name, address, phone number,
social history, medical history and condition, academic and,
psychological assessments, progress on goals, and so on.
What Information We Disclose
Focus, Inc., only
discloses medical and personal information to individuals or agencies
who are directly or indirectly involved in the design and/or delivery of
services, or for whom you have, in writing, authorized the sharing of
specific information. Common recipients of information include, but are
not limited to, federal, state, and local government agencies, other
disability service providers, your physician, your legal representative,
and your family members. Examples of information that we are permitted
to share are psychological and educational evaluations, goals, and data
collection, eligibility information, social histories, futures plans,
etc.
Please note that individuals over
eighteen years of age, regardless of disability, are protected by the
same privacy laws as any other citizen, unless they have a
court-appointed legal guardian. This means that Focus is required to
obtain the written permission of our consumers before disclosing medical
and personal information to anyone not already involved in the design
and delivery of services, including family members.
Our Privacy Protection Procedures
At Focus, Inc., we take your privacy rights seriously, and do
all that we can to protect your medical and personal information from
unauthorized access. Our staff members receive regular training
regarding our privacy policies. We also employ secure technologies to
safeguard hardcopy and computer information, including password
protection, locked cabinets and files, and limited access to keyed
locks.
Our Pledge to You
1)
We will safeguard, according to strict standards of security and
confidentiality, medical and personal information regarding our
consumers.
2)
We will limit the collection and use of medical and personal
information to the minimum that we require to deliver state of the art
disability services to you, our consumers.
3)
We will permit only authorized employees, and Board Members who
are trained in the proper use of consumer information, to have access to
that data. Employees who violate our Privacy Policy will be subject to
our normal disciplinary process.
4)
We will only disclose medical and personal information to those
who are involved in the design or delivery of services, or for whom you,
the consumer, have directed, in writing, such access.
5)
If we subcontract disability services, such as for physical,
speech, or occupational therapy, we will require their agents to conform
to our privacy standards.
6)
We will, to the best of our ability, keep our consumer files
complete, up to date, and accurate.