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Integrity & Compliance Program
3430 Burnett Avenue
Cincinnati, OH
Report a Concern:
1-866-856-1947
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This notice describes how medical information about you may be used or disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (Cincinnati Children’s) is required by law to maintain the privacy of patient protected health information, provide patients with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices regarding protected health information, and notify individuals when a breach of unsecured protected health information occurs. We understand that your health information is highly personal. We are committed to safeguarding your privacy.
Please read this Notice thoroughly. It describes how we may use and disclose your protected health information for treatment, payment, and health care operations purposes, and for other purposes that the law allows. It also describes your legal right to access and control the use and disclosure of your protected health information.
The rights outlined below belong to the patient or the patient’s personal representative, which is the patient’s parent, legal guardian or any person that has the legal authority to represent the interests of the patient and act on the patient’s behalf. In certain circumstances, the law permits minor patients to consent to their own care. In such situations, the minor and any health information created under that consent are afforded the rights and protections outlined in this Notice. Cincinnati Children’s will honor the minor’s preferences regarding the release of this information, including disclosures to parents or guardians, except where disclosure is otherwise required by law.
If there is any question as to whether a person is legally qualified to act as a patient’s personal representative, please contact the Privacy Office at the phone number or address listed at the end of this Notice.
This Notice covers information about your health condition, health care treatment, or payment for health care treatment that could reasonably identify you. It includes health information in the possession of any Cincinnati Children’s department or division, and applies to all personnel, volunteers, contractors, or anyone working here who might have access to your health information.
In limited cases, your encounter with Cincinnati Children’s will result in the creation of 42 CFR Part 2 substance use disorder (SUD) records. When you consented to treatment you gave permission for Cincinnati Children’s to use and disclose your SUD records in the same manner as your other health information at Cincinnati Children’s as outlined in this Notice. However, by law, we will not release SUD records for any civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceedings against you without your authorization or unless ordered by a court.
Health information disclosed to outside parties in accordance with this Notice may be subject to redisclosure and may no longer be protected by federal privacy requirements.
We are permitted to use your health information or disclose it to others outside Cincinnati Children’s to provide proper medical care to you. This means we can provide your health information to nurses, technicians, doctors, medical students, or outside organizations, such as laboratories or school staff, involved in your care.
For example, dietitians may need to know your condition if it requires special meals; X-ray and laboratory technicians may need to know your condition to conduct the proper test; and other physicians may need to have your information to advise those providing your care.
In some circumstances, we may require you to complete an Authorization form for disclosure of your protected health information to an outside health care provider.
We may use or disclose your health information to tell you about or recommend possible treatment-related options, activities, or alternatives that may be helpful to you.
We may use and disclose your health information for activities such as determining coverage, submitting bills, and receiving payment for the care and services you receive. For example, information about your care or services may be sent to your insurance company, a government insurance program, or another company that processes the information and submits it for payment. We may also provide information to your health plan about treatment you may receive so they may determine whether you are covered for that care.
We are permitted to use your health information or disclose it to others outside of Cincinnati Children’s in order to run the hospital and ensure high quality care. For example, we may use or disclose your information to review how we provide care to you, help us improve how we operate the hospital, or meet compliance or licensing requirements.
We may contact you for a variety of reasons, including appointment scheduling, visit preparation or follow-up, patient satisfaction, test results, treatment options, research activities, and for other purposes. You can update your communication preferences by contacting us at 800-344-2462 or through your MyChart patient portal at: https://mychart.cincinnatichildrens.org/mychart/Authentication/Login.
Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose your health information for research purposes. For example, we may disclose your information to researchers preparing to conduct a research project to help them look for patients with specific medical conditions. We can also disclose information to researchers when their research project has been approved by an Institutional Review Board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your health information.
We may use and disclose your information to comply with federal, state and local laws that require us to share information that affects public health and safety:
We may use and disclose your information to a health oversight agency responsible for overseeing, for example, the health care system or government benefits and regulatory programs.
We may use and disclose your health information to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person. Any disclosure, however, would only be to someone able to help prevent the threat.
We may disclose health information to organizations that handle organ procurement or organ, eye, or tissue transplantation, or to an organ donation bank to support their processes.
We may disclose PHI during judicial or administrative proceedings, in response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal (to the extent such disclosure is expressly authorized), and in certain conditions in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other lawful legal process.
We may disclose your health information to correctional institutions that may have custody of you for your treatment and safety, the health and safety of the workforce at the facility or who may be transporting you, and for the good order of the correctional facility.
We may disclose health information about you to law enforcement officials for certain authorized activities. For example, we may (1) be required to report certain wounds or physical injuries, (2) respond to court orders, grand jury subpoenas, or similar process, (3) disclose limited information to assist with the identifying or locating a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person, (4) provide information about a victim of a crime if the individual agrees, or under other circumstances if the individual is not able to agree, (5) report a death if we believe the death occurred from criminal conduct, or (6) disclose health information when alerting law enforcement to a crime or imminent threat of harm to the safety of others.
We may share health information about you with authorized federal officials for certain specialized government activities. For example, we may share information for national security purposes, Presidential protection services, and authorized military command purposes.
We may disclose health information to a coroner or medical examiner for identification purposes, for use in determining cause of death, or for the coroner or medical examiner to perform other duties authorized by law. We may also share information with a funeral director when needed to perform his or her duties.
We may disclose your health information as authorized to comply with workers’ compensation laws.
With your agreement, or upon your request, we may communicate your immunization records to schools.
We may share your PHI with third party business associates that perform various activities for Cincinnati Children’s (e.g., billing, collections, and transcription services). Whenever an arrangement with a business associate involves the use or disclosure of your PHI, we will have a written contract that contains terms to protect and secure your health information.
Cincinnati Children’s participates in Organized Health Care Arrangements which allow us to use and disclose your health information with other HIPAA covered entities for activities like utilization review, quality assessment and improvement, and payment activities involving shared financial risks. For a description of organized arrangements that Cincinnati Children’s participates in, please see: https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/privacy-data-security-notices.
Psychotherapy notes, including certain substance use disorder treatment notes, are notes recorded by a mental health professional that document or analyze the contents of a conversation in a counseling session and are kept separated from the rest of your medical record. There are very limited circumstances in which we will use or disclose psychotherapy notes without a written authorization from you.
The originator of the notes may use them for treatment purposes. Cincinnati Children’s may use psychotherapy notes in its own mental health counseling training programs.
We may also use psychotherapy notes in defense of a legal action or other proceeding brought by you, as required by law, or to avert a serious threat to a person’s or the public's health or safety.
In some cases, you may object to our use or disclosure of your health information, but you must notify us.
We may include your name, hospital location, general condition, and religious affiliation in our patient directory while you are a patient at the hospital. This information, except for your religious affiliation, may be disclosed to any person who asks for you by name.
Your religious affiliation may be given to a member of the clergy.
During registration, you will be given an opportunity to withhold your information from the patient directory. If, at any time after registration, you wish to remove your information from the patient directory, you must notify the registration desk or a customer service representative in writing.
We may disclose to family members, friends, and other persons involved in your care, health information about you that is relevant to that person’s involvement in your care. We may also disclose information about you to identify, locate, and notify persons responsible for you about your location and general condition. You may express your communication preferences to us. If you have not expressed any preferences to us, we will use our best judgment based on the circumstances. We may also disclose information about you if we need assistance identifying you.
We may contact you to raise funds for Cincinnati Children’s, and you have the right to opt out of receiving fund-raising communications.
If you do not want to be contacted for fundraising efforts, you must notify the Director of Business Operations in writing at Department of Development, MLC 9002, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229-3039.
The electronic exchange of health information allows us to quickly and securely share information about you to provide a better picture of your health needs.
Cincinnati Children’s maintains medical records in a system known as EPIC. Through an EPIC application known as CareEverywhere, health care providers that also use EPIC or that maintain a link with EPIC may electronically query and review Cincinnati Children’s records about you to treat you. You may opt out of Cincinnati Children’s sharing information about you through CareEverywhere. However, Cincinnati Children’s may still query records about you from other providers. You must contact other participating providers to opt out of their sharing of records about you through CareEverywhere.
Cincinnati Children’s also participates with the Ohio statewide health information exchange (HIE) known as CliniSync. In doing so, other participating health care providers can electronically access Cincinnati Children’s information about you for your treatment, or other payment or operations purposes involving you. You may opt out of sharing information about you through the CliniSync system. If you opt out, participating providers will not be able to access health information about you from any of your providers through CliniSync.
To opt out of CliniSync or CareEverywhere, submit your request in writing to Health Information Management (MLC 5015), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229. Cincinnati Children’s may still share information about you through other methods in accordance with this Notice.
Other than as described above, we will generally need to obtain your written authorization to disclose your health information for other purposes. For example, we are not permitted to sell your health information or use your health information for marketing activities unless you have provided us with written authorization. You may revoke in writing any authorization you provide us with at any time to stop future uses and disclosures.
You have the right to look at and get a copy of your medical records, billing records and other records used by Cincinnati Children’s to make treatment or billing decisions about you, with certain exceptions.
Cincinnati Children's may also deny you or your personal representative access to your health information if a licensed health care provider determines that releasing it is likely to have an adverse effect on you or could endanger or cause substantial harm to you or someone else. If you are denied access under these circumstances, you may appeal that decision and another licensed health care professional at Cincinnati Children’s who did not make the original decision to deny your request will review the request and provide a written response to you.
A request for inspection or a copy of your health information must be in writing and directed to Health Information Management (MLC 5015) or Professional Billing Services/Patient Financial Services (MLC 9013), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229. We may charge a fee for copying costs.
If you believe the information we have about you is incorrect or if important information is missing, you have the right to request that we correct the existing information or add the missing information.
The request must be in writing and directed to Health Information Management (MLC 5015), Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229.
You may request that when we send your information to you, we do so in a specific way that is convenient for you, such as only using a work number or by mail. We are not required to follow your request, but we will make every reasonable effort to do so or find a mutually satisfactory alternative.
You have the right to request a list of disclosures by Cincinnati Children’s of your health information. This list will not include every release made by Cincinnati Children’s but will contain information that Cincinnati Children’s is required by law to have in such a report.
The request must be in writing and directed to Health Information Management (MLC 5015), Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229.
You have the right to ask us to limit how we use and share your health information. All requests must be in writing. We will consider your request and respond, but we will not be able to agree to most requests because they may prevent us from using or sharing information needed for treatment, payment and healthcare operations. However, we will accept a request for a restriction on the disclosure of your information to a health plan for payment or operations purposes, if not otherwise required by law, if the information pertains solely to an item or service for which someone other than a health plan on your behalf has paid in full.
You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this Notice upon request.
We are required to protect the privacy of your information, establish Policies and Procedures that do so, provide this Notice about our privacy practices, and to follow the practices described in this Notice.
We reserve the right to change our Policies and Procedures for protecting health information. When we make a significant change in how we use or disclose your health information, we will also change this Notice and post the new Notice in waiting rooms and registration areas. You can request a written copy of the most recent version of this Notice at any time. It is also posted on our website at www.cincinnatichildrens.org.
If you believe we have not properly protected your privacy, have violated your privacy rights, or you disagree with a decision we made about access to your protected health information, the contact information for our Privacy Office is listed below.
You also may send a written complaint to the US Department of Health and Human Services. Information on this process can be found at: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/complaint-process/index.html.
Cincinnati Children’s will not retaliate against those who choose to file a complaint.
To act on any of the information provided in this Notice or for more information about our privacy practices, you may contact our Privacy Office:
Phone: 1-866-856-1947 or 513-803-6068
Email: privacyofficer@cchmc.org
Mail: Cincinnati Children's Privacy Office
Compliance Department, MLC 10004
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
3333 Burnet Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45229-3039
This Notice was issued on February 16, 2026.
ESTE AVISO DESCRIBE CÓMO SE PUEDE USAR Y DIVULGAR LA INFORMACIÓN MÉDICA SOBRE USTED Y CÓMO USTED PUEDE TENER ACCESO A ESTA INFORMACIÓN.POR FAVOR, LÉALO CON CUIDADO.
La ley exige a Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (Cincinnati Children’s - Hospital Pediátrico y Centro Médico de Cincinnati) que mantenga la privacidad de la información de salud protegida de los pacientes, que proporcione a los pacientes aviso de nuestras obligaciones legales y prácticas de privacidad con respecto a información de salud protegida y que notifique a las personas cuando ocurra una infracción con respecto a información de salud protegida no segura. Entendemos que su información de salud es muy personal. Tenemos el compromiso de proteger su privacidad.
Lea este Aviso en su totalidad. En el aviso se describe cómo podemos usar y divulgar su información de salud protegida para propósitos relacionados con tratamiento, pago y operaciones de atención de salud y para otros propósitos que la ley permite. También se describe su derecho legal a tener acceso y controlar el uso y divulgación de su información de salud protegida.
Los derechos indicados a continuación pertenecen al paciente o al representante personal del paciente, que es el padre, madre o tutor legal del paciente o cualquier persona que tiene autoridad legal para representar los intereses del paciente y actuar en nombre del paciente. Si hay alguna duda sobre si una persona está calificada legalmente para actuar como representante personal de un paciente, comuníquese con el Encargado de Privacidad al teléfono o dirección mencionados al final de este Aviso.
Este Aviso cubre información sobre su condición de salud, tratamiento de atención de salud o pago por tratamiento de atención de salud que podría de manera razonable permitir identificar quién es usted. Incluye información en posesión de cualquier departamento o división de Cincinnati Children’s. Este Aviso se aplica a todo el personal, voluntarios, contratistas o cualquier persona que trabaje aquí y que pueda tener acceso a su información de salud. Tenemos un Acuerdo de criterios para atención de salud organizada con nuestro personal médico, que hace que este Aviso y los derechos y obligaciones contenidos en este documento sean aplicables tanto a Cincinnati Children’s como a nuestro personal médico cuando están proporcionando servicios a los pacientes aquí.
Se nos permite usar o divulgar a terceros fuera de Cincinnati Children’s su información de salud sin su permiso para tres tipos básicos de actividades:
Hay algunas otras situaciones en las que podemos usar su información o divulgarla a otras personas fuera de Cincinnati Children’s sin su autorización por escrito, por ejemplo:
Se nos exige que protejamos la privacidad de su información, que establezcamos Políticas y Procedimientos para hacerlo, que proporcionemos este Aviso sobre nuestras prácticas de privacidad y que sigamos las prácticas que se describen en este Aviso.
Nos reservamos el derecho de cambiar nuestras Políticas y Procedimientos para proteger la información de salud. Cuando hagamos un cambio significativo en la manera en que usamos o divulgamos su información de salud, cambiaremos también este Aviso y publicaremos el nuevo Aviso en salas de espera y áreas para registro. Puede pedir una copia por escrito de la versión más reciente de este Aviso en cualquier momento. También se publica en nuestro sitio web en www.cincinnatichildrens.org.
Si cree que no hemos protegido de manera adecuada su privacidad, que hemos infringido sus derechos de privacidad, o no está de acuerdo con una decisión que hemos tomado sobre el acceso a su información de salud protegida, puede comunicarse con nuestro encargado de privacidad en la dirección que se menciona a continuación. También puede enviar una queja por escrito al U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. El Encargado de Privacidad de Cincinnati Children’s puede proporcionarles la dirección correspondiente si lo solicitan. No se tomarán medidas contra quienes decidan presentar una queja.
Para actuar con respecto a cualquier información proporcionada en este Aviso o para obtener más información sobre nuestras prácticas de privacidad, puede contactar a nuestro Encargado de Privacidad, teléfono: 1-800-344-2462 o 513-636-4707; fax: 513-636-4076; correo electrónico: privacyofficer@cchmc.org; o por correo: CCHMC Privacy Officer, Risk Management/Corporate Compliance, MLC 9010. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229-3039.
FECHA DE VIGENCIA DE ESTE AVISO
Este Aviso fue emitido el 15 Agosto, 2013.
To improve quality of care, access to care and patient outcomes as a leader in children’s health, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is partnering with other academic institutions and health care organizations (each a “Member”) through an Organized Health Care Arrangement (“OHCA”) known as “The ACCESS Heart Network.”
An OHCA is a relationship recognized by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) privacy rules allowing The ACCESS Heart Network to share Protected Health Information (“PHI”) among covered entities for purposes related to building up and maintaining quality, comprehensive pediatric and congenital cardiology health care services across each covered entities site of care. Members of The ACCESS Heart Network, including their medical staff and contracted personnel, share PHI for the provision of treatment, for payment purposes, and for a broad scope of health care operations, which include (but are not limited to) joint utilization review, research, development of clinical pathways and protocols, credentialing, education/clinical training, risk management, response to compliance or regulatory issues, patient safety, quality assessment, and improvement activities.
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has developed social media sites to share information, videos, comments and more. These social media sites include Facebook and LinkedIn, but this policy is intended to address all similar "community sites" with user-generated content. By accessing, viewing and/or posting any content to any of these sites you agree to the following terms of use:
This is how Cincinnati Children’s will handle information learned about you from your visit to our website. The information we receive depends upon what you do when visiting our site. For each visitor to the website, the Cincinnati Children’s web server automatically recognizes the consumer’s domain name and email address (where possible).
Cincinnati Children’s collects the domain name and email address (where possible) of visitors to our website, aggregates information on what pages consumers access or visit (e.g. number of site visitors, time on site), user-specific information on what pages consumers access or visit and information volunteered by the consumer, such as survey information and / or site registrations. Cincinnati Children’s collects this information by using “cookies,” which are small files stored on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies are text information files that your web browser places on your computer when you visit a website. Most browsers accept cookies automatically but can be configured not to accept them or to indicate when a cookie is being sent.
The information we collect is used to improve the content of the website, offer online features that are helpful to visitors, customize the content and / or layout of our page for each individual consumer, and contact consumers for marketing purposes. Through the use of Google Analytics and Google Remarketing code on the website, Google gathers anonymous data via “cookies.” If you do not want information collected in this manner, there is a simple procedure in most browsers that allows you to decline the use of cookies. To opt out of Google ads, go to Ads Preference Manager. If you do not want to receive email from Cincinnati Children’s, send an email to marketing@cchmc.org, and indicate you do not want to receive email from the institution.
You also may decide to send Cincinnati Children’s personally identifying information, for example, in an electronic mail message or by voluntarily disclosing that information by completing an online survey. We may use personally identifying information from you to respond to your inquiries or for other internal business purposes. This information will not be sold or rented to third parties. You should be aware, however, that others may access such information and use it, though any such use would be without the consent of Cincinnati Children’s.
We will not obtain personally identifying information about you when you visit our site, unless you choose to provide such information.
The Cincinnati Children’s website is managed in the State of Ohio, United States of America. We make no representation that material found at the site is appropriate or available for use in other locations. If you access the Cincinnati Children’s site from other locations, you are responsible for compliance with local laws.
When you sign up for text messages from Cincinnati Children’s, you are signing up to receive text messages related to your relationship with Cincinnati Children’s, including updates related to your visits, MyChart account, one-time passcode, billing notifications, prescription reminders, and care management.
You can opt-out of SMS messages by texting STOP to respective short code. Your opt-out request will generate one final message confirming that you have been unsubscribed. You will no longer receive SMS messages from the short code you opted out from. If you want to join again, sign up using MyChart or text HELP to the short code for instructions.
If you are experiencing issues with the messaging program you can reply with the keyword HELP for more assistance, or you can get help directly at 513-636-4200, mychart@cchmc.org or https://mychart.cincinnatichildrens.org/mychart.
Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
Message and data rates may apply for any messages sent to you from us and to us from you. Message frequency may vary.
Please be aware that SMS messages are unsecure and may be read by third parties. However, Cincinnati Children's does not share, sell, or rent your mobile number or opt-in data with third parties for marketing, research, or promotional purposes.
Our Privacy Policy is https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/privacy-data-security-notices. Contact us at 513-636-4200, mychart@cchmc.org or https://mychart.cincinnatichildrens.org/mychart.
Integrity & Compliance Program
3430 Burnett Avenue
Cincinnati, OH
Report a Concern:
1-866-856-1947
EthicsPoint Website