HIPAA Privacy Notice

Your Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities.

Effective Date of this Notice: Feb. 16, 2026

Privacy Official: Brett Zeller, zellerb@wdmcs.org

This notice describes:

How health information about you may be used and disclosed
Your rights with respect to your health information
How to file a complaint concerning a violation of the privacy or Security of your health information, or of your rights concerning your information

You have a right to a copy of this notice (in paper or electronic form) and to discuss it with West Des Moines Community Schools if you have any questions. Please review it carefully.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

Consent to most uses and disclosures of your health information
Get a copy of your health and claims records
Correct your health and claims records
Request confidential communication
Ask us to limit the information we share
Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information
Get a list of health care providers who have received your information through certain third parties
Get a copy of this privacy notice
Choose in advance whether to receive fundraising communications
Discuss this notice with someone in our program
Choose someone to act for you
File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated

Your Choices

With your consent, we can use and share your information as we:

Treat you
Run our organization
Bill for our services
Fulfill your requests to share information with your consent
Prevent multiple program enrollments
Report about court-referred treatment
Report to prescription drug monitoring program

Our Uses and Disclosures

We may use and share your information without your consent as we:

Help manage the health care treatment you receive
Run our organization
Pay for your health services
Administer your health plan
Help with public health and safety issues
For your medical emergencies
Do research
Comply with the law
Respond to organ and tissue donation requests and work with a medical examiner or funeral director
Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests
Respond to lawsuits and legal actions
Assist with cause of death inquiries
Communicate within our program and with contractors
Respond to management and financial audits and program evaluation
Prevent or reduce crime in our program

In these circumstances, we must protect your information and limit how we use and share it.

Your Rights

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.

Get a copy of health and claims records

You can ask to see or get a copy of your health and claims records and other health information we have about you. Ask us how to do this.
We will provide a copy or a summary of your health and claims records, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

Ask us to correct health and claims records

You can ask us to correct your health and claims records if you think they are incorrect or incomplete. Ask us how to do this.
We may say “no” to your request, but we’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days.

Request confidential communications

You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address.
We will consider all reasonable requests, and must say “yes” if you tell us you would be in danger if we do not.

Provide consent when we use or share your information for most purposes

You may provide a single consent for all future uses or disclosures for treatment, payment, and health care operations purposes.

Ask us to limit what we use or share

You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our health care operations after you have provided consent for all those purposes. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if, for example, it could affect your care. If we agree to your request, we may still share this information in the event that you need emergency treatment.
We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care.
If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our health care operations with your health insurer. We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information

Get a list of those with whom we've shared information

You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why.
We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.

Get a copy of this privacy notice

You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.

Discuss this notice with someone in our program

You can ask questions or obtain more information about this notice and our privacy practices by calling or emailing the contact person at the top of this notice.

Choose in advance about fundraising

You have the right to a clear and obvious notice in advance of, and a choice about whether to receive, fundraising communications for our program.

Choose someone to act for you

If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information.
We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.

With your consent, we may also use and share your information in the following ways:

To whomever you name in a consent to share your information
To prevent multiple enrollments in withdrawal management or maintenance treatment programs
To report participation in treatment required by the criminal justice system
To report prescribed substance use disorder treatment medications to a state prescription drug monitoring program when required by law

File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated

You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us using the information on page 1.
You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/.
We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Your Choices

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions.

In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to:

Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in payment for your care
Share information in a disaster relief situation

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

In these cases we never share your information unless you give us written permission:

Marketing purposes
Sale of your information

Our Uses and Disclosures

How do we typically use or share your health information?

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.

Help manage the health care treatment you receive

We can use your health information and share it with professionals who are treating you.

Example: A doctor sends us information about your diagnosis and treatment plan so we can arrange additional services.

Run our organization

We can use and disclose your information to run our organization and contact you when necessary.
We are not allowed to use genetic information to decide whether we will give you coverage and the price of that coverage. This does not apply to long term care plans.

Example: We use health information about you to develop better services for you.

Example 2: A doctor treating you for a chronic condition asks a doctor at our program about your health condition and medications you are taking, for example, to avoid complications

Bill and Pay for your health services

We can use and disclose your health information as we bill or pay for your health services.

Example: We share information about you with your dental plan to coordinate payment for your dental work.

Administer your plan

We may disclose your health information to your health plan sponsor for plan administration.

Example: Your company contracts with us to provide a health plan, and we provide your company with certain statistics to explain the premiums we charge.

How else can we use or share your health information?

We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information see: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/guidance-materials-for-consumers/index.html

Help with public health and safety issues

We can share health information about you for certain situations such as:

Preventing disease
Helping with product recalls
Reporting adverse reactions to medications
Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, only as required by applicable law
Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety

For your medical emergencies

We can share your information during a bona fide medical emergency with the personnel and health care providers responding to your emergency, even when you are unable to consent because of the emergency

Do research

We can use or share your information for health research. Researchers cannot include any patient identifying information in their reports about the research.

Comply with the law

We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.

Respond to organ and tissue donation requests and work with a medical examiner or funeral director

We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.
We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies.

Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests

We can use or share health information about you:

For workers’ compensation claims
For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official
With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law
For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services

Legal Proceedings and Court Orders

We must follow certain procedures before using or sharing your information for investigations and legal proceedings.

We will not use or share your information or provide testimony about your information in any civil, administrative, criminal, or legislative proceedings against you without your written consent or a court order.
We will only respond to a court order to use or share your health information if it is accompanied by a subpoena or other similar legal mandate requiring us to comply.
We will only use or share your information in proceedings against you based on a court order after we have received notice and an opportunity to be heard or you tell us that you have received notice.
We may use or share your information to respond to legal proceedings against our program based on a court order and you may not be notified in advance. You have the right to seek to overturn or change the court order after you learn about it.

Assist with cause of death inquiries

We can share patient identifying information about a deceased patient as required or allowed by laws that collect information relating to cause of death.

Communicate within our program and with contractors

We can share your information within our program, with an organization that has administrative control over our program, and with contractors who help us run our program.

Respond to management and financial audits and program evaluation

We can use or share your information to improve the quality of our services, obtain needed credentials, and cooperate with oversight agencies for activities authorized by law, as long as those who view or receive the information agree to destroy or return the information when they are finished and agree not to use it against you.

Prevent or reduce crime in our program

We may report to law enforcement when a patient commits or threatens to commit a crime within our program or against our staff

Redisclosure According to HIPAA

When you consent to uses and disclosures for all future treatment and payment purposes and to run our business, we may share your information with other substance use disorder treatment programs, doctors’ offices, and health care businesses for those activities. If the person who receives it is subject to HIPAA, then they are allowed to use and share your information again without your consent for the purposes that HIPAA allows. Your information still cannot be used in legal proceedings against you unless (1) you consent or (2) based on a Part 2 court order and a subpoena (or similar legal requirement).

Our Responsibilities

We are required to obtain your consent for most uses and sharing of your information.
We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.
We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.

For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/noticepp.html.

Changes to the Terms of this Notice

We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, on our website, and we will email a link to you.