Privacy Policy
NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW YOUR PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.
Effective Date: May 1, 2026
1. Who We Are and Our Legal Duties
This Notice describes the privacy practices of Silver Cross Hospital and Medical Centers ("Silver Cross"), including its workforce members, trainees, students, volunteers, and other personnel who provide services at or on behalf of Silver Cross (collectively, "we," "our," or "us").
We are required by law to: (1) maintain the privacy of your protected health information ("PHI"); (2) provide you with this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices; (3) follow the terms of this Notice currently in effect; and (4) notify you following a breach of unsecured PHI.
PHI is information that identifies you and relates to your past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition, the provision of health care to you, or payment for that care.
We may change the terms of this Notice at any time. The revised Notice will apply to PHI we already have as well as PHI we create or receive in the future. We will post the revised Notice in our registration or reception areas and on our website at www.SilverCross.org. You may request a paper copy of this Notice at any time.
If you provide us with contact information (including a mobile phone number or email address), we may contact you by phone, text message, email, prerecorded message, or other automated means for appointment reminders, billing, and other communications related to your care or our services, as permitted by law. You may ask us to use a different method or address for these communications (see Section 4.B, “Confidential Communications”).
2. How We May Use and Disclose Your PHI
A. Treatment
We may use and disclose your PHI to provide and coordinate your treatment and other services. For example, we may share your PHI with physicians, nurses, pharmacists, medical students, and other health care personnel involved in your care, including providers outside Silver Cross who need the information to treat you, receive payment for services they render to you, or conduct certain health care operations, for example, for emergency ambulance companies to request payment for services in bringing you to the hospital.
B. Payment
We may use and disclose your PHI to bill and collect payment for services provided to you. For example, we may share your PHI with your health plan to obtain authorization, determine coverage, or process and pay claims.
C. Health Care Operations
We may use and disclose your PHI for our health care operations. These activities include quality assessment and improvement, patient safety activities, accreditation, licensing, training, auditing, compliance, legal services, and business planning. For example, we may use PHI to evaluate the quality of care and to improve services.
D. Business Associates
We may share PHI with vendors and other service providers ("business associates") who perform services on our behalf (such as billing, transcription, consulting, legal, or technology services). Business associates must protect PHI and may use or disclose PHI only as permitted by their contract and applicable law.
E. Health Information Exchange (HIE)
We may participate in one or more electronic Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) that allow participating health care providers to securely share information to support treatment, payment, and health care operations. The information shared may include medical and demographic information. You may choose not to have your information shared through an HIE by contacting the Silver Cross Privacy Officer at (815) 300-7020.
F. Appointment Reminders and Health-Related Communications
We may use your PHI to contact you with appointment reminders and to provide information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.
G. Fundraising
We may contact you to raise funds for Silver Cross. You have the right to opt out of fundraising communications at any time. Opting out will not affect your treatment or payment. To opt out, contact the Silver Cross Foundation at (815) 300-7105 or follow the instructions provided in fundraising communications.
3. Uses and Disclosures That Do Not Require Your Authorization
In addition to the purposes above, we may use and disclose your PHI without your written authorization as permitted or required by law, including:
• Public health activities (such as reporting births, deaths, disease, adverse events, product recalls, or certain infections) and reporting to public health authorities.
• Victims of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, as authorized by law.
• Health oversight activities (such as audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure) conducted by government agencies.
• Judicial and administrative proceedings, such as in response to a court order or other lawful process.
• Law enforcement purposes, as permitted by law.
• Coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors, as authorized by law.
• Organ and tissue donation, to organizations involved in procurement, banking, or transplantation.
• Research, when permitted by law. When conducting research, in most cases, we will ask for your written authorization before PHI is used. However, we may use or disclose your PHI without your specific authorization if our Institutional Review Board (“IRB”) has waived the authorization requirement. The IRB is a committee that oversees and approves research involving living humans.
• To avert a serious threat to health or safety, when permitted by law.
• Specialized government functions (such as military, national security, protective services, or correctional institutions), as permitted by law.
• Workers’ compensation and similar programs, as authorized by law.
• Disaster relief efforts, to assist in notifying family members or others involved in your care.
• If you are or become an inmate of a correctional institution or are in the custody of a law enforcement official, we may release your PHI to the institution or official if required to provide you with health care or to protect the health and safety of others.
A. Facility Directory
If you are a patient in our facility, we may include limited information about you in our directory (such as your name, location, general condition, and religious affiliation) and may disclose this information to people who ask for you by name and to clergy, unless you tell us not to.
B. Family, Friends, and Others Involved in Your Care
We may share PHI with a family member, friend, or other person you identify as involved in your care or payment for your care. We will share only the PHI that is directly relevant to that person’s involvement, unless you object or restrict the disclosure (or we are otherwise required to do so by law).
C. Federal, State, and Local Law, and Judicial or Administrative Proceedings
When a disclosure is required by federal, state, or local law, judicial or administrative proceedings, or law enforcement in strict accordance with all applicable local, state, and federal laws, including, but not limited to, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended, and its implementing regulations, including, but not limited to, the Privacy Rule (45 CFR 22 Parts 160, 162, and 164) and, including, but not limited to, 45 CFR 164.512(e) and (f) (which relates to disclosures for (1) judicial and administrative proceedings, and (2) law enforcement purposes, respectively).
4. Uses and Disclosures That Do Require Your Authorization
For any purpose other than the ones described above, we may use or disclose your PHI only when you give Silver Cross your specific written authorization. The following are examples of other uses or disclosures for which your specific written authorization is required:
A. Marketing
We may contact you as part of our marketing activities, as permitted by law. We will obtain your written permission when the uses and disclosures of PHI are for marketing purposes or other activities where we receive anything of value in exchange for disclosing such PHI. If you do not “opt-out” at the time you provide your PHI, you consent to Silver Cross, its affiliates and business associates contacting you by automated means, which may include an automated telephone dialing system. Your consent is not a condition of purchase. These messages may also include recurring text message promotions and special offers.
B. Sale of PHI
Should we wish to disclose your PHI in any manner that would constitute a sale of your PHI, we will obtain your written authorization to do so.
C. Highly Confidential Information
Federal and state laws provide special protections regarding highly confidential information about you. This includes: 1) psychotherapy notes; 2) documentation of mental health and developmental disabilities services; 3) information about drug and alcohol abuse, prevention, treatment and referral; 4) information relating to HIV/AIDS testing, diagnosis or treatment and other sexually transmitted infections; and, 5) information involving genetic testing and other genetic-related information. Generally, we must obtain your written authorization to release this type of information. However, there are limited circumstances under the law when this information may be released without your consent. For example, certain sexually transmitted infections must be reported to the Department of Health.
5. Your Rights Regarding Your PHI
A. Right to Inspect and Obtain Copies
You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of certain PHI about you, including in electronic form, in a designated record set. You must submit your request in writing. We will respond within the time required by law. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee. To request access, contact Medical Records at (815) 300-7505.
B. Right to Request Confidential Communications
You may request that we communicate with you in a specific way (for example, only at work) or at a different address. We will accommodate reasonable requests.
C. Right to Request Restrictions
You may request additional restrictions of your PHI: 1) for treatment, payment and health care operations; 2) to individuals (such as family members, or other relatives, close friends or any other person identified by you) involved with your care or with payment related to your care; 3) to notify or assist in the notification of such individuals regarding your location in the hospital and your general condition; and 4) to your health plan (i.e. third party insurer or healthcare payor) when the PHI is the result of a healthcare item or service that has been fully paid out of pocket. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your healthcare or if we reasonably believe the information is accurate as is in your record. We will respond to your request within 60 days. If we agree to a restriction, we will state the agreed restrictions in writing and will abide by them, except in emergency situations when the disclosure is needed for purposes of treatment.
To request a restriction, you may either: (1) request a restriction through your patient portal, or (2) contact Medical Records at 815-300-7505 for assistance or visit the Record Release office in Silver Cross Hospital’s lobby area to complete a Medical Record Restriction request.
D. Right to Request an Amendment
You have the right to request that we correct PHI maintained in your medical or billing records. Such amendments may include, but are not limited to delete, redact, or amend: (i) place of birth; (ii) immigration or citizenship status; or (iii) information from birth certificates, passports, permanent resident cards, alien registration cards, or employment authorization documents. To do so, you must submit a written request to: 1900 Silver Cross Blvd., New Lenox, IL 60451, Attn: Compliance and Privacy Officer. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your healthcare or if we reasonably believe the information is accurate as is in your record. We will respond to your request within 60 days.
E. Right to an Accounting of Disclosures
You may request an accounting (list) of certain disclosures of your PHI made in the six years prior to your request, excluding disclosures for treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures. The first accounting in a 12-month period is free; we may charge for additional requests.
F. Right to Be Notified of a Breach
You have the right to be notified if a breach of unsecured PHI occurs, as required by federal and state law.
G. Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice
You may request a paper copy of this Notice at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically.
6. Special Protections for Certain Types of Information
Some information may be subject to additional protections under federal or Illinois law. Examples may include: psychotherapy notes; records of mental health or developmental disability services; substance use disorder treatment records protected by 42 CFR Part 2; HIV/AIDS-related information; and genetic testing information. When such laws apply, we will follow the more protective requirements.
Certain programs or services may maintain records that are protected by the federal confidentiality regulations for substance use disorder patient records (42 CFR Part 2) ("Part 2 Records"). Part 2 Records receive special protection in addition to HIPAA.
• In general, Part 2 Records may not be used or disclosed for treatment, payment, or health care operations without your written consent, unless a Part 2 exception applies (for example, in a medical emergency, for qualified research/audit/program evaluation, or as otherwise permitted by Part 2).
• Part 2 Records received from a program subject to 42 CFR Part 2, or testimony relaying the content of such records, will not be used or disclosed in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceedings against you unless based on your written consent or a court order after notice and an opportunity to be heard is provided to you or the holder of the record. A court order authorizing use or disclosure must be accompanied by a subpoena or other legal requirement compelling disclosure before the requested record is used or disclosed.
• If Part 2 Records are used for fundraising for the benefit of Silver Cross, you will first be provided a clear and conspicuous opportunity to opt out of such fundraising communications.
7. Complaints and Contact Information
If you have questions about this Notice or believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may contact the Silver Cross Privacy Officer at (815) 300-7020.
You may also file a complaint with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
8. Potential for Redisclosure
PHI disclosed in accordance with this Notice or applicable law may be subject to redisclosure by the recipient and may no longer be protected by HIPAA, depending on the recipient and applicable law.
9. Effective Date and Duration of this Notice
This Notice is effective on September 23, 2013. This Notice was revised on December 31, 2025 and May 1, 2026. We may change the terms of this Notice at any time. The updated Notice will be posted in appropriate locations around Silver Cross and online at www.SilverCross.org. You also may also obtain any revised notice by contacting the Privacy Officer at 815-300-7020.
