Your information.
Your rights.

Effective October 2, 2026
Our Hearts Homecare LLC, doing business as Our Hearts Home Healthcare

This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.

This notice describes our responsibilities and your rights for protected health information (PHI) we maintain in care arrangements to which the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) applies. PHI is individually identifiable health information protected by that law. This notice applies to our workforce and does not expand the services available from Our Hearts.

General website inquiries are covered by our separate website privacy policy. Our public forms are not a channel for medical records or patient details. Please call to arrange an appropriate way to make a health-information request.

Your health-information rights

See or receive a copy of your information

You can request access to, or an electronic or paper copy of, the medical, billing, and other records about you covered by HIPAA's access right. We generally respond within 30 days. If a permitted extension is needed, we will explain the reason and expected completion date in writing. A summary may be provided if you agree. Any fee for copies will be reasonable, cost-based, and permitted by law. If access is denied, we will provide a written explanation and explain any available review rights.

Ask for a correction

You can ask us to amend information you believe is incorrect or incomplete. We generally respond within 60 days and will notify you in writing if a lawful extension is needed. We may deny a request in circumstances permitted by law; if so, we will explain why and how you can submit a statement of disagreement.

Request confidential communication

You can ask us to contact you in a particular way or at an alternative location, such as using a different telephone number or mailing address. We will accommodate reasonable requests.

Ask us to limit information we use or share

You can request restrictions on information used or disclosed for treatment, payment, or health care operations, or shared with people involved in your care. We are not required to agree to every request. If we agree, we will follow the restriction except where an exception, such as needed emergency treatment, is permitted by law.

If you pay for a health care item or service out of pocket in full, you can ask us not to disclose information about that item or service to your health plan for payment or health care operations. We must honor that request unless disclosure is required by law.

Receive an accounting of disclosures

You can request a list of certain disclosures made in the six years before your request, including who received the information and why. The accounting excludes treatment, payment, and health care operations disclosures and other exceptions allowed by law. One accounting in a 12-month period is free. We will explain any reasonable, cost-based fee for additional requests before you decide whether to proceed.

Get a paper copy or choose a representative

You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically. We will provide it promptly. A person with verified legal authority, such as a legally authorized health care agent or guardian, may exercise rights on your behalf to the extent of that authority and applicable law.

Your choices and written permission

You may tell us whether to share information relevant to a family member, friend, or other person's involvement in your care or payment for care. You may also express preferences about disclosures for disaster relief. We will follow your choices where the law gives you that choice. If you cannot express a preference, we may share relevant information when professional judgment determines that it is in your best interest. We may also disclose information when legally permitted to address a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

Uses and disclosures for marketing, sale of PHI, and most uses or disclosures of psychotherapy notes require your written authorization, except for narrow exceptions permitted by law. These categories describe privacy protections, not services Our Hearts offers.

Other uses or disclosures not described in this notice require your written authorization unless otherwise permitted or required by law. You can revoke an authorization in writing at any time, except to the extent action has already been taken in reliance on it.

If we contact you for fundraising, you may opt out of further fundraising communications. If information protected by 42 CFR Part 2 would be used for fundraising, we will provide clear advance notice and an opportunity to opt out before it is used.

How information may be used or disclosed

HIPAA permits certain uses and disclosures without a separate authorization, subject to the conditions in the law and the stronger protections described below. We limit information to the minimum necessary when that standard applies.

Care coordination, payment, and operations

• Treatment and care coordination: information may be used or shared with professionals involved in your care when legally permitted. For example, relevant care instructions may be shared to coordinate an agreed care arrangement.
• Payment: information may be used to prepare bills, collect payment, or resolve a billing question with a legally authorized payer. This does not promise insurance coverage or participation in a public benefit program.
• Health care operations: information may be used to manage services, review quality and safety, coordinate staff responsibilities, and contact you about your care. Service providers acting as business associates must be subject to required privacy safeguards and agreements.

Other permitted or required disclosures

The following are legal categories, not routine disclosures in every care arrangement. The relevant legal conditions must be met before information is shared.

• Public health and safety: legally authorized disease prevention, product recalls, adverse-reaction reporting, reports of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, and prevention or reduction of a serious threat to health or safety.
• Research: health research only when applicable privacy requirements, such as authorization or an approved waiver, are satisfied.
• Required by law and oversight: disclosures required by federal or South Carolina law; authorized audits, inspections, and investigations; and disclosures to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to determine compliance with privacy law.
• Organ donation and information after death: disclosures permitted to organ-procurement organizations, coroners, medical examiners, or funeral directors for their lawful duties.
• Workers' compensation, law enforcement, and government functions: disclosures authorized by law for workers' compensation, defined law-enforcement purposes, or special government activities such as military, national security, and protective services.
• Judicial and administrative proceedings: disclosures required by a valid court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena or other lawful process only when the applicable notice, protection, and legal requirements are met.

Additional protections for sensitive records

Substance use disorder records

If we receive or maintain substance use disorder patient records protected by 42 CFR Part 2, information from those records, or testimony describing it, may not be used or disclosed in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative investigations or proceedings against you without your written consent or a court order issued after the notice and opportunity to be heard required by Part 2. A court order authorizing disclosure must be accompanied by a subpoena or other legal mandate compelling it. These protections apply to the other disclosure categories above as well.

When Part 2 information is received under a consent permitting treatment, payment, and health care operations, a HIPAA covered entity or business associate may redisclose it as HIPAA permits, except for the restrictions on proceedings against you and other applicable Part 2 limits. This notice does not represent Our Hearts as a substance use disorder treatment program.

South Carolina and other stronger privacy laws

When a federal or South Carolina law provides stronger protection than HIPAA, we follow the stronger applicable requirement. For example, mental health and substance-use records within the scope of South Carolina Code § 44-22-100 are confidential and may be disclosed only with the required consent or a specific statutory exception. A general permission under HIPAA does not override a more restrictive law that applies to a record.

Information shared with other recipients

Information disclosed to a recipient may be redisclosed and may no longer be protected by HIPAA, particularly when the recipient is not subject to HIPAA. Other protections, including the Part 2 restrictions described above, may continue to apply.

Our responsibilities

• Maintain the privacy and security of your PHI as required by applicable law.
• Follow the duties and privacy practices described in the notice currently in effect and provide you with a copy.
• Notify affected individuals without unreasonable delay and within the time required by law following a breach of unsecured PHI that requires notification.
• Use or disclose information only as described in this notice or otherwise authorized or required by law.
• Respect applicable restrictions, authorizations, and privacy rights.

We may revise this notice and make revised terms apply to information already maintained as well as information received later, as permitted by law. The current notice will be available on this website, through our office, and on request. Its effective date will appear at the beginning.

Questions, requests, and complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, contact the Our Hearts privacy contact at (803) 908-1878 or write to Our Hearts Homecare LLC, Attention: Privacy Contact, 7358 Garners Ferry Rd Suite 111, Columbia, SC 29209. Call for instructions before transmitting sensitive records; do not use our general website forms.

You may also complain directly to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, write to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, or call 1-877-696-6775. You do not have to complain to Our Hearts first. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint or exercising your privacy rights.