HIPAA

Our Standards

Notice of Privacy Practices

MHS staff members act in accordance with a Code of Conduct, the ethical principles of our professions, the requirements of law, and the conviction that respect for rights and dignity is an integral part of effective care.

We encourage the participation of the person served, as well as family members or others chosen by the person. Our services are designed to be sensitive and responsive to the person's ethnic and cultural background.

Lorraine Meyer is our Client Rights Officer. For more than 25 years, she has worked on behalf of clients in the community mental health system of Cuyahoga County, Ohio.   Please contact Ms Meyer to make a complaint or grievance about our services or our protection of client rights. Call 216-274-3528 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. You may also send a letter to her at the address on the Home page, or send an e-mail to MeyerL@mhs-inc.org.  If she is not available, the alternative Client Rights Officer is Leslie Campbell, who may be reached at 216-274-3315. Another alternative CRO is LaTonya Murray, at 216-274-3307.

All complaints are fully investigated, and are reported to the Quality Assurance Committee, the Executive Director, and the Board of Trustees. You may also file a complaint with the Client Rights Officer of the Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board by calling 216-241-3400.

The information presented here is from the Client Rights Handbook that clients receive when they begin to participate in services.  Clients also receive our Notice of Privacy Practices for Protected Health Information. To review the federal HIPAA rules that require the use of this Notice, please click here.

You have the right to make choices about your life, and to participate in services that will help to improve the quality of your life.  You have the right to be treated with respect and dignity, in a manner that least restricts your personal choice and autonomy.

Your rights as a client include, but are not limited, to:

1. The right to be treated with consideration and respect for personal dignity, autonomy, and privacy.
   
   
2. The right to service in a humane setting that is the least restrictive feasible as defined in the treatment plan.
   
   
3. The right to be informed of your own condition, of proposed or current services, treatment, or therapies, and of the alternatives.
   
   
4. The right to consent to or refuse any service, treatment, or therapy upon full explanation of the expected consequences of such consent or refusal.  A parent or legal guardian may consent to or refuse any service, treatment, or therapy on behalf of a minor client.
   
   
5. The right to a current, written, individualized service plan (ISP) that addresses your own mental and physical health, social and economic needs, and that specifies the provision of appropriate and adequate services, as available, whether directly or by referral.
   
   
6. The right to active and informed participation in the establishment, periodic review, and reassessment of the service plan.
   
   
7. The right to freedom from unnecessary medication.
   
   
8. The right to freedom from unnecessary restraint or seclusion.
   
   
9. The right to participate in any appropriate and available agency service, regardless of refusal of one or more other services, treatments, or therapies, or regardless of relapse from earlier treatment in that or another service, unless there is a valid and specific necessity that precludes and/or requires your participation in other services. This necessity shall be explained to you and written in your current treatment plan.
   
   
10. The right to be informed of and refuse any unusual or hazardous treatment procedures.
    
    
11. The right to be advised of and refuse observation by techniques such as one-way mirrors, tape recorders, televisions, movies, and photographs.
    
    
12. The right to have the opportunity to consult with independent treatment specialists or legal counsel, at your own expense.
    
    
13. The right to confidentiality of communications and of all personally identifying information within the limitations and requirements for disclosure of various funding and certifying sources, State or Federal statutes, unless release of information is specifically authorized by you, the client, or the parent or legal guardian of a minor client or Court-appointed guardian of the person of an adult client in accordance with Rule 5122:2-3-11 of the Ohio Administrative Code.
    
    
14. The right to have access to your own psychiatric, medical, or other treatment records, unless access to particular identified items of information is specifically restricted for clear treatment reasons in your treatment plan.  "Clear treatment reasons" shall be understood to mean only severe emotional damage to the client such that dangerous or self-injurious behavior is an eminent risk.  The person restricting the information shall explain to you and other persons whom you authorize the factual information about you that necessitates the restriction.  The restriction must be renewed at least annually to retain validity.  Any person you authorize has unrestricted access to all information.  You shall be informed in writing of agency policy and procedures for viewing or obtaining copies of personal records.
    
    
15. The right to be informed in advance of the reason(s) for discontinuance of service provision and to be involved in planning for the consequences of that event.
    
    
16. The right to receive an explanation for denial of service.
    
    
17. The right not to be discriminated against in the provision of service on the basis of religion, race, color, creed, sex, national origin, age, lifestyle, physical or mental handicap, developmental disability, or inability to pay.
    
    
18. The right to know the cost of services.
    
    
19. The right to be fully informed of all rights.
    
    
20. The right to exercise any and all rights without reprisal in any form, including continued and uncompromised access to service.
    
    
21. The right to file a grievance.
    
    
22. The right to have oral and written instructions for filing a grievance.

The purpose of the client rights and grievance policy is to protect and enhance the rights of people receiving services from MHS.

It is the policy of MHS to respond to all client rights complaints and grievances from people who receive our services. Client rights complaints or grievances may also be filed with any other employee of this agency. The grievance review will be conducted in accordance with Chapter 5122 of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC).

Mental Health Services for Homeless Persons, Inc. (MHS) will:

• provide a written copy of this Client Rights Handbook to anyone requesting it;
  
  
• access agency information upon your written authorization;
  
  
• issue a written resolution of the grievance within 20 working days from the date the grievance is filed, with explanations to be provided to you and the aggrieved;
  
  
• provide a list of other organizations to whom you may further appeal; and,
  
  
• make relevant information available about the grievance to anyone having written authorization to receive it.

MHS also wants to provide you with a means to complain about your care and services, your living conditions, and the exercise of your rights, and to have those complaints heard and acted upon in a timely manner. The Complaint and Grievance Procedure is posted in the lobby and elsewhere throughout the agency. You will first receive a copy of this Handbook at intake. If you would like a copy, you may request one from any agency staff person at any time.

The Client Rights Officer at MHS is Lorraine Meyer. She can be reached at 216-274-3528 during the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. She will help you to file your complaint or grievance if you need help; will investigate your complaint or grievance; and, if you want, she will help you at the agency hearing about your complaint. If Ms Meyer is unavailable, alternate Client Rights Officers are Leslie Campbell, at 216-274-3315, or LaTonya Murray, at 216-274-3307.

The Client Rights Officer will be easily and promptly available to you and is free to follow all the steps of this procedure. When you talk about your concerns or complaints, all staff including administrative and support staff will let you know that, if you want, you can file a complaint or grievance with the Client Rights Officer. If your complaint is against the Client Rights Officer, another person will work with you. The Client Rights Officer or any other staff person at MHS will explain the entire complaint and grievance process to you, from the time you make a complaint or grievance, until it is resolved. You shall have reasonable opportunity to talk with an impartial decision-maker.

You will have the opportunity to file your complaint or grievance within a reasonable period of time.  When at all possible, your complaint or grievance will be resolved within twenty (20) working days from the date you filed.  You will be provided with a clear, written explanation of the way in which your complaint or grievance was resolved.

Copyright ©
Mental Health Services for Homeless Persons, Inc. (MHS)
1744 Payne Avenue; Cleveland, Ohio 44114 U.S.A.
216-623-6555 - TTY/TDD: 216-623-6540

The URL of this page is
http://www.mhs-inc.org/RightsandEthics.asp
It was most recently updated on 4 February 2008.
We welcome your comments.
Please write to Joel[at]mhs-inc.org