County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSACounty Medical Services CMS Program Guide Confidentiality Number Page 0301 1 of 2 Background Health and Human Services Agency HHSA employees are encouraged to respond to inquiries by providing information regarding HHSA policies and procedures Care must be taken however to preserve the confidentiality of HHSA records including those stored electronically This section provides staff with policies and procedures regarding the confidentiality of HHSA records and release of information to qualified agencies persons and medical providers Policy A Confidential Information Names addresses and all other eligibility information concerning the circumstances of any particular applicantbeneficiary including whether that person is or is not an applicantbeneficiary will not be disclosed for any purposes not directly related to the administration of public assistance programs Unauthorized disclosure of confidential information by a County employee is a misdemeanor and may lead to criminal or civil liability for both County employees and the County The County may also take disciplinary action against the employee B ApplicantBeneficiary Rights To protect the confidentiality of an individual applicantbeneficiary the individual must be given the opportunity to provide needed information or verifications in a manner which does not identify the individual as a public assistance applicantbeneficiary Before a collateral contact is initiated the applicantbeneficiary must be informed of hisher option to obtain the needed information himselfherself without any requirement to use County forms or form letters The applicantbeneficiarys written consent must be obtained prior to initiating collateral contacts Exception State Department of Health Services SDHSPublic Assistance Fraud Division PAFD staff do not need to obtain applicantbeneficiarys written consent prior to initiating collateral contacts C Maintain Case Records Case records are the original and permanent records of HHSA and are maintained for reference and audit purposes to document eligibility As a general policy case records and original documents should be at HCA headquarters or in the Records Library Electronic cases shall be maintained in CMS IT System All information in case records shall be considered confidential and shall be safeguarded Unless approved by the appropriate Assistant Deputy Director no case record will be removed from HHSA Other Program Impact None References None Sunset Date This policy will be reviewed for continuance by 05312019 County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSACounty Medical Services CMS Program Guide Confidentiality Number Page 0301 2 of 2 Release Date 05032016