THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW iCARE PROTECTS MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU (PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION OR PHI) AND HOW IT MAY BE USED AND SHARED. THE NOTICE ALSO TELLS YOU HOW YOU CAN GET THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
This Notice will tell you what information we collect and how we protect it. It will also tell you how we use it. You can call our Customer Service Department at 1-800-777-4376 if you have questions about this Notice. If you do not have any questions, you do not have to do anything.
The law says we must keep your health information private. iCare collects health information about you including but not limited to individual-level data on race/ethnicity, language, gender identity and sexual orientation. iCare does not use your race/ethnicity, language, gender identity and sexual orientation information for underwriting and for the denial of services, coverage and benefits.
This policy outlines how iCare stores, disposes, uses, reuses and protects paper (including, but not limited to patient charts, sign-in sheets) and electronic systems and devices (including, but not limited to diskettes, CDs, tapes, mobile applications, portable drives, laptops, and secure portals) that contain PHI from unauthorized access. iCare’s privacy protection policy requires the following:
• Each user must have a unique ID and password to access any system. • Allow staff minimum necessary access to protected health information in paper and electronic systems and devices. • Staff is trained on the proper use of their computers in a remote working environment and are required to follow all prudent security practices to safeguard access to PHI by unauthorized parties. • Staff user accounts are disabled upon termination from iCare, so users are unable to retain access after their termination date. • Availability of secured shredding bins throughout the facility for the disposal of any paper documents containing PHI. • Physical access to the office areas where workstations are used is secured by electronic access control cards. Control cards are issued to staff members on the first date of employment and are terminated on the same date that employment ends. • All server equipment is in a central data room and secured by a pass card control system. • All the removable media is encrypted using commercial encryption software. • Keep an inventory of all company devices. • Upon return, removable media devices are cleared prior to being reissued to another staff member. • Hard drives that are no longer used are destroyed by a third-party vendor, in accordance with United States Department of Defense 5220.22-M standard. A certificate of destruction is received from this vendor upon completion.
There are times when the law allows us to use and share your health information without your written consent. The following is a list of those times. In compliance with federal and state laws, we may also make your Protected Health Information (PHI) available electronically. We do this through an electronic health information exchange. We may give your PHI to other health care providers and health plans that request your information. We only give your PHI for purposes of Treatment, Payment, and Health Care Operations. We may also give your PHI to public health entities as permitted by law. Participation in an electronic health information exchange also lets us see other providers’ and health plans’ information about you for purposes of Treatment, Payment, and Health Care Operations.
1. Treatment
We may use your health information to provide you with health care treatment or services. We also use it to arrange social services you may need. For example: • Your care coordinator or case manager may share information they got from you or your health care providers with others involved in your treatment, including other health care providers. The information they share will be used to help you get the services you may need. • Your health information may be shared with social service agencies. This information will be used to help you get the services you may need. • We may share your Medicaid ID number with transport companies. This is shared only if we need to get you a ride to your health care appointments. • We may have to share your health information with health education programs you need or are participating in.
2. Payment
We may use your health information to pay for services you had or to manage benefits. For example: • Your provider will submit a bill to iCare for payment of services you received. This bill shows your name and Medical Assistance number. It may give the services you received and what was wrong with you. • Information about you may be shared with the State of Wisconsin. It may be used to see if you can join iCare. It may be used to see if you can get Medicaid or other program benefits.
3. Health Care Operations
Your health information may be used or shared to carry out benefit or service related activities. This means that your health information may be shared with our staff or others to:
• Look at the quality of care you had; • Learn how to improve our services; • Provide case management services; • Provide care coordination services; • Resolve your complaint or grievance; • See how our employees are doing in providing you with service.
4. Appointments and Treatment Choices
Your health information may be used or shared to remind you of appointments. It may also be used to tell you about different ways you can be treated. Or it can be used to tell you about other health and services that you might like.
5. Family and Personal Representatives
We may share your health information with a relative. We may also share your health information with a close friend or other person who is involved in your care.
6. Business Associates
We work with others outside of iCare to provide certain services. These others are called business associates. Your health information may be given to them so they can do the job we ask them to do. They must also protect your health care information. For example, we work with a company to pay your claims.
7. Required by Law
Your health information may be used or shared as required by any federal, state or local law. This means that we may share information when:
• Requested by a court for legal reasons; • Needed by public health and Food and Drug Administration authorities; • Needed for administrative actions, such as Fair Hearings
8. Health Oversight
Your health information may be given to state or federal agencies to do reviews or to check on iCare. This helps the government to see what we are doing to meet civil rights or other laws.
9. Law Enforcement
Your health information may be shared if the law says we must. We will also share it if there is a valid court order to help identify or find suspects. We may also share it if it helps the law find a missing person or someone hiding from the law.
10. Serious Threats to Health or Safety
Your health information may be shared to prevent or lessen a serious threat to your health or safety. It may also be shared if there is a threat to the health and safety of the public.
11. Country’s Safety
Your health information may be shared for the safety of the country. It may also be shared for government benefit reasons. 12. Jails or Prisons
We may need to share your health information with jail or prison staff if you become an inmate.
13. Research
Your health information may be used for research needs. It will only be shared after steps are taken to protect your privacy. We will ask for your permission if the researcher asks for information that says who you are. We will also ask for your permission to share information with the researcher if they are giving you care.
14. Worker’s Compensation or Social Security Reviews
Your health information may be shared as needed to follow the laws related to worker’s compensation. It may also be shared to help decide if you can get social security benefits.
15. Coroners, Medical Examiners or Funeral Directors
Health information may be shared to help confirm the identity of a deceased person.
16. Organ Donations
Information may be given to agencies if you need an organ transplant. It may also be shared with agencies if you want to donate an organ.
17. Other Uses
At times we may need to use or share your health information for other reasons. Other uses and disclosures not described in this Notice will be made only with your consent. You may cancel your consent, but it must be done in writing. When you cancel your consent, we will no longer be able to use or share your health information as stated in the consent. But we will not be able to take back any use or sharing that was already made with your consent. You will be told as soon as possible after the information is shared.
18. Uses That Require an Authorization by You
There are certain times when we must ask for your written consent to use or disclose your health information. These uses include: • Use or disclosure of psychotherapy notes. We do not have to ask permission if the notes will be used by your provider in a lawsuit that you file against them. We do not have to ask permission to use the notes if they are used by your provider to help train other mental health providers. • Use for Marketing unless the communication is a face to face or a promotional gift to you of small value. • Sale of protected health information: iCare does not sell any member’s protected health information.
All questions about your rights must be in writing. You can send your written request to Member Advocate/Member Rights Specialist. Mail it to Independent Care Health Plan, 1555 N. RiverCenter Drive, Suite 206, Milwaukee, WI. 53212. You can also call our Member Advocate/Member Rights Specialist to help make your request at 1-800-777-4376.
1. Request Limits: You can ask us to limit some uses and sharing of your health information. But the law does not say we must agree to these limits, unless your request is to not disclose protected health information about a health care service you received that was paid for in full by you or by another person (other than an insurance company like iCare) on your behalf.
2. Request That You Be Informed About Your Health in a Way or at a Location That Will Keep Your Information Private: Your request will be evaluated. We will let you know if it can be done.
3. Inspect and Copy: You have the right to view and copy certain health information about you. You may request a review if you are denied access to these records. You may be charged a reasonable fee if you want extra copies of records.
4. Request a Change: You have the right to request us to change your health information that you believe is not correct or complete. You must give a reason for your request. We do not have to make the change. If we say no to your request, we will give you information about why we will not make the change. We will tell you how you can disagree with it.
5. Report of When Your Information Was Shared: You can ask for a list of when and why we shared your health information. This list will only be for reasons other than treatment, payment or health care operations. Your request should specify a period of up to six years. It may not include dates before April 14, 2003.
6. Paper Copy: You can ask to get a paper copy of this Notice at any time. Mail a written request to 1555 N. RiverCenter Dr. Suite 206, Milwaukee, WI 53212. You may also get a copy of this Notice at our web site: www.icarehealthplan.org.
We have the right to change the terms of this Notice at any time. The new Notice will be effective for all health information we have. This notice is posted to our web site. Until changes are made to the Notice, we will use this version. We will notify you if there are changes to this notice and how to obtain a copy.
You may complain to us if you believe your privacy rights have been violated. Complaints must be in writing. If you need help filing a complaint, contact our Member Advocate/Member Rights Specialist at 1-800-777-4376. You will not be treated any differently if you file a complaint.
You may also file a complaint with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services by writing to Office of Civil Rights, Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, D.C. 20201.
We must: • Keep your protected health information private. • Tell you about our legal duties. • Tell you about our privacy practices about your health information. • Stand by the terms of this notice. • Tell you if we cannot agree to a limit on how you want your information used or disclosed. • Notify you if there has been a breach of your protected health information. • Meet reasonable requests you may make to send health information by other means or to other locations.
If you have any questions or complaints, please contact us at: Toll Free 1-800-777-4376 TTY 1-800-947-3529 or 711
Effective Date of this notice: March 31, 2023
Interoperability is a new capability. It aims to give people access to their health information when they need it most and in a way they can best use it.
Learn more about iCare's approach to Interoperability.
This Internet Privacy Statement applies to this website owned and operated by Independent Care Health Plan (iCare). This internet privacy policy describes how iCare collects and uses the personal information you provide on our websites. It also describes the choices available to you regarding our use of your personal information and how you can access and update this information.
Relationships are built on trust. One of the most important elements of trust is respect for an individual's privacy. iCare values our relationship with you, and we take your personal privacy seriously.
If you have an unresolved privacy or data use concern that we have not addressed satisfactorily, please contact us at 1-800-777-4376.
Confidentiality is a top priority at iCare. We are committed to maintaining the highest level of confidentiality with all of the information we receive from this website's users. This Internet Privacy Statement assures you that the information you share with iCare is kept confidential and fully secure.
Links to other websites may be available to provide you with additional useful information and services. Links that take you off this website are clearly labeled. iCare is not responsible for the privacy policies or actions of those who control other websites. We encourage you to look for and review the privacy policies of any website you visit.
We may also partner with third parties to provide links to third-party websites to offer you additional information and services. You may see both the iCare logo and the third party's logo on these third-party websites. Users of these websites should be aware of who is collecting personal information and who's Internet Privacy Statement applies before providing personal information. iCare may not have control over third-party partners' use of your information.
Users of this website may have the option to provide certain personal information. This personal information may be required in order to receive specific services. By providing such information, you are agreeing that iCare may store, process, and review such information. And we may use this personal information for the purpose for which it was collected.
We may request certain personally identifiable information from our users at different places within this website. Our definition of personally identifiable information includes any information that may be used to specifically identify or contact you, such as your name, mail address, telephone number, cellular phone number, text message number, fax number, email address, etc. Certain information may not be personally identifiable when standing alone (e.g., your age), but may become so when combined with other information (e.g., your age and address). Providers have the ability to register for access to the secured Provider Portal. To access the secured area, providers will need to provide additional information such as name, address, National Provider Identifier number, a unique provider identification number (PIN) number supplied by iCare, and tax identification number. The purpose of the registration process is to verify and validate who is requesting access to the secured area of the website. Registration also enables us to tailor the information you receive.
We may use the voluntarily provided contact information to notify website users of updates to existing products and services, new products and services, or upcoming events. Website users who do not wish to receive such notifications via email or SMS (text) can choose to opt-out of receiving such information. It is our policy that email and SMS (text) messages will contain an "unsubscribe" and "STOP" function, along with instructions on how to execute the opt-out function.
Some website users may have the ability to opt-out of receiving email and SMS (text) messages by updating their communications preferences within the secured area of the website.
After completing the sign in process, website users have the option to change their password. If the website user forgets or misplaces their password, iCare will use the security question and response to identify the website user and grant access to the website. To change personally identifiable information, registered providers must contact the appropriate iCare contact as listed on the iCare Contact page.
We recognize that when website users choose to provide personal information, they trust that we will protect their privacy and will provide them with choices about how that information is to be shared. iCare will not sell, trade, rent or disclose the personal information that you provide unless you authorize us to do so or required to do so by law.
There are instances in which iCare may disclose website user's personal information to our agents, third-party partners, affiliates, and subsidiaries to enable them to perform functions on our behalf. These companies are only permitted to share, store and/or use personal information for contracted business purposes.
We may share your personal information when we believe that such action is necessary to:
Upon request, iCare will provide you with information about whether we hold any of your personal information. If your personal information changes, or if you no longer desire our service, you may correct, update, amend, delete/remove, ask to have it removed from our site or deactivate it by making the change on our member information page or by contacting iCare via the iCare Contact page of this website. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe.
We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services. We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
Information about you and your use of this website is collected through the use of session and persistent cookies. Session cookies are small text files that are stored within your computer’s memory. These files are used to facilitate your navigation throughout this website.
Persistent cookies are small computer files that are transferred to your computer's hard drive. These stored files are used in the generation of data that is fed to a contracted third party for website usage analysis. Reports created using this information will provide iCare with a better understanding of the use of this website.
iCare may work with third-party service providers who may place third-party persistent cookies, web beacons, or similar technologies on your computer as a visitor to our website to collect anonymous information about the use of our websites. This information allows these third-party service providers to customize our content and advertising. We do not permit these companies to collect any personal information about you using these technologies.
This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name or contact information) but may include device and usage information, such as your IP address, browser and device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, location, information about how and when you use our services and other technical information. This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our services, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes.
If you are concerned about the storage and use of cookies, you may be able to direct your internet browser to notify you and seek approval whenever a cookie is being sent to your hard drive. You can also opt-out from persistent cookies by changing the cookie settings in your browser. For instructions on how to disable cookies in some of the most popular web browsers, visit https://www.usa.gov/optout-instructions, opens new window. You may also delete a cookie manually from your hard drive through your internet browser or other programs. You can also set your browser to refuse all cookies. Please note, however, that some parts of this website may not function properly or be available to you if you refuse to accept a cookie or choose to disable the acceptance of cookies.
This website may respond to web browser "do not track" signals.
To gauge the effectiveness of this website, we may collect information about our website users. This information may include, among other things, your IP address, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), domain names, referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, clickstream data or other data elements. We may use this information to analyze trends, to administer the website, to track users' movements around the site, to assist in the development and implementation of security measures, provide a customized experience for website users and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole.
Our mobile application may collect additional information such as Device type, Device OS version, Device name, API method, etc. We may use this information to administer the application and to analyze application trends. Geo-location data includes ZIP code entered by the user for use within the Provider/Pharmacy search function.
This website may use Local Storage Objects (LSOs) such as HTML5 or Flash to store content information and preferences. In addition, third parties with whom we have partnered may provide certain features on this website using LSOs. Various browsers may offer their own management tools for removing or managing LSOs. Manage FLASH LSOs, opens new window.
Information that you share on the website is kept strictly confidential and fully secure. Your encrypted (encoded) sensitive information is protected using "Secure Socket Layers (SSL)" as it passes between your browser and this website. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it.
No method of transmission over the internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. Only authorized persons are permitted to access your personal information. All authorized persons must abide by security, privacy, and confidentiality agreements.
If you send questions or comments to an email address listed within this website or via a contact form located within this website, we will share your correspondence with an associate most capable of addressing your questions and concerns. We will retain your communications until we have done our very best to provide you with a complete and satisfactory response. Ultimately, we will either discard your communication or, in some cases, archive it. We will not keep your email address for secondary purposes. All information and correspondence you share with us will be handled in the strictest confidence.
We may agree that email has become a standard communication tool used by many different parties. Unfortunately, by design standard Internet email is not secure. For that reason, please do not use unsecured email to communicate information to us that you may consider to be confidential. Secured messaging may be available within the secured area of this website. Once you successfully sign in, you may be able to use this feature to communicate confidential or private information to iCare.
Residents of the State of California, under certain provisions of the California Civil Code, have the right to request from companies conducting business in California a list of all third parties to which the company has disclosed certain personally identifiable information as defined under California law during the preceding year for third-party direct marketing purposes. You are limited to one request per calendar year. In your request, please attest to the fact that you are a California resident and provide a current California address for our response. iCare is a subsidiary of Humana, Inc. You may request the information in writing by contacting the Humana Privacy Office, PO Box 1438, Louisville, KY 40202.
This website is not intended for use by children under the age of 18.
This Internet Privacy Statement is effective as of June 2021 and was last updated in June 2021. This Internet Privacy Statement is not intended to and does not create any contractual or other legal rights with or on behalf of any party.
If we decide to make any material change to this website's privacy practices, we will post those changes to this Internet Privacy Statement, the home page, and other places that we deem appropriate prior to the change becoming effective. iCare wants you to be aware of what information is being collected, how the information is being used, and under what circumstances, if any, the information may be disclosed. iCare reserves the right to modify this Internet Privacy Statement at any time, so please review it frequently.
This website is maintained by iCare, 1555 RiverCenter Drive, Suite 206, Milwaukee, WI 53212
Questions concerning this website can be directed to iCare Customer Service at 1-800-777-4376.
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