Beginning on April 14, 2003, ambulance service providers will be required to provide notice of their privacy practices to patients. The following information and document links provides information that you can use to provide patients with the privacy practices of your operation and, if necessary, to obtain their signature acknowledging that they have reviewed the notice. These documents will meet the privacy notice requirements of HIPAA. NON-EMERGENT TRANSPORTS For non-emergency trips, privacy notice must be given to individuals with the provider making a good faith attempt to get a signed acknowledgement from him or her, and if unable to do so, the provider must keep a written record of the attempt and the reason why the acknowledgement was not obtained (e.g., patient was unconscious or in an agitated mental state). EMERGENCY SITUATIONS In emergency treatment situations, which would include responding to an emergency dispatches, the provider is required to provide notice to the individual as soon as practicable after the emergency treatment situations ends. However, the requirement for making a good faith effort to obtain a written acknowledgement does not apply in emergency situations. In an emergency situation, therefore, you need only keep a record of how you provided the privacy notice to the individual. It may be practical in your operation to have an arrangement with the hospital to have the notice delivered to the individual when he or she is stabilized as part of the facility's HIPAA privacy notice requirements. HELPFUL RESOURCES SAMPLE AUTHORIZATION HIPAA DECISION TREEA flow chart for use in determining whether particular arrangements have with third parties (e.g., billing agents) require you to enter into a Business Associate Agreement with that party under the Privacy regulations. BUSINESS ASSOCIATE AGREEMENT TEMPLATE A template for such an agreement if you determine it is required under the regulations. Minimum Necessary Standard of HIPAA Privacy Rule MORE HIPAA INFO | 
