Privacy
MIT Medical Confidential
Patient confidentiality is an essential aspect of excellent medical and mental health care. At MIT Medical, all health information is treated confidentially and protected to the fullest extent permissible by law. MIT Medical employees agree in writing to uphold our privacy practices, and violations are grounds for disciplinary action. Establishing trust is a critical component of how we work and what we do.
Safeguarded by Law
The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Massachusetts law support our commitment to confidentiality by regulating the privacy protection of patients’ medical information, which includes any information that could be used to identify you or that relates to your health condition, health care, or payment for health care.
MIT Medical employees must adhere to HIPAA and to MIT Medical’s own privacy policy, which provides for strict protection of your health information. Your health information may be used on a need-to-know basis for treatment, billing, and MIT Medical’s internal operations such as quality improvement and training. There are other times when MIT Medical must, or is allowed to, disclose health information without your permission, such as for law enforcement purposes, in the event of your death, for the purpose of tracking diseases, for national security purposes, to send appointment reminders or recommend alternate treatment, or, unless you object, to contact friends or family members involved in your care or payment for your care. For more information about routine and non-routine uses and disclosures of your health information, see MIT Medical’s Notice of Privacy Practices (PDF).
Student-Provider Confidentiality
According to MIT Medical policy, MIT students are not considered minors, regardless of age. For students, this means parents and other family members are not given information about your medical care unless you want them to be or they have to be, such as in the case of a life-threatening medical condition or a condition that renders you unable to make decisions about your own health care.
We encourage you to review our privacy practices for both MIT Medical and our health plans.
- Notice of Privacy Practices for MIT Medical (PDF)
- Notice of Privacy Practices for the Traditional MIT Health Plan, Flexible MIT Health Plan, Kwajalein Option, MIT Student Extended Insurance Plan, and MIT Affiliate Extended Insurance Plan (PDF)
If you have questions or concerns, please contact one of our privacy officers at privacy@med.mit.edu, or call:
- Yolette Lecorps, privacy officer, MIT Medical, 617-253-2320
- Lucy Walsh, privacy officer, MIT Health Plans, 617-253-1322
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