HIPAA notice

Notice of Privacy Practices

This notice explains how Beta Hospice Care, Inc. may use and share medical information about our patients, the rights each patient has over that information, and our legal duties to protect it. Federal law (HIPAA, at 45 CFR 164.520) requires us to give this notice to every patient and to post it on our website. California law gives added protection, which this notice also describes.

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

Effective date: September 24, 2026

Privacy officer: reach the person responsible for privacy at (909) 347-7000, info@betahospice.com, or 1525 N D Street, Suite 10, San Bernardino, CA 92405. Jack Demirchyan, Chief Operating Officer

Who follows this notice

Beta Hospice Care, Inc., its employees, volunteers, students and contracted staff who take part in your care or handle your record. "Medical information" here means information that identifies you and relates to your health, your care or payment for your care. HIPAA calls it protected health information.

How we may use and share your information without your written authorization

The law allows these uses for treatment, payment and health care operations.

Uses and disclosures for treatment, payment and health care operations
Purpose	What it means	Example
Treatment	To provide, coordinate and manage your care.	Your hospice nurse shares your symptoms and medicine list with your attending physician, the pharmacy that fills your comfort medicines, and staff at the facility where you live.
Payment	To bill and be paid for the care we give.	We send Medicare, Medi-Cal or your health plan the certification of terminal illness and the dates and level of care you received.
Health care operations	To run the hospice and keep up the quality of care.	We review records to check the quality of our care, train staff, prepare for state and accreditation surveys, and report required quality data to Medicare.

Other uses and disclosures the law allows or requires without authorization

In each case we share only what the law allows, and California law may limit us further.

When required by law. Any disclosure that federal, state or local law requires.
Public health activities. For example, reporting certain diseases, reporting deaths, and reporting problems with medicines or medical devices.
Abuse, neglect or domestic violence. Reports to the agencies the law names, including reports of suspected elder or dependent adult abuse that California law requires us to make.
Health oversight. Audits, inspections, surveys and investigations by agencies such as the California Department of Public Health, Medicare and its contractors, and our accrediting body.
Court and administrative proceedings. In response to a court order, or to a subpoena or similar request when the law's conditions are met.
Law enforcement. In limited situations the law sets out, such as a court-ordered warrant or to report a crime on our premises.
Coroners, medical examiners and funeral directors. So they can carry out their duties. This is a routine part of hospice care at the time of a death.
Organ, eye and tissue donation. To organizations that handle donation, as the law requires or allows.
Research. Beta Hospice does not currently take part in research studies. If that changes, we will update this notice before any information is used for research, and any use would follow the strict conditions the law sets, such as approval by a review board.
To prevent a serious threat to the health or safety of a person or the public.
Special government functions. Such as military and veterans' activities and national security, as the law allows.
Workers' compensation. As needed to follow workers' compensation laws.
Business associates. Vendors who handle medical information for us, such as our electronic record and billing vendors, under a written contract that requires them to protect it.
After death. We protect a patient's information for 50 years after death. We may share relevant information with family members and others who were involved in the person's care or payment for care, unless the person told us not to. The patient's personal representative may exercise the rights in this notice.

Uses where you can agree or object

Unless you tell us not to, and using our professional judgment if you cannot say:

Family, friends and others involved in your care. We may share information that is directly relevant to their part in your care or in paying for it, and tell them your location and general condition. In hospice this usually means the caregivers you have named. Tell us whom we may and may not talk to.
Disaster relief. We may share information with a disaster relief organization so your family can be told where you are and how you are.
Bereavement support. After a death we contact the family members the patient or family named, to offer grief support. Any family member can decline at any time.

Uses that need your written authorization

Marketing. We will not use or share your information for marketing without your written authorization.
Sale of information. We will never sell your medical information without your written authorization.
Psychotherapy notes. Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes, if we keep any, need your authorization.
Stories, photos and testimonials. We will not use your name, words or image in any public material without written authorization from you or your personal representative.
Anything else not described in this notice. You may cancel an authorization in writing at any time. Canceling stops future use. It cannot undo what was already done in reliance on it.
Fundraising. Beta Hospice does not use your information to contact you for fundraising.

Stronger protections under California and other laws

When California law protects your information more than HIPAA does, we follow California law. The Confidentiality of Medical Information Act and other state laws set stricter rules for some disclosures and for certain kinds of information, such as HIV test results, mental health records, and substance use disorder treatment records.

If we receive substance use disorder treatment records that are protected by federal rule 42 CFR Part 2, we handle them under that rule's stricter limits: we do not disclose them without your written consent except where that rule allows, and they may not be used against you in criminal, civil, administrative or legislative proceedings without your consent or a court order that meets the rule's requirements.

Your rights over your medical information

To use any of these rights, contact the privacy officer named at the top of this notice. We may ask for the request in writing.

Individual rights under HIPAA and how to use them
Your right	What it means
To see and get a copy of your record	You can ask to see or get a paper or electronic copy of your medical and billing records. We will respond within the time the law allows. California law sets shorter times than HIPAA: you can inspect your records within 5 working days of your request, and copies are sent within 15 days. Copies may cost up to 25 cents per page plus reasonable clerical costs, and there is no charge when the records are needed to support a claim for public benefits (Health and Safety Code section 123110). You can ask us to send a copy to another person.
To ask for a correction	You can ask us to amend information you think is wrong or incomplete. We may say no in some cases, and we will tell you why in writing within 60 days. You can then add a statement of disagreement to your record.
To ask for confidential communications	You can ask us to contact you in a certain way or at a certain place, for example only on a cell phone or at a different mailing address. We will agree to all reasonable requests.
To ask us to limit what we use or share	You can ask us not to use or share certain information for treatment, payment or operations. We are not required to agree, and we may say no if it would affect your care. If you pay for a service in full yourself, you can ask us not to share information about it with your health plan for payment or operations, and we will agree unless a law requires the disclosure.
To get a list of certain disclosures	You can ask for an accounting of the times we shared your information in the six years before your request, who received it and why. It does not include disclosures for treatment, payment and operations, or those you authorized. One list in any 12 months is provided without charge. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for more.
To get a paper copy of this notice	You can ask for a paper copy at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically.
To choose someone to act for you	If you have given someone a health care power of attorney, or if someone is your legal guardian or conservator, that person can use your rights and make choices about your information. We confirm the person's authority before we act.
To be told about a breach	We will notify you promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.

Our duties

We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
We are required to give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices.
We are required to notify you following a breach of your unsecured protected health information.
We must follow the terms of the notice currently in effect.
We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us in writing that we can.

Changes to this notice

We reserve the right to change this notice and to make the new notice apply to all the medical information we hold, including information we already have. The current notice is always posted on this page and available at our office, and we will give you a copy on request.

How to file a privacy complaint

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may complain to us or to the federal government. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

To complain to Beta Hospice, contact the privacy officer at (909) 347-7000, info@betahospice.com, or 1525 N D Street, Suite 10, San Bernardino, CA 92405.

To complain to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights: file online through the OCR complaint portal (opens in a new tab), write to 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201, or call 1-877-696-6775. More information is at hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint (opens in a new tab).

This notice and our website

This notice is about medical information. For how the website itself handles visitor information, see the website privacy policy and the cookie policy. For your rights as a hospice patient more broadly, see patient rights.