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U.S. Department of Health & Human Services - Office for Civil Rights
<!DOCTYPE html> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en" dir="ltr"><head id="j_idt2"> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=9" /><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="/ocr/javax.faces.resource/theme.css.jsf;jsessionid=1E5219D10FFC2CF533853070C8715B15?ln=primefaces-nova-light&v=12.0.3&e=12.0.4" /><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="/ocr/javax.faces.resource/primeicons/primeicons.css.jsf;jsessionid=1E5219D10FFC2CF533853070C8715B15?ln=primefaces&v=12.0.3&e=12.0.4" /><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="/ocr/javax.faces.resource/components.css.jsf;jsessionid=1E5219D10FFC2CF533853070C8715B15?ln=primefaces&v=12.0.3&e=12.0.4" /><script type="text/javascript" src="/ocr/javax.faces.resource/jquery/jquery.js.jsf;jsessionid=1E5219D10FFC2CF533853070C8715B15?ln=primefaces&v=12.0.3&e=12.0.4"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="/ocr/javax.faces.resource/jquery/jquery-plugins.js.jsf;jsessionid=1E5219D10FFC2CF533853070C8715B15?ln=primefaces&v=12.0.3&e=12.0.4"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="/ocr/javax.faces.resource/core.js.jsf;jsessionid=1E5219D10FFC2CF533853070C8715B15?ln=primefaces&v=12.0.3&e=12.0.4"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="/ocr/javax.faces.resource/components.js.jsf;jsessionid=1E5219D10FFC2CF533853070C8715B15?ln=primefaces&v=12.0.3&e=12.0.4"></script><script type="text/javascript">if(window.PrimeFaces){PrimeFaces.settings.locale='en';PrimeFaces.settings.viewId='/smartscreen/main.xhtml';PrimeFaces.settings.contextPath='/ocr';PrimeFaces.settings.cookiesSecure=false;}</script> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <title>U.S. Department of Health & Human Services - Office for Civil Rights</title> <link rel="Shortcut Icon" href="/ocr/images/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" /> <link href="/ocr/css/ocr-portal.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="/ocr/css/navigation_ocr.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="/ocr/css/primary.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="/ocr/css/skip.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="/ocr/css/headerNavigation.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="/ocr/css/content.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="/ocr/css/smartscreen.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="/ocr/css/pf-overrides.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <script src="/ocr/js/util.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="/ocr/js/locale.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="/ocr/js/ocr-portal.js" type="text/javascript"></script></head><body> <div id="top"></div> <div id="container"> <form id="headerNavigation" name="headerNavigation" method="post" action="/ocr/smartscreen/main.jsf;jsessionid=1E5219D10FFC2CF533853070C8715B15" enctype="application/x-www-form-urlencoded"> <input type="hidden" name="headerNavigation" value="headerNavigation" /> <div class="" id="skip"> <ul id="skiplinks"> <li><a href="#bodyContent" tabindex="0" title="Skip">Skip to content</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="level1"> <div class="header"> <div id="navigationNew"> <div class="site-controls-greybar"><img src="/ocr/images/cap_left_dkgrey_systemutil.gif;jsessionid=1E5219D10FFC2CF533853070C8715B15" alt="" height="28" style="border: 0; vertical-align: middle" width="19" /><a href="/ocr/smartscreen/main.jsf;jsessionid=1E5219D10FFC2CF533853070C8715B15" class="headerLink">Home</a> | <a href="http://www.hhs.gov" class="headerLink">HHS</a> | <a href="http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/office/index.html" class="headerLink">Office for Civil Rights</a> | <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/ocr/about-us/contact-us/index.html" class="headerLink">Contact Us</a> </div> <div class="site-controls-greybar-lt"><img src="/ocr/images/back_left_ltgrey_systemutil_sm.gif;jsessionid=1E5219D10FFC2CF533853070C8715B15" alt="" height="28" style="border: 0; vertical-align: middle" width="25" /> <div class="site-controls-greybar-lt-bkgrnd"><img src="/ocr/images/clear.gif;jsessionid=1E5219D10FFC2CF533853070C8715B15" alt="" height="28" style="border: 0; vertical-align: middle" width="1" /> <img src="/ocr/images/icons/icon_user.gif" alt="user icon" title="Welcome" width="16" height="16" border="0" align="absmiddle" class="sc-icon" /> Welcome </div> </div> </div> <h1 id="header-logo" class="h1"> <div id="titleContent"> U.S. Department of Health and Human Services<br /> Office for Civil Rights<br /> <div class="titleDivider"></div> Complaint Portal Assistant </div> </h1> </div> </div> <div id="bannerSection"> <div id="bannerImageWrapper"> <img src="/ocr/images/1680x100sittingAtComputer2.jpg" alt="Person sitting at a laptop" width="1680" height="100" class="bannerImage" /> </div> </div><input type="hidden" name="javax.faces.ViewState" id="j_id1:javax.faces.ViewState:0" value="-4925700662744405232:-4172754810362414047" autocomplete="off" /> </form> <div class="divider"></div> <div id="mainContent"> <div class="pageInstructions"> <a name="bodyContent"></a><div id="ocrMessage" class="ui-messages ui-widget" aria-live="polite"></div><script id="ocrMessage_s" type="text/javascript">$(function(){PrimeFaces.cw("Messages","widget_ocrMessage",{id:"ocrMessage"});});</script> <div class="content"> <script> function confirmLeave() { if (confirm("You are leaving this site. Do you want to proceed?")) { return true; } return false; } </script> <form id="ocrForm" name="ocrForm" method="post" action="/ocr/smartscreen/main.jsf;jsessionid=1E5219D10FFC2CF533853070C8715B15" enctype="multipart/form-data"> <input type="hidden" name="ocrForm" value="ocrForm" /> <div id="contentWrapper"> <div class="content"> <h2>Complaint Portal Assistant</h2> <div> <p> The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR), enforces federal civil rights laws, conscience and religious freedom laws, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules, and the Patient Safety Act and Rule, which together protect your fundamental rights of nondiscrimination, conscience, religious freedom, and health information privacy at covered entities. </p> <ol start="1" style="padding-left:20px"> <li><strong>Federal Civil Rights Laws</strong> help to protect you from unfair treatment or discrimination because of your race, color, national origin, disability, age, or sex. </li> </ol> <ol start="2" style="padding-left:20px"> <li><strong>Federal Conscience and Religious Freedom Laws</strong> help to protect you from coercion, discrimination on the basis of conscience or religion, and burdens on the free exercise of religion. </li> </ol> <p style="margin-left: 20px;"> If you believe that a <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-providers/provider-obligations/index.html#whatis" target="_blank">covered entity</a> discriminated against you or violated your (or someone else's) civil rights, conscience rights, or religious freedom rights, you may file a complaint with OCR. You may file a complaint for yourself, your organization, or for someone else. </p> <div style="margin-left: 20px;"> The following are some examples of potential covered entities (including institutions and personnel) that must abide by federal civil rights, conscience, and religious freedom laws: </div> <div style="margin-left: 4em;"> • State and local government agencies that are responsible for administering health care • State and local government income assistance and human service agencies • Hospitals • Medicaid and Medicare providers • Physicians and other health care professionals in private practice with patients assisted by Medicaid • Family health centers • Community mental health centers • Alcohol and drug treatment centers • Nursing homes • Foster care homes • Public and private adoption and foster care agencies • Day care centers • Senior citizen centers • Nutrition programs • Any entity established under the Affordable Care Act • Health insurance plans or companies • HMOs • Pharmacies • Homeless shelters • Health researchers. </div> <ol start="3" style="padding-left:20px"> <li><strong>The HIPAA Privacy Rule</strong> is a federal law that gives you rights over your health information and sets rules and limits on who can look at and receive your health information. The Privacy Rule applies to all forms of individuals' protected health information, whether electronic, written, or oral. The <strong>HIPAA Security Rule</strong> is a federal law that requires security for health information in electronic form. In addition, the <strong>Patient Safety Act and Rule</strong> establishes a voluntary reporting system to enhance the data available to assess and resolve patient safety and health care quality issues, and provides confidentiality protections for patient safety concerns. </li> </ol> <p style="margin-left: 20px;"> If you believe that a covered entity violated your (or someone else's) health information privacy rights or committed another violation under the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules or the Patient Safety Act and Rule, you may file a complaint with OCR. The following are some examples of covered entities that must meet the requirements of the federal Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Rules: • Health Plans • Health care clearinghouses • and Health care providers that conduct a portion of their business electronically using a HIPAA covered transaction. OCR can investigate complaints against covered entities and their business associates. You may file a complaint for yourself, your organization, or for someone else. </p> </div> <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold">Question 1 - What is the nature of your complaint?</span> <br /><br /> <fieldset class="noBorders"> <legend class="hidden">Nature of the complaint</legend><table id="ocrForm:inputBreachType" role="radiogroup" class="ui-selectoneradio ui-widget" aria-required="true"><tr role="radio" aria-checked="false"><td><div class="ui-radiobutton ui-widget"><div class="ui-helper-hidden-accessible"><input id="ocrForm:inputBreachType:0" name="ocrForm:inputBreachType" type="radio" value="CR" /></div><div class="ui-radiobutton-box ui-widget ui-corner-all ui-state-default"><span class="ui-radiobutton-icon ui-icon ui-icon-blank ui-c"></span></div></div><label for="ocrForm:inputBreachType:0">Violation of Civil Rights (Based on Race, Color, National Origin, Disability, Age, or Sex)</label></td></tr><tr role="radio" aria-checked="false"><td><div class="ui-radiobutton ui-widget"><div class="ui-helper-hidden-accessible"><input id="ocrForm:inputBreachType:1" name="ocrForm:inputBreachType" type="radio" value="CRF" /></div><div class="ui-radiobutton-box ui-widget ui-corner-all ui-state-default"><span class="ui-radiobutton-icon ui-icon ui-icon-blank ui-c"></span></div></div><label for="ocrForm:inputBreachType:1">Violation of Conscience or Religious Freedom</label></td></tr><tr role="radio" aria-checked="false"><td><div class="ui-radiobutton ui-widget"><div class="ui-helper-hidden-accessible"><input id="ocrForm:inputBreachType:2" name="ocrForm:inputBreachType" type="radio" value="HIP" /></div><div class="ui-radiobutton-box ui-widget ui-corner-all ui-state-default"><span class="ui-radiobutton-icon ui-icon ui-icon-blank ui-c"></span></div></div><label for="ocrForm:inputBreachType:2">Violation of Privacy or Security of Health Information (HIPAA)</label></td></tr></table><script id="ocrForm:inputBreachType_s" type="text/javascript">$(function(){PrimeFaces.cw("SelectOneRadio","widget_ocrForm_inputBreachType",{id:"ocrForm:inputBreachType",unselectable:false});});</script> </fieldset> <br /><button id="ocrForm:j_idt34" name="ocrForm:j_idt34" class="ui-button ui-widget ui-state-default ui-corner-all ui-button-text-only" onclick="PrimeFaces.ab({s:"ocrForm:j_idt34",f:"ocrForm"});return false;" type="submit"><span class="ui-button-text ui-c">Next</span></button><script id="ocrForm:j_idt34_s" type="text/javascript">$(function(){PrimeFaces.cw("CommandButton","widget_ocrForm_j_idt34",{id:"ocrForm:j_idt34"});});</script> <br /><br /><br /> If you have any questions or need help filing a civil rights, conscience or religious freedom, or health information privacy complaint, you may email OCR at <a href="mailto:OCRMail@hhs.gov">OCRMail@hhs.gov</a> or call the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights toll-free at: 1-800-368-1019, TDD: 1-800-537-7697. <br /><br /> We provide alternative formats (such as Braille and large print), auxiliary aids and services (such as a relay service), and language assistance. </div> </div><input type="hidden" name="javax.faces.ViewState" id="j_id1:javax.faces.ViewState:1" value="-4925700662744405232:-4172754810362414047" autocomplete="off" /> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div> </div> <div id="footerNew"> <div id="footerContent"> U.S. Department of Health & Human Services - 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. - Washington, D.C. 20201 <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/vulnerability-disclosure-policy/index.html" style="float: right; color:#FFFFFF;">HHS Vulnerability Disclosure</a> </div> <div id="footerPadding"></div> </div> </div></body> </html>