• follow up on your care
• ask you how well we cared for you.
We may leave voice messages at the telephone
number you give to us. If you choose to have us
contact you by text, texting charges may apply.
To Tell You about Treatment Options or
Health-related Products and Services
We may use or share your information to let you
know about treatment options or health-related
products or services that may interest you.
For Fundraising
We may use your name, address, phone number,
the dates and places you got services at VUMC,
and the names of your doctors to contact you
to try to raise money for VUMC. You have the
right to ask not to be contacted for fundraising.
If we contact you, we will tell you how to
prevent future contact if you wish.
For the Hospital Directory
If you are admitted to the hospital, your name,
where you are in the hospital, your general
condition (such as “fair” or “stable”), and your
religion is included in the patient directory at
the information desk. This helps family, friends,
and clergy visit you and learn your condition.
Except for your religion, this information may
be shared with visitors or phone callers who
ask for you by name. Unless you tell us not to,
your religion may be shared with a member of
the clergy, such as a priest or rabbi, even if you
aren’t asked for by name.
If you ask us to take your name from the
directory, we will not share your information
even if you are asked for by name.
To Inform Family Members and Friends Involved
in Your Care or Paying for Your Care
We may share information about you with
family members and friends who are involved
in your care or paying for your care. Whenever
possible, we will allow you to tell us who
you would like to be involved in your care.
However, in emergencies or other situations in
which you are unable to tell us who to share
information with, we will use our best judgment
and share only information that others need to
know. We may also share information about you
with a public or private agency during a disaster
so that the agency can help contact your family
or friends to tell them where you are and how
you are doing.
For Research
We may use and share medical information
about you for the research we do to improve
public health and develop new knowledge.
For example, a research project may compare
the health and recovery of patients who
received one medicine for an illness to those
who received a different medicine for the same
illness. We use and share your information for
research only as allowed by federal and state
rules. Each research project is approved through
a special process that balances the research
needs with the patient’s need for privacy. In
most cases, if the research involves your care
or the sharing of medical information that can
identify you, we will rst explain to you how
your information will be used and ask your
consent to use the information. We may access
your medical information before the approval
process to design the research project and
provide the information needed for approval.
Health information used to prepare a research
project does not leave VUMC.
MC 2740 (09/2013)
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