Disclaimer
All of the information provided is believed to be accurate and reliable; however, New Mexico Department of Health assumes no responsibility for any errors, appearing on the web site or otherwise. Further, New Mexico Department of Health assumes no responsibility for the use of the information provided.
New Mexico Department of Health specifically disclaims any and all liability for any claims or damages that may result from providing the web site or the information it contains, including any web sites maintained by third parties and linked to or from the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) web site.
Health Information Portability and Accountability Act
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 is federal legislation enforcing the portability of health care coverage, the security and privacy of health information, and an accounting of how individual health care formation is handled an protected.
The law was created to give individuals more control and access to their medical information, protect individually identifiable medical information (protected health information) from threats of loss or disclosure, and simplify the administration of health insurance claims and lower costs.
Regulations
Regulations supporting HIPAA punish individuals or organizations that fail to keep patient information confidential and include monetary fines of up to $1.5 million.
Principles
The New Mexico Department of Health operates under these principles:
- Confidentiality— Protected Health Information (PHI) is accessed only by authorized people and processes.
- Integrity— Processes for the transfer and storage of all PHI are secure, ensuring that information is not altered, destroyed or used/disclosed inappropriately.
- Availability— PHI can be accessed as needed by an authorized person.
Policy
The New Mexico Department of Health is required by law to keep your health information private and to tell you our legal duties and privacy practices. Our Health Information Privacy Policy explains what kinds of information we collect, what we do with the information, who else can see your information, what your rights are, how to register a complaint, and more.
Authorization to Disclose Health Information
NMDOH only keeps health records for facilities and Public Health Offices (contact your healthcare provider for all other records). Please use the following HIPAA forms to allow the NMDOH to disclose confidential health information about you:
For questions about disclosure of your health information, contact the NMDOH Chief Records Custodian:
Chief Records Custodian
New Mexico Department of Health
PO Box 26110, Santa Fe, NM 87502
Phone: 505-827-2997 Fax: 505-827-2930
Email: doh-ipra@state.nm.us
Learn More
Visit the Health Information Privacy website for a wealth of information about HIPAA.
Contact Us
For questions pertaining to NMDOH compliance with local, state or federal regulations in the information technology security realm, such as HIPAA/HITECH, please visit the Security Office section of our website.
Secure Certificates
In any instance where your personal information is communicated to us, you can be certain that not only are you communicating directly with us, but that it will not be intercepted by anyone. The technology we use to accomplish this is called a Secure Certificate and we purchase our certificates from the Comodo certificate authority.
It's not important that you understand the inner workings of this technology. Simply look for the lock icon in your web browser on certain pages of our site to verify that secure communication is enabled before submitting your personal information to us.
Website Visitor Privacy
We only collecting information that will help us make the site work better for you; let us contact you if you've asked us to, let us give you accurate local information if you need it and give us a sense of how people are using the site, so we can keep improving it.
Information We Collect
We collect the following information from people visiting the website:
- Questions and feedback including your email address, if you send us email
- Your IP address, and details of which browser you use
- How you use our site, using cookies and page tagging techniques
How We Use Your Information
Any information we collect is used to:
- Improve the content and design of the website.
- Contact visitors (with their permission) to respond to feedback.
We'll never share your information with other organizations for marketing, market research or commercial purposes, and we don't pass on your personal information to any other website.
Connecting to Other Websites
This site contains links to and from websites of government departments and other organizations. We should make it clear that this privacy policy (the one you're reading) only applies to this site.
If you go to another website from this one, please read the privacy policy on that website if you want to know what it does with your information.
Following a Link to Us from Another Website
When you come to our site from another website, we may get personal information about you from the other website. You should read the privacy policy of websites you visit that link you to our site if you want to know about this.
Cookies
We use small data files stored on your computer called 'cookies'. Most big websites do this. To make this site simpler, we sometimes place cookies on your computer.
They improve things by:
- Remembering settings and information, so you don't have to keep re-entering it.
- Measure how you use the website so we can make sure it meets your needs.
Our cookies aren't used to identify you personally. They're just here to make the site work better for you. You can manage and/or delete them as you wish. To learn more about cookies and how to manage them, visit the About Cookies website.
Copyright
Unless otherwise noted on an individual document, file, home page, or the like, New Mexico Department of Health grants permission to copy and distribute files, documents and information provided for non-commercial use, so long as they are not altered in any way and are copied and distributed in the format provided.
Accessibility Policy
The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) is committed to making its Web sites accessible to all users. We have included several features designed to improve accessibility. Some of these features are described below. Spanish translations will be provided when possible. We use various tools for site validation, including Functional Accessibility Evaluator (FAE), which is designed to identify barriers to accessibility in web pages.
We welcome comments on how to improve the site's accessibility for users with disabilities. NMDOH strives to achieve an accessible web site following Section 508 standards.
If you encounter any document that you are not able to access, please contact us. To enable us to respond in a manner most helpful to you, please indicate the nature of the accessibility problem, the preferred file format in which to receive the material, the web address of the requested material, and your contact information.
Notice of Nondiscrimination
The New Mexico Department of Health complies with applicable federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. The New Mexico Department of Health does not exclude people or treat them differently because of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.
The New Mexico Department of Health:
Will provide free aids and services to people with disabilities to communicate effectively with us, such as:
- Qualified sign language interpreters
- Written information in other formats (large print, audio, accessible electronic formats, other formats)
Provide free language services to people whose primary language is not English, such as:
- Qualified interpreters
- Information written in other languages
If you need these services, ask for assistance at this location or contact the Office for Health Equity. If you believe that the New Mexico Department of Health has failed to provide these services or discriminated in another way on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex, you can file a grievance with:
- Joaquin Baca, Health Equity Director
Office of Health Equity, New Mexico Department of Health
1190 S. St. Francis Drive, Suite S-4260
Santa Fe, NM 87505Phone: 505-827-2358
Fax: 505-827-2942
You can also file a civil rights complaint with the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, electronically through the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Portal or by contacting them at:
- USDepartment of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW Room 509F, HHH Building
Washington, D.C. 20201
1-800-368-1019, 800-537-7697 (TDD)
Complaint forms are available from the Civil Rights Complain Forms page.
This notice is available in both English and Spanish.
Inspection of Public Records Act
The Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) provides the public with access to information about governmental affairs. The law requires public access to virtually all public records with a few exceptions most records are available for public inspection.
Notice of Right to Inspect Public Records
By law, under the Inspection of Public Records Act, every person has the right to inspect public records of the New Mexico Department of Health. The Act also makes compliance with requests to inspect public records an integral part of the routine duties of the officers and employees of the New Mexico Department of Health.
Procedure for Requesting Inspection: Requests to inspect public records should be submitted to the Chief Records Custodian, located at:
Chief Records Custodian
New Mexico Department of Health
PO Box 26110, Santa Fe, NM 87502
Phone: 505-827-2997 Fax: 505-827-2930
Email: doh-ipra@state.nm.us
A person desiring to inspect public records may submit a request to the chief records custodian orally or in writing. However, the procedures and penalties prescribed by the Act apply only to written requests. A written request must contain the name, address, and telephone number of the person making the request. The request must describe the records sought in sufficient detail to enable the chief records custodian to identify and locate the requested records. For convenience, the Department of Health has an Inspection of Public Records Request Form for requests. You are not required to use the form.
The Act allows agencies to charge a reasonable fee for copies of public records. The New Mexico Department of Health charges a fee of $0.25 per page for copying and charges the actual cost for a CD or jump drive for electronic copies that cannot be emailed.
General Inquiries
For general inquiries that do not include a request for public records, please contact us at our 505-827-2613 number.
Electronic Requests
The most efficient way to place an official request to inspect NMDOH records is to fill out the Inspection of Public Records Request Form and email it to doh-ipra@state.nm.us for processing. You may instead fax the completed form to 505-827-2930.
Telephone Requests
Alternately you can also make requests verbally over the telephone by calling the Chief Records Custodian directly at 505-827-2997 during normal business hours. Please be ready to provide all information outlined on the Inspection of Public Records Request Form when you call.
Learn More
Please inspect the comprehensive Inspection of Public Records Compliance Guide publication if you have any questions regarding IPRA requirements or its application.