|
|
 |
|
|
System
name: Disability Claims of the Nursing
Student Loan Program, HHS/HRSA/BPHC.
Security classification: None.
System location:
- Division
of Student Assistance, Bureau of Health Professions,
Health Resources and Services Administration,
5600 Fishers Lane, Room 8-34, Rockville, MD
20857.
- Washington National Records
Center, 4204 Suitland Road, Suitland, MD 20409.
Categories of individuals covered by
the system: Applicants for cancellation
of nursing student loans due to disability.
Categories of records
in the system: Letter requests claiming
disability, correspondence, payment determinations
and medical records or reports.
Authority for maintenance
of the system: Section 836 of the Public
Health Service Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 29Th),
Nursing Student Loan Provisions.
Purpose(s):
To determine the eligibility of applicants who
request loan cancellation due to total and permanent
disability.
Routine uses of records
maintained in the system, including categories
of users and the purposes of such uses:
Disclosure may be made to a
congressional office from the record of an individual
in response to a verified inquiry from the congressional
office made at the written request of that individual.
In the event of litigation where the defendant
is
-
Disclosure may be made to a congressional
office from the record of an individual in
response to a verified inquiry from the congressional
office made at the written request of that
individual.
-
In the event of litigation where the defendant
is:
-
The Department, any component of the Department,
or any employee of the Department in his
or her official capacity;
-
The United States where the Department
determines that the claim, if successful,
is likely to directly affect the operations
of the Department or any of its components;
or
-
Any Department employee in his or her
individual capacity where the Justice
Department has agreed to represent such
employee, for example in defending a claim
against the Public Health Service based
upon an individualTs mental or physical
condition and alleged to have arisen because
of activities of the Public Health Service
in connection with such individual, disclosure
may be made to the Department of Justice
to enable that Department to present an
effective defense, provided that such
disclosure is compatible with the purpose
for which the records were collected.
-
In the event that a system of records maintained
by this agency to carry out its functions
indicates a violation or potential violation
of law, whether civil, criminal or regulatory
in nature, and whether arising by general
statute or particular program statute, or
by regulation, rule or order issued pursuant
thereto, the relevant records in the system
of records may be referred to the appropriate
agency, whether Federal, State or local, charged
with enforcing or implementinq the statute
or rule, regulation or order issued pursuant
thereto.
Policies and practices for storing,
retrieving, accessing, retaining, and disposing
of records in the system:
- Storage:
File folders. Medical records and reports
are temporarily held during medical evaluation
and then returned to and retained by nursing
schools upon final determination of claim
validity.
-
Retrievability: Name
of individual.
-
Safeguards:
- Authorized
users: Access to Borrower’s Files
is limited to only those individuals within
the Department having a substantiated
need for information. These individuals
must have available proof of employment.
-
Physical safeguards: File folders, medical
records, reports and other forms of personal
data are stored in areas where files are
locked or rooms locked during off duty
hours.
- Procedural
safeguards: All users of personal information
in connection with the performance of
their job protect information from public
view and from unauthorized personnel entering
an unsupervised office. Access to records
is strictly limited to those staff members
training in accordance with the Privacy
Act.
- Implementation
guidelines: HHS Chapter 45-13 and supplementary
Chapter PHS.hf: 45-13 of the General dministration
Manual.
Retention and disposal:
Records will be retained for 6 years
after phase out of loan program; 1 year on site
and 5 years at the Federal Records Center. Records
are disposed of in accordance with the Records
Control Schedule of the Health Resources and
Services Administration. Contact the System
Manager for the disposal standards.
System manager(s) and
address:
-
Associate Division Director, Office for Campus
Based Programs, Division of Student Assistance,
Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources
and Services Administration, 5600 Fishers
Lane, Room 8-34, Rockville, MD 20857.
Notification procedure:
Request must be made to the System
Manager. An individual who requests notification
of, or access to, a medical record shall at
the time the request is made, designate in writing
a responsible representative who will be willing
to review the record and inform the subject
individual of its contents at the representative’s
discretion.
Requests in person:
A subject individual who appears in
person at a specific location seeking access
or disclosure of records relating to him/her
shall provide his/her name, current address,
and at least one piece of tangible identification
such as driver’s license, passport, voter
registration card, or union card. Identification
papers with current photographs are preferred
but not required. Additional identification
may be requested when there is a request for
access to records which contain an apparent
discrepancy between information contained in
the record and that provided by the individual
requesting access to the record. No verification
of identity shall be required where the record
is one which is required to be disclosed under
the Freedom of Information Act.
Requests by mail: Requests
for information and/or access to records received
by mail must contain information providing the
identity of the writer and a reasonable description
of the record desired. Written requests must
contain the name and address of the requester,
his/her date of birth and at least one piece
of information which is also contained in the
subject record, and his/ her signature f or
comparison purposes.
Requests by telephone:
Since positive identification of the
caller cannot be established, telephone requests
are not honored.
Record access procedures:
Contact the Systems Manager and give a reasonable
description of the record. An individual who
requests access of a medical record shall at
the time the request is made, designate in writing
a responsible representative who will be willing
to review the record and inform the subject
individual of its contents at the representative’s
discretion.
Contesting record procedures:
Contact the System Manager and reasonably
identify the record, specify the information
being contested, and state corrective action
sought with supporting justification. The right
to contest records is limited to information
which is incomplete, irrelevant, incorrect,
or untimely (obsolete) Record source categories:
Individual claimants.
Systems exempted from
certain provisions of the act: None.
|
