THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY,
The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a Federal program that requires that all medical records and other individually identifiable health information used or disclosed by us in any form, whether electronically, on paper, or orally are kept properly confidential. HIPAA gives you, the patient, the right to understand and control how your personal health information (PHI) is used. HIPAA provides penalties for covered entities that misuse personal health information.
As required by HIPAA, we prepared this explanation of how we are to maintain the privacy of your health information and how we may disclose your personal information.
We may use and disclose your medical records only for the following purposes: treatment, payment, and health care operation.
- Treatment means providing, coordinating, or managing healthcare and related services by one or mom healthcare providers. An example of this is if you are referred to a primary care doctor or another specialist.
- Payment means such activities as obtaining reimbursement for services, confirming coverage, billing or collections activities, and utilization review. An example of this would include sending your insurance company a bill for your visit.
- Health Care Operations include the business aspects of running our practice, such as conducting quality assessments and improving activities, auditing functions, cost management analysis, and customer service. An example of this would be patient survey cards.
- The practice may also be required or permitted to disclose your PHI for law enforcement or other legitimate reasons. In all situations, we shall do our best to assure its continued confidentiality to the extent possible.
We may also create and distribute de-identified health information by removing all reference to individually identifiable information.
We may contact you, by phone or in writing, to provide appointment reminders or information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services, in addition to other fundraising communications, that may be of interest to you. You do have the right to "opt out" with respect to receiving fundraising communications from us.
The following use and disclosures of PHI will only be made pursuant to us receiving a written authorization from you:
- Most uses and disclosure of psychotherapy notes (these am not part of your medical record under HIPAA);
- Uses and disclosure of your PHI for marketing purposes, including subsidized treatment and health care operations;
- Disclosures that constitute a sale of PHI under HIPAA; and
- Other uses and disclosures not described in this notice.
You may revoke such authorization in writing, and we are required to honor and abide by that written request, except to the extent that we have already taken actions relying on your prior authorization.
You may have the following rights with respect to your PHI.
- The right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of PHI, including those related to disclosures of family members, other relatives, close personal friends, or any other person identified by you. We are, however, not required to honor a request restriction except in limited circumstances which we shall explain if you ask. If we do agree to the restriction, we must abide by it unless you agree in writing to remove it.
- The right to reasonable requests to receive confidential communications of Protected Health Information by alternative means or at alternative locations.
- The right to inspect and copy your PHI. •
- The right to amend your PHI.
- The right to receive an accounting of disclosures of your PHI.
- The right to obtain a paper copy of this notice from us upon request.
- The right to be advised if your unprotected PHI is intentionally or unintentionally disclosed.
If you have paid for services but of pocket", in full and in advance, and you request that we not disclose PHI related solely to those services to a health plan, we will accommodate your request, except where we are required by law to make a disclosure.
We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your Protected Health Information and to provide you the notice of our legal duties and our privacy practice with respect to PHI.
