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| HIPAA Privacy Policy
| | | | Effective Date April 14th,
2003 |
|
This notice describes how medical
information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to
this information. Please review. If you have any questions about this notice,
please contact Us. Effective until further notice. |
| We are required by law
to: |
 | Maintain the privacy of protected health
information |
 | Give you this notice
of our legal duties and privacy practices regarding your health
information |
 | Follow the terms of
the notice currently in effect. |
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| How we may use and disclose your health
information: |
Described as follows are the ways we may use and disclose your
health information. Except for the following purposes we will use and disclose
your health information only with your written permission. You may revoke such
permission at any time by written request. |
 | Treatment. |
| | We may use and disclose your health
information for your treatment and to provide you with treatment-related
health care services. For example, we may disclose your health information to
doctors, nurses, technicians, or other personnel, including people outside our
office, who are involved in your medical care and need the information to
provide you with medical care. |
 | Payment. |
| | We may use and disclose your health
information so that others or we may bill and receive payment from you, an
insurance company, or a third party for the treatment and services you
received. For example, we may give information to your health plan so that
they will pay for your treatment. |
 | Health Care Operations. |
|
| We may use and disclose your
health information to evaluate and improve our medical care and to operate and
manage our office. For example, we may use and disclose information to a peer
review organization or a health plan that is evaluating our care. We may also
share information with others that have a relationship with you for their
health care operation activities. |
 | Appointment Reminders, Treatment Alternatives, and Health-Related
Benefits and Services. |
| | We may use and disclose your health
information to contact you and remind you of your appointment, to tell you
about treatment alternatives or health-related benefits and services you could
use. |
 | Individuals Involved
in Your Care or Payment for Your Care. |
|
| When appropriate, we may share
your health information with a person involved in, or paying for, your care
(such as your family or a close friend). We may notify your family about your
location or condition or disclose such information to an entity assisting in
disaster relief. |
 | Research. |
| | We may use and disclose your health
information for research. For example, a research project may involve
comparing the health of patients who received one treatment to those who
received another for the same condition. Before we do so, the project needs to
go through a special approval process. Even without special approval, we may
permit researchers to look at records to help identify patients who may be
included in their research, as long as they do not remove or copy any of your
health information. |
 | As Required by Law |
| | We will disclose your health information
when required to do so by international, federal, state or local
law. |
 | To Avert a Serious
Threat to Health or Safety. |
| | We may use and disclose your health
information when necessary to prevent a serious threat to the health and
safety of you, another person, or the public. Disclosures will be made only to
someone who can prevent the threat. |
 | Business Associates. |
| | We may disclose your health information to
our business associates that perform functions on our behalf or provide us
with services if necessary. For example, we may use another company to perform
billing services on our behalf. All of our business associates are obligated
to protect the privacy of your information and are not allowed to use or
disclose the information for any other purpose than appears in their contract
with us. |
 | Military and
Veterans. |
| | If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release your
health information as required by military command authorities. If you are a
member of a foreign military we may release your health information to the
foreign military command authority. |
 | Worker's Compensation. |
|
| We may release your health
information for worker's compensation or similar programs that provide
benefits for work-related injuries or illness. |
 | Public Health Risks. |
|
| We may disclose your health
information for public health activities to prevent or control disease, injury
or disability. We may use your health information in reporting births or
deaths, suspected child abuse or neglect, medication reactions or product
malfunctions or injuries, and product recall notifications. We may use your
health information to notify someone who may have been exposed to a disease or
may be at risk for contracting or spreading a disease or condition. If we are
concerned that a patient may have been a victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic
violence we may ask your permission to make a disclosure to an appropriate
government authority. We will make that disclosure only when you agree or when
required or authorized to do so by law. |
 | Health Oversight Activities |
| | We may disclose
your health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized
by law. These may include audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure.
These activities are necessary to for the government to monitor the health
care system, government programs, and compliance with civil rights
laws. |
 | Lawsuits and
Disputes |
| | If you are involved in a lawsuit or dispute, we may disclose
your health information in response to a court or administrative order. We may
disclose your health information in response to a subpoena, discovery request,
or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if
efforts have been made to tell you about the request or to obtain an order
protecting the information requested. |
 | Law Enforcement. |
|
| We may release your health information request by law
enforcement official if : |
| |  | There is a court order,
subpoena, warrant, summons or similar process |  | If the request is limited to information
needed to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing
person |  | The information is
about the victim of a crime even if, under certain very limited circumstances,
we are unable to obtain your agreement |  | The information is about a death that may be the
result of criminal conduct; |  | The information is relevant to criminal conduct on our
premises |  | It is
needed in an emergency to report a crime, the location of a crime or victims,
or the identity, description, or location of the person who may have committed
the crime. |
|
 | Coroners, Medical Examiners, and Funeral
Directors |
| | We may release your health information to a coroner, medical
examiner, or funeral director to identify a deceased person or cause of death,
or other similar circumstance. |
 | National Security and Intelligence Activities |
| | We may disclose
your health information to authorized federal officials for intelligence and
other national security activities authorized by law |
 | Inmates or Individuals in Custody |
| | If you are an inmate of a correctional
institution or in custody we may disclose your information: |
| |  | For the institution to provide you with health
care |  | To protect your
health and safety or that of others |  | For the safety and security of the
institution. |
|
| YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR HEALTH
INFORMATION |
 | Right to Inspect and Copy |
|
| You have the right to inspect and
copy your medical and billing records by written request |
 | Right to Amend |
|
| You have the right to request an
amendment to your records by written request |
 | Right to an Accounting Of Disclosures |
| | You have a right
to an accounting of certain disclosures by written request
|
 | Right to Request
Restrictions |
| | You have the right to request restriction or limitation on
your health information used for treatment, payment or health care operations.
You may request us to limit disclosure to someone involved in your care or in
payment for your care (such as a spouse) by written request. We are not
required to agree with your request, but we will try to
comply. |
 | Right to Request
Confidential Communication |
| | You have the right to request that we
communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way or at a certain
location. You can ask, for example, that we contact you only by mail or at
work. Your written request must specify how or where you wish to be contacted.
We will accommodate reasonable requests. |
| CHANGES TO THIS
NOTICE |
| | We may change this notice and make it
effective for medical information we already have about you as well as new
information. The current notice will be posted and available at all times. You
have a right to request a paper copy of the current notice at any visit or by
written request. |
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