HIPAA Information

Your Rights
Under HIPAA you have the following rights concerning your medical information:

You have the right to request our privacy practices notice in writing. This request may be made in person at our clinics.
You have the right to review and copy all medical and personal information. This request may be made in person at our clinics. If you request a copy of your medical record, we may charge a photocopier fee.
If you review your medical information and find an error, or find that it is incomplete, you have the right to request corrections to your records. Requests for corrections must be made in writing to the Privacy Officer. If we deny this request, you have the right to make a statement of disagreement, which will be included in your record. If you request a copy of your medical record, we may charge a photocopier fee.
You have the right to request that we restrict use or disclosure of your medical information in the course of normal operations. You must make this request in writing to the Privacy Officer. For example, you may request that certain information not be disclosed to a family member, even if this family member is responsible for payment. However, we are not required to accept your request.
You have the right to request confidential communications. You must make this request in writing to the Privacy Officer. You may request that you only be contacted at certain times, locations, or through certain methods. We will make every attempt to comply with reasonable requests.
You have the right to request accounting of disclosures. You must make this request in writing to the Privacy Officer. You have the right to request a list of disclosures of your personal or medical information for purposes other than treatment, payment, or other health care operations.
Our Obligations
HIPAA requires that we:

Maintain the privacy of your medical information.
Provide this notice of our policies, duties, and your rights. We must keep this notice on file for six years, and provide the patients with updated notices when changes are made.
Follow the terms of the notice currently in effect.
Disclosure of Patient Medical Information This section outlines our policies on the usage and disclosure of your medical information.

Treatment We may use and disclose your medical information for the purpose of your treatment, or to provide services related to your treatment. For example, we will provide your medical information to doctors, nurses, and other people directly involved in providing you health care.
Health Care Operations Other normal health care operations include assessment of your treatment to make sure we provide quality care for all of our patients. For example, we may use your medical information to make sure appropriate treatments were performed. Also, we may provide this information with other entities which have a relationship with you (for instance, your insurance provider) for this purpose.
Payment We may disclose your medical information for the purpose of receiving payment for your medical treatment and services from you, an insurance company, or a third party. We may also disclose your information to another party in order to collect these payments. For example, we will provide your insurance company with your insurance plan information for billing purposes.
Individuals Involved in your care (Family members or friends responsible for your care or payment for your care) We may disclose your information to individuals outside of our practice who are involved in your care. You have the right, listed above, to request restrictions on this disclosure. For example, we may notify a patients family about the location or status of a patient. To this end, we may also provide this information to an entity providing disaster relief, for the purpose of locating and notifying individuals involved in your care.
Business Associates We may disclose your medical information to business associates responsible for providing us with services or performing functions on our behalf if these services require your medical information. Our business associates are obligated to protect the privacy of your medical information. For example, we may use another company to provide billing services.
Health Related Benefits We may use your personal and medical information to provide related benefits to you, such as appointment reminders, providing information on alternative treatments, and other services. For example, we may use your insurance information to determine what alternative treatments will be covered by your insurance plan, and provide you with a list of alternative treatments.
Research Under certain circumstances, your medical information may be requested for the purpose of a research study. Before we disclose any medical information for this purpose, the study must pass a special approval process, and information which personally identifies you must be removed. We may also allow researchers to access your medical information without this approval, for the purpose of identifying patients which may take part in a research study. In this case, the researcher may not copy or remove any of your health information from the clinic.
Special Cases of Disclosure
We may also be required to disclose your medical information by law.

To avert a serious health threat We may disclose your medical information when necessary to prevent a serious threat to you, another individual, or the public. In this case we may only disclose this information to an individual or entity capable of averting this threat.
Organ and Tissue Donation We may disclose medical information to organizations handling organ donations for the purpose of facilitating such donations. For example, we may provide medical history to an organ bank storing organs for future transplant.
Military and Veterans We may be required by military authorities to release your medical information if you are or were a member of the military. This includes requests by the appropriate foreign military, if you are a member of that foreign military.
Workers' Compensation We may disclose medical information to entities providing workers' compensation services, or other services providing payment for work-related injuries or services.
Public Health Concerns We may disclose your medical information for general public health activities such as reporting births and deaths, abuse or neglect, and reactions to medications. We may also use this information to notify you of recalls of any medical product you may be using, to notify a person who may have been exposed to a disease or who may be at risk of contracting a disease or condition, or to notify appropriate agencies tracking certain conditions or diseases. We will only make these disclosures at your request, or if required by law.
Court order and Law enforcement We may release your medical information in response to a subpoena or court order arising from a lawsuit or other legal proceeding. In the case of a lawsuit, we must notify you that this information has been requested, and if we are unable to contact you, we must attempt to obtain an order protecting your information. We may also release limited medical information to a law enforcement agency for the purpose of identifying or locating a suspect, fugitive, missing person, or witness. We must report medical information about a death which may have resulted from criminal conduct. Under certain circumstances we may disclose medical information about a victim of a crime, even if we are unable to receive the person's agreement. We must report any criminal conduct occurring on our premises, including any medical information involved. We may also disclose medical information in the event of an emergency or in the course of reporting a crime, for the purpose of identifying the individuals involved or reporting the location of the crime or victims.
Security and Intelligence Agencies We may disclose your medical information to legally authorized federal officials for the purpose of national security activities such as intelligence or counter-intelligence. We may also disclose your information for the purpose of protecting heads of state, both national and foreign.
Inmates If you are an inmate or you are in correctional custody, we may release your medical information to the institution or law enforcement agency which is responsible for your custody. This disclosure may be made for the purposes of providing you with health care, protecting your health and safety or the health and safety of others, and to protect the safety and security of the institution.
Deceased Individuals We may release your medical information to coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors. For example, your medical information may be required to identify your body or to determine the cause of death. We will release information required by funeral directors for the purpose of carrying out their duties.