Notice of Privacy Practices Effective Date: January 1, 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 IT CAREFULLY.
OUR OBLIGATIONS
If you have any questions about this notice please contact your practice’s Office Manager. You may also contact the Human Resources Department for general questions at (404) 303-1224.
This form is based on current federal law and subject to change based on changes in federal law or subsequent interpretative guidance. This form is based on federal law and must be modified to reflect state law where that state law is more stringent than the federal law or other state law exceptions apply.
HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE HEALTH INFORMATION This Notice of Privacy Practices describes how we may use and disclose your protected health information to carry out treatment, payment or health care operations and for other purposes that are permitted or required by law. It also describes your rights to access and control your protected health information. “Protected health information” is information about you, including demographic information, that may identify you and that relates to your past, present or future physical or mental health or condition and related health care services.
1. Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information (PHI)
WRITTEN CONSENT
You will be asked by your physician to sign a consent form. Once you have consented to use and disclosure of your protected health information for treatment, payment and health care operations by signing the consent form, your physician will use or disclose your protected health information as described in this Section 1. Your protected health information may be used and disclosed by your physician, our office staff and others outside of our
office that are involved in your care and treatment for
the purpose of providing health care services to you. Your protected
health information may also be used and disclosed to pay your health
care bills and to support the operation of the physician’s practice.
Following are examples of the types of uses and disclosures of your protected health care information that the physician’s office is permitted to make once you have signed our consent form. These examples are not meant to be exhaustive, but to describe the types of uses and disclosures that may be made by our office once you have provided consent.
Treatment:
We will use and disclose your protected health information to provide,
coordinate, or manage your health care and any related services. This
includes the coordination or management of your health care with a third
party that has already obtained your permission to have access to your
protected health information. For example, we would disclose your
protected health information, as necessary, to a home health agency that
provides care to you. We will also disclose protected
health information to other physicians who may be treating you when
we have the necessary permission from you to disclose your protected
health information. For example, your protected health information may
be provided to a physician to whom you have been referred to ensure that
the physician has the necessary information to diagnose or treat you.
In
addition, we may disclose your protected health information from
time-to-time to another physician or health care provider (e.g., a
specialist or laboratory)
who, at the request of your physician, becomes involved in your care
by providing assistance with your health care diagnosis or treatment to
your physician.
Payment: Your protected health information will be used, as needed, to obtain payment for your health care services. This may include certain activities that your health insurance plan may undertake before it approves or pays for the health care services we recommend for you such as; making a determination of eligibility or coverage for insurance benefits, reviewing services provided to you for medical necessity, and undertaking utilization review activities. For example, obtaining approval for a hospital stay may require that your relevant protected health information be disclosed to the health plan to obtain approval for the hospital admission.
Healthcare Operations: We may use or disclose, as-needed, your protected health information in order to support the
business activities of your physician’s practice. These activities include, but are not limited to, quality assessment activities, employee review activities, training of medical students, licensing, marketing and fundraising activities, and conducting or arranging for other business activities.
For example, we may disclose your protected health information to medical school students that see patients
at our office. In addition, we may use a sign-in sheet at the
registration desk where you will be asked to sign your name and indicate
your physician. We may also call you by name in the waiting room when
your physician is ready to see you. We may use or disclose your
protected health information, as necessary, to contact you to remind you
of your appointment.
We will share your protected health information with third party “business associates” that perform various
activities (e.g., billing, transcription services) for the practice.
Whenever an arrangement between our office and a business associate
involves the use or disclosure of your protected health information, we
will have a written
contract that contains terms that will protect the privacy of your protected health information.
We may
use or disclose your protected health information, as necessary, to
provide you with information about treatment alternatives or other
health-related benefits
and services that may be of interest to you. We may also use and
disclose your protected health information for other marketing
activities. For example, your name and address may be used to send you a
newsletter about our practice and the services we offer. We may also
send you information about products or services that we believe may be
beneficial to you. You may contact your physician’s office
representative to request that these materials not
be sent to you.
We may use or disclose your demographic information and the dates that you received treatment from your physician, as necessary, in order to contact you for fundraising activities supported by our office. If you do not want to receive these materials, please contact your physician’s office representative and request that these fundraising materials not be sent to you.
WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION
Other uses and disclosures of your protected health information will be made only with your written authorization, unless otherwise permitted or required by law as described below. You may revoke this authorization, at any time, in writing, except to the extent that your
physician or the physician’s practice has taken an action in reliance on the use or disclosure indicated in the authorization.
Other Permitted and Required Uses and Disclosures That May Be Made With Your Consent, Authorization or Opportunity to Object
We may use and disclose your protected health information in the following instances. You have the opportunity to agree or object to the use or disclosure of all or part of your protected health information. If you are not present or able to agree or object to the use or disclosure of the protected health information, then your physician may, using professional judgment, determine whether the disclosure is in your best interest. In this case, only
the protected health information that is relevant to your health care will be disclosed.
Facility Directories: Unless you object, we will use and disclose in our facility directory your name, the location at which you are receiving care, your condition (in general terms), and your religious affiliation. All of
this
information, except religious affiliation, will be disclosed to people
that ask for you by name. Members of the clergy will be told your
religious affiliation. [This section will only be applicable to larger
practices or
those practices that operate facilities.]
Others Involved in Your Healthcare: Unless you object, we may disclose to a member of your family, a relative, a close friend or any other person you identify, your protected health information that directly relates to that person’s involvement in your health care. If you are unable to agree or object to such a disclosure, we may disclose such information as necessary if we determine that it is in your best interest based on our professional judgment. We may use or disclose protected health information to notify or assist in notifying a family member, personal representative or any other person that is responsible for your care of your location, general condition or death. Finally, we may use or disclose your protected health information to an authorized public or private entity to assist in disaster relief efforts and to coordinate uses and disclosures to family or other individuals involved in your health care.
Emergencies:
We may use or disclose your protected health information in an
emergency treatment situation. If this happens, your physician shall try
to obtain your consent
as soon as reasonably practicable after the delivery of treatment.
If your physician or another physician in the practice is required by
law to treat you and the physician
has attempted to obtain your consent but is unable to obtain your consent, he or she may still use or disclose your protected health information to treat you.
Communication
Barriers: We may use and disclose your protected health information if
your physician or another physician in the practice attempts to obtain
consent from you but is unable to do so due to substantial
communication barriers and the physician determines, using professional judgment, that you intend to consent to use
or disclosure under the circumstances.
Other Permitted and Required Uses and Disclosures That May Be Made Without Your Consent, Authorization or Opportunity to Object
We may use or disclose your protected health information in the following situations without your consent or authorization. These situations include:
Required By Law: We may use or disclose your protected health information to the extent that the use or disclosure is required by law. The use or disclosure will be made in compliance with the law and will be limited to the relevant requirements of the law. You will be notified, as required by law, of any such uses or disclosures.
Public Health: We may disclose your protected health information for public health activities and purposes to a public health authority that is permitted by law to collect or receive the information. The disclosure will be made for the purpose of controlling disease, injury or disability. We may also disclose your protected health information, if directed by the public health authority,
to a foreign government agency that is collaborating with the public health authority.
Communicable Diseases: We may disclose your protected health information, if authorized by law, to a person who may have been exposed to a communicable disease or may otherwise be at risk of contracting or spreading the
disease or condition.
Health Oversight: We may disclose protected health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations, and inspections. Oversight agencies seeking this information include government agencies that oversee the health care system, government benefit programs, other government regulatory programs and civil rights laws.
Abuse or Neglect: We may disclose your protected health
information to a public health authority that is
authorized by law to receive reports of child abuse or neglect. In
addition, we may disclose your protected health information if we
believe that you have been a victim of abuse, neglect or domestic
violence to the governmental entity or agency authorized to receive such
information. In this case, the disclosure will be made consistent with
the requirements of applicable federal and state laws.
Food and Drug Administration: We may disclose your protected health information to a person or company required by the Food and Drug Administration to report adverse events, product defects or problems, biologic product deviations, track products; to enable product recalls; to make repairs or replacements, or to conduct post marketing surveillance, as required.
Legal Proceedings: We may disclose protected health information in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding, in response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal (to the extent such disclosure is expressly authorized), in certain conditions in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process.
Law Enforcement: We may also disclose protected health information, so long as applicable legal requirements are met, for law enforcement purposes. These law enforcement purposes include (1) legal processes and otherwise required by law, (2) limited information requests for identification and location purposes, (3) pertaining to victims of a crime, (4) suspicion that death has occurred
as a result of criminal conduct, (5) in the event that a crime occurs on the premises of the practice, and (6) medical emergency (not on the Practice’s premises) and it is likely that a crime has occurred.
Coroners, Funeral Directors, and Organ Donation: We may disclose protected health information to a coroner or medical examiner for identification purposes, determining cause of death or for the coroner or medical examiner to perform other duties authorized by law. We may also disclose protected health information to a funeral
director, as authorized by law, in order to permit the funeral director to carry out their duties. We may disclose such information in reasonable anticipation of death. Protected health information may be used and disclosed for cadaveric organ, eye or tissue donation purposes.
Research: We may disclose your protected health information to researchers when an institutional review
board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your protected health information has approved their research.
Criminal Activity: Consistent with applicable federal and state laws, we may disclose your protected health information, if we believe that the use or disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public. We may also disclose protected health information if it is necessary for law enforcement authorities to identify or apprehend an individual.
Military
Activity and National Security: When the appropriate conditions apply,
we may use or disclose protected health information of individuals who
are Armed Forces personnel (1) for activities deemed necessary by
appropriate military command authorities; (2) for the purpose of a
determination by the Department of Veterans Affairs of your eligibility
for benefits, or (3) to
foreign military authority if you are a member of that foreign
military services. We may also disclose your protected health
information to authorized federal
officials for conducting national security and
intelligence activities, including for the provision of protective services to the President or others legally authorized.
Workers’ Compensation: We may disclose your protected health information as authorized to comply with workers’ compensation laws and other similar legally-established programs.
Inmates: We may use or disclose your protected health information if you are an inmate of a correctional facility and your physician created or received your protected health information in the course of providing care to you.
Required Uses and Disclosures: Under the law, we must make disclosures to you and when required by the Secretary of
the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate or
determine our compliance with the requirements of Section 164.500 ET.
seq.
2. Your Rights
Following is a statement of your rights with respect to your protected health information and a brief description of how you may exercise these rights.
You have the right to inspect and copy your protected health information. This means you may inspect and obtain
a copy of protected health information about you that is contained in a designated record set for as long as we maintain the protected health information. A “designated record set” contains medical and billing records and any other records that your physician and the practice use for making decisions about you.
Under
federal law, however, you may not inspect or copy the following records;
psychotherapy notes; information compiled in reasonable anticipation
of, or use in, a
civil, criminal, or administrative action or proceeding,
and protected health information that is subject to law
that prohibits access to protected health information. Depending on
the circumstances, a decision to deny access may be reviewable. In some
circumstances, you may have a right to have this decision reviewed.
Please contact our Privacy Contact if you have questions about access to
your medical record.
You have the right to request a restriction of your
protected health information. This means you may ask us not to use
or disclose any part of your protected health information for the
purposes of treatment, payment or healthcare operations. You may also
request that any part of your protected health information not be
disclosed to family members or friends who may be involved in your care
or for notification purposes as described in this Notice
of Privacy Practices. Your request must state the specific
restriction requested and to whom you want the restriction to apply.
Your physician is not required to agree to a restriction that you may request. If physician believes it is in your best interest to permit use and disclosure of your protected health information, your protected health information will not be restricted. If your physician does agree to the requested restriction, we may not use or disclose your protected health information in violation of that restriction unless it is needed to provide emergency treatment. With this in mind, please discuss any restriction you wish to request with your physician. You may request a restriction by contacting your physician’s office.
You have the right to request to receive confidential communications from us by alternative means or at an alternative location. We will accommodate reasonable requests. We may also condition this accommodation by asking you for information as to how payment will be handled or specification of an alternative address or other method of contact. We will not request an explanation from you as to the basis for the request. Please make this request in writing to our Privacy
Contact.
You may
have the right to have your physician amend your protected health
information. This means you may request an amendment of protected health
information about you in a designated record set for as long as we
maintain this information. In certain cases, we may deny your request
for an amendment. If we deny your request for amendment, you have the right to file a statement of disagreement
with us and we may prepare a rebuttal to your statement and will provide you with a copy of any such rebuttal. Please contact our Privacy Contact to determine if you have questions about amending your medical record.
You
have the right to receive an accounting of certain disclosures we have
made, if any, of your protected health information. This right applies
to disclosures for
purposes other than treatment, payment or healthcare operations as described in this Notice of Privacy
Practices. It excludes disclosures we may have made to you, for a facility directory, to family members or
friends involved in your care, or for notification
purposes. You have the right to receive specific information regarding these disclosures that occurred
after April 14, 2003. You may request a shorter timeframe. The right to receive this information is subject to
certain exceptions, restrictions and limitations.
You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this notice from us, upon request, even if you have agreed to accept this notice electronically.
3. Changes to this Notice
We
reserve the right to change this notice and make the new notice apply to
Health Information we already have as well as any information we
receive in the future. We will post a copy of our current notice at our
office. The
notice will contain the effective date on the first page,
in the top right hand corner. Upon your request, we will provide you
with a copy of the revised Notice of Privacy Practices by way of mail
or asking for one at the time of your next appointment.
4. Complaints
You may complain to us or to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) if you believe your privacy rights have been violated by us.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20201
(202) 619-0257
Toll Free: 1-877-696-6775 http://www.hhs.gov/
You may also file a complaint or obtain further information about the complaint process by notifying our Privacy Officer or contacting your physician’s office representative. AWHG will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
This notice was published and becomes effective on January 1, 2003. The HIPAA final regulation governing Private Health Information takes effect April 14, 2003.
