NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

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THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THE INFORMATION.

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PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY. KEEP FOR YOU R RECORDS.

OUR LEGAL DUTY

The privacy of your medical information is important to us. We are required by applicable federal and state law to maintain the privacy of your health information. We are also required to give you this Notice about our privacy practices, our legal duties, and your rights concerning your health information. We must follow the privacy practices that are described in this Notice while it is in effect.

We will notify you if your unsecured medical information is breached.
We reserve the right to change our privacy practices and the terms of this Notice at any time, provided such changes are permitted by applicable law. We reserve the right to make the changes in our privacy practices and the new terms of our Notice effective for all health information that we maintain, including health information we created or received before we made the changes. Before we make a significant change in our privacy practices, we will change this Notice and make the new Notice available upon request.

You may request a copy of our notice at any time. For more information about our privacy practices, or for additional copies of this Notice, please contact us using the information listed at the end of this Notice.

USES AND DISCLOSURES OF HEALTH INFORMATION
We use and disclose health information about you for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. For example:
Treatment: We may use or disclose your health information to a physician, school nurse, or other healthcare provider providing treatment to you.

Payment: We may use and disclose your health information to obtain payment for services we provide to you.
Healthcare Operations: We may use and disclose your health information in connection with our business operations such as reviewing the competence or qualifications of healthcare professionals and evaluating practitioner and provider performance.

Your Authorization: Uses or disclosures not otherwise described in this Notice may be made only with your written authorization.

In addition, we must obtain your written authorization to sell your medical information or to use or disclose your information for marketing goods or services to you where we are paid to make the communication. If you give us an authorization, you may revoke it in writing at any time. Your revocation will not affect any use or disclosures permitted by your authorization while it was in effect.

Unless you give us a written authorization, we cannot use or disclose your health information for any reason except those described in this Notice.

To Your Family and Friends and Persons Involved in Your Care: We may disclose your health information to a family member, friend or other person involved in your care to the extent necessary to help with your healthcare or with payment for your healthcare.

We may also disclose your medical information to disaster relief organizations to help locate individuals during a disaster. We may also use or disclose your medical information to notify, or assist in the notification, of a family member, a personal representative or a person responsible for your care of your location, general condition or death. If you do not want us to disclose your medical information to family members or others in these circumstances, please notify our HIPAA Officer at 888-833-8441.

Required by Law: We may use or disclose your health information when we are required to do so by law.
Public Safety: We may need to disclose medical information to law enforcement officials, such as in response to a search warrant or a grand jury subpoena, or to assist law enforcement officials in identifying or locating an individual, to report deaths that may have resulted from criminal conduct, and to report criminal conduct on our premises.

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Abuse or Neglect: We may disclose your health information to appropriate authorities if we reasonably believe that you are a possible victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence or the possible victim of other crimes. We may disclose your health information to the extent necessary to avert a serious threat to your health or safety or the health or safety of others.

National Security: We may disclose your medical information to military authorities of Armed Forces or foreign military personnel under certain circumstances; to authorized federal officials for lawful intelligence, counterintelligence, or other national security activities, and to protect the president; and to a correctional institution or law enforcement official having lawful custody of an inmate or patient under certain circumstances.

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Appointment Reminders: We may use or disclose your health information to provide you with appointment reminders (such as voice-mail messages, postcards, letters, emails or text messages).

Health Oversight Activities: We may disclose health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law.

These oversight activities include, for example, audits, investigations, inspections and licensure surveys. These activities are necessary for the government to monitor the health care system, the outbreak of disease, government programs, compliance with civil rights laws and to improve patient outcomes.

Lawsuits and Disputes: We may disclose health information about you in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose health information about you in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process.

Other Uses and Disclosures: As permitted or required by law, we may use or disclose your medical information for research purposes; to organizations that handle and monitor organ donation and transplantation; for workers’ compensation or similar programs to comply with laws related to workers’ compensation or similar programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness; for public health activities such as to prevent or control disease, injury or disability; to report reactions to medications or problems with products; to notify people of recalls of products they may be using; to notify a person who may have been exposed to, or is at risk for contracting or spreading a disease; to medical examiners to identify a deceased person or determine cause of death; or to funeral directors to carry out their duties.

PATIENT RIGHTS
Access: You have the right to look at or get copies of your health information, with limited exceptions. You must make a request in writing to obtain access to your health information and fax your request to the number at the end of this Notice.

Disclosure Accounting: You have the right to receive a list of some disclosures we or our business associates have made of your health information. If you request this accounting more than once in a 12-month period, we may charge you a reasonable, costbased fee for responding to these additional requests.

Restriction: You have the right to request that we restrict our use or disclosure of your health information. We are not required to agree to your request except when disclosure would be to your health plan, you (or someone on your behalf other than your health plan) has paid in full for your health care, the disclosure relates to payment or health care operations, and the disclosure is not otherwise required by law. If we agree to the restriction, however, we will abide by that agreement (except in an emergency).

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Alternative Communication: You have the right to request in writing that we communicate with you about your health information by alternative means or to alternative locations specified in your written request.

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Amendment: You have the right to request that we amend your health information. Your request must be in writing and must explain why the information should be amended. We may deny your request under certain circumstances.
Electronic Notice: If you receive this Notice on our Web site or by electronic mail (e-mail), you are entitled to receive this Notice in written form upon request.

QUESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS
If you want more information about our privacy practices or have questions or concerns, please contact us. If you are concerned that we may have violated your privacy rights, you may complain to us using the contact information listed at the end of this Notice.

You also may submit a written complaint to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We will not retaliate in any way if you choose to file a complaint with us or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Contact Officer: HIPAA Officer
Phone: 1-866-916-6447
Fax: 1-844-751-0258
email: HIPAA@OHIP.US
 

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