Privacy Policy

1. Treatment

We may disclose your PHI to a physician or other healthcare provider providing treatment to you. For example, we may disclose medical information about you to physicians, nurses, technicians or personnel who are involved with the administration of your care.

2. Health Information Exchange (HIE)

3. Payment

We may disclose your PHI to bill and collect payment for the services we provide to you. For example, we may send a bill to you or to a third-party payor for the rendering of services by us. The bill may contain information that identifies you, your diagnosis and procedures and supplies used. We may need to disclose this information to insurance companies to establish insurance eligibility benefits for you. We may also provide your PHI to our business associates, such as billing companies, claims processing companies and others that process our healthcare claims.

4. Healthcare Operations

We may disclose your PHI in connection with our healthcare operations. Healthcare operations include quality assessment activities, reviewing the competence or qualifications of healthcare professionals, evaluating provider performance, and other business operations. For example, we may use your PHI to evaluate the performance of the healthcare services you received. We may also provide your PHI to accountants, attorneys, consultants and others to make sure we comply with the laws that govern us.

5. Emergency Treatment

We may disclose your PHI if you require emergency treatment or are unable to communicate with us.

6. Family and Friends

We may disclose your PHI to a family member, friend or any other person who you identify as being involved with your care or payment for care, unless you object.

7. Required by Law

We may disclose your PHI for law enforcement purposes and as required by state or federal law. For example, the law may require us to report instances of abuse, neglect or domestic violence; to report certain injuries such as gunshot wounds; or to disclose PHI to assist law enforcement in locating a suspect, fugitive, material witness or missing person. We will inform you or your representative if we disclose your PHI because we believe you are a victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence, unless we determine that informing you or your representative would place you at risk. In addition, we must provide PHI to comply with an order in a legal or administrative proceeding. Finally, we may be required to provide PHI in response to a subpoena discovery request or other lawful process, but only if efforts have been made, by us or the requesting party, to contact you about the request or to obtain an order to protect the requested PHI.

8. Serious Threat to Health or Safety

We may disclose your PHI if we believe it is necessary to avoid a serious threat to the health and safety of you or the public.

9. Public Health

We may disclose your PHI to public health or other authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability, or charged with collecting public health data.

10. Health Oversight Activities

We may disclose your PHI to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law. These activities include audits; civil, administrative or criminal investigations or proceedings; inspections; licensure or disciplinary actions; or other activities necessary for oversight of the health care system, government programs and compliance with civil rights laws.

11. Research

We may disclose your PHI for certain research purposes, but only if we have protections and protocols in place to ensure the privacy of your PHI.

12. Workers' Compensation

We may disclose your PHI to comply with laws relating to workers' compensation or other similar programs.

13. Specialized Government Activities

If you are active military or a veteran, we may disclose your PHI as required by military command authorities. We may also be required to disclose PHI to authorized federal officials for the conduct of intelligence or other national security activities.

1. Not Otherwise Permitted

In any other situation not described in Section A above, we may not disclose your PHI without your written authorization.

2. Marketing and Sale of PHI

We must receive your written authorization for any disclosure of PHI for marketing purposes or for any disclosure which is a sale of PHI.

1. Right to Receive a Paper Copy of This Notice

You have the right to receive a paper copy of this Notice upon request.

2. Right to Access PHI

You have the right to inspect and copy your PHI for as long as we maintain your medical record. You must make a written request for access to the Compliance Officer at the address listed at the end of this Notice. We may charge you a reasonable fee for the processing of your request and the copying of your medical record pursuant to state law. In certain circumstances we may deny your request to access your PHI, and you may request that we reconsider our denial. Depending on the reason for the denial, another licensed health care professional chosen by us may review your request and the denial.

3. Right to Request Restrictions

You have the right to request a restriction on the use or disclosure of your PHI for the purpose of treatment, payment or health care operations, except for in the case of an emergency. You also have the right to request a restriction on the information we disclose to a family member or friend who is involved with your care or the payment of your care. However, we are not legally required to agree to such a restriction.

4. Right to Restrict Disclosure for Services Paid by You in Full

You have the right to restrict the disclosure of your PHI to a health plan if the PHI pertains to health care services for which you paid in full directly to us.

5. Right to Request Amendment

You have the right to request that we amend your PHI if you believe it is incorrect or incomplete, for as long as we maintain your medical record. We may deny your request to amend if (a) we did not create the PHI, (b) is not information that we maintain, (c) is not information that you are permitted to inspect or copy (such as psychotherapy notes), or (d) we determine that the PHI is accurate and complete.

6. Right to an Accounting of Disclosures

You have the right to request an accounting of disclosures of PHI made by us (other than those made for treatment, payment or health care operations purposes) during the 6 years prior to the date of your request. You must make a written request for an accounting, specifying the time period for the accounting, to the Compliance Officer at the address listed at the end of this Notice.

7. Right to Confidential Communications

You have the right to request that we communicate with you about your PHI by certain means or at certain locations. For example, you may specify that we call you only at your home phone number, and not at your work number. You must make a written request, specifying how and where we may contact you, to the Compliance Officer at the address listed at the end of this Notice.

8. Right to Notice of Breach

You have the right to be notified if we or one of our business associates become aware of a breach of your unsecured PHI.