HIPAA PRIVACY NOTICE

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION MAY BE USED & DISCLOSED &  HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION

PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY

OUR DUTY TO SAFEGUARD YOUR PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION

We are required by applicable state and federal 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 reserve the right to make changes in our privacy practices and change the terms of our Notice effective for all health information we maintain, create or receive. Before we make a significant change in our privacy practices, we will change this Notice and make the new Notice available.

We reserve the right to change our private 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 received or created 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 please contact us using the information at the end of this Notice.

USES AND DISCLOSURES OF PROTECTED HEALTH IFORMATION

Your Protected Health Information (PHI) is the information we create and obtain in providing our services to you and includes all "individually identifiable health information." 

We may use and disclose your (PHI) for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations:

Treatment: We may use or disclose your (PHI) to a physician or other healthcare provider providing treatment to you. We may also use or disclose your (PHI) to provide or receive a referral from another healthcare provider.

Payment: We may use and disclose your (PHI) to obtain payment for services provided to you, for example: to insurance companies or Medicare, on a super bill with diagnosis and charge or to insurers to get treatment, authorizations and referrals. 

Healthcare Operations: We may use and disclose your (PHI) in connection with our healthcare operations. Healthcare Operations may include: quality assessment and improvement activities, reviewing the competence or qualifications of healthcare professionals, evaluating practitioner and provider performance, conducting training programs, accreditation, certification, licensing or credentialing activities.

Your Authorization: In addition to our use of your (PHI) for treatment, payment or healthcare operations, you may give us written authorization to use your (PHI) or to disclose it to anyone for any purpose. 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 (PHI) for any reason except those described in this Notice.

To Your Family and Friends: We must disclose your health information to a family member, friend or other person to the extent necessary to help with your healthcare or with payment for your healthcare, but only if you agree that we may do so.

Persons Involved with Care: We may use or disclose health information to notify, or assist in the notification of a family member, your personal representative or another person responsible for your care. If you are present, then prior to such use or disclosure of your health information, we will provide you with an opportunity to object to such uses or disclosures. In the event of your incapacity or in emergency circumstances, we will disclose health information based on a determination using our professional judgment and using only health information that is directly relevant to the person’s involvement in your healthcare. We will also use our professional judgment and our experience with common practice to make reasonable inferences in your best interest in allowing a person to pick up prescriptions, medical supplies, x-rays, or other similar forms of health information. 

Required by Law: We may use or disclose your (PHI) when we are required to do so by law. Examples: disclosures regarding victims of abuse or neglect, health oversight to avert serious threats to health or safety, for judicial and administrative proceedings and the like.

Research, Public Health or Healthcare Operations: We may rely on professional ethics and best judgments in deciding which of these permissive uses and disclosures to make.

Appointment Reminders: We may use or disclose your (PHI) to provide you with appointment reminders (such as voicemail messages, postcards, or letters, etc.) unless otherwise directed by you.

PATIENT RIGHTS

Access: You have the right to look at or get copies of your (PHI), with limited exceptions. You may request that we provide copies in a format other than photocopies. We will use the format you request unless we cannot practicably do so. We will charge a cost based fee for providing your PHI in that format.

Disclosure Accounting: You have the right to receive a list of circumstances in which we or our business associates disclosed your health information for purposes other than treatment, payment or healthcare operations and certain other activities, for the last 6 years, but not before April 14, 2003. If you request this accounting more than once in a 12-month period, we may charge you a reasonable cost-based fee for responding to these additional requests.

Restriction: You have the right to request that we place additional restrictions on our use or disclosure of your PHI but if we do we will abide by our agreement (except in an emergency).

Alternative Communication: You have the right to request that we communicate with you about your health information by alternative means or to alternative locations. You must make your request in writing. Your request must specify how and where communication should be made. 

Right to Amend: If you believe that there is a mistake or missing information in our record of your (PHI) you may request that we add or correct the record. Your request must be in writing, and must explain why the information should be amended. It is in our discretion as to whether we will deny or approve your request. Any denial will state the reasons for the denial. If approved the changes will be made and you will be informed of such changes.

Electronic Notice: You may receive this Notice on our website or by electronic mail (e-mail), you are also entitled to receive this Notice in written form.

QUESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints about your privacy rights you should direct your comments in writing to: 

Attn: Practice Manager, HIPAA
Oldsmar Rheumatology

3684 Tampa Road; Unit 3

Oldsmar, FL 34677

813-475-6145

813-475-6156

You may also submit a written complaint to the Secretary of the U.S Department of Health and Human Services at the Office of Civil Rights. We support your right to the privacy of your PHI. We will take no retaliatory action against you if you make such complaints.

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. The privacy of your medical information is important to us.

Our Legal Duty

We are required by applicable Federal and State laws to maintain the privacy of your protected health information (‘PHI’). We are also required to give you this notice about our privacy practices, our legal duties, and your rights concerning your PHI. We are required to notify affected individuals following a breach off on secured protected health information. We must follow the privacy practices described in this notice while it is in effect. This notice takes effect September 23, 2013 and will remain in effect until we replace it. We strongly recommend our patients to utilize patient portal services to send their medical information and communicate with the providers.

We reserve the right make the changes in our privacy practices provided that such changes are permitted by applicable law and new terms are effective for all protected health information that we maintained, including medical information we created or received before we made the changes. We will provide you with a revised Notice in person during your next office visit. You may also request a copy of our note (or any subsequent revised notice) at any time. You may request a copy of our notice (or any subsequent revised 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 may use and disclose your PHI about you for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. Following are examples of the types of uses and disclosures of your protected healthcare information that may occur. These examples are not meant to be exhaustive, but to describe types of uses and disclosures that may be made by our office.

Treatment: We may use and disclosed your PHI 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 or to other physicians who may be treating you. For example, we would disclose your PHI to other physicians in order to diagnose or treat you.

Payment: Your PHI may 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.

Health care operations: We may use or disclose, as needed, your PHI in order to conduct certain business and operational activities. These activities include, but are not limited to quality assessments, reviewing the competence or qualification of healthcare professionals, and conducting training programs. For example, coast may use or disclose your health information in order to conduct an internal assessment of the quality of care we provided.

Business Associates: we will share your PHI 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 disclose of your PHI, we will have a written contact that contains terms that will protect the privacy of your PHI.

Other involved in your health care: Unless you object, we may disclose to a member of your family, a relative, a close friend, or any other person you in identify, your protected health information that directly relates to that person’s involvement in your care or payment related to your healthcare or needed for notification purposes. 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 PHI 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. We may disclose your PHI following your death to a family member or close friend who was involved in your care or payment prior to your death, however, we will not disclose any information if we are aware that you would not have wanted disclosure of your PHI.

Marketing: We may use or disclose your PHI, as necessary, to provide you with information about treatment alternatives or other health- related benefits and services that may be of interest to you. For example, your name and address may be used to send you newsletter about our practice and the services we offer. In order to receive this information, we are required to obtain an authorization from you. Should you not wish to receive these marketing materials, you may opt out on the authorization or by advising us using the contact information listed at the end of this notice.

Uses and disclosures for which an authorization or an opportunity to agree or object is not required:
 

a.         Research; Death; Organ Donation: We may use or disclose your PHI for research purposes in limited circumstances.  We may disclose the PHI of a deceased person to a coroner, protected health examiner, funeral director, or organ procurement organization for certain purposes.
 

b.         Public Health and Safety: We may disclose your PHI to the extent necessary to avert serious and eminent threat to your health or safety, or the health or safety of others. We may disclose your PHI to a government health agency authorized to oversee the healthcare system or government programs or its contractors, and to public health authorities for public health purposes.
 

c.         Health Oversight: We may disclose your PHI to 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 healthcare system, government benefit programs, other government regulatory programs and civil rights laws.
 

d.        Abuse or neglect: We may disclose your PHI to a government agency that is authorized by law to receive reports of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence. In this case, the disclosure will be made consistent with the requirements of applicable federal and state laws.
 

e.         Food and drug administration: We may disclose your PHI to a person or company required by the food and drug administration to report adverse events, Product defects or problems, biologic product deviations; to track products to enable product recalls; to make repairs or replacement; or to conduct post marketing surveillance, as required.
 

f.          Criminal activity: We may disclose your PHI, if we believe that the use or disclosure is necessary to prevent or lesson a serious and eminent threat to the Health and safety of a person or the public. We may also disclose PHI if it is necessary for law enforcement authorities to identify or apprehend an individual.
 

g.         Required by law: We may disclose or use your PHI when we are required to do so by law. For example, we must disclose your PHI to the US Department of Health and Human services upon request for purposes of determining whether we are in compliance with privacy laws. We may disclose your PHI when authorized by Worker's Compensation or similar laws. We may disclose your PHI in response to a court or administrative order, Subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process, under certain circumstances. Under limited circumstances, such as a court order, warrant or grand jury subpoena, we may disclose your PHI to law-enforcement officials.
 

h.          Fugitive, material witness, crime victim, or missing person: We may disclose PHI of an inmate or other person in lawful custody to a law enforcement official or correctional institution under certain circumstances. We may disclose a PHI where necessary to assist law-enforcement officials to capture any individual who has admitted to participation in a crime or has escaped from lawful custody.
 

i.           Specialized government activities: We may disclose your PHI for military, national security, and prisoner purposes.

Your protected health information rights
 

a.          Access: You have the right to look at or get copies of your PHI, with limited exceptions. You may request electronic copies of your PHI contained in electronic health records or you may request in writing or electronically that another person receive an electronic copy of your records. If you request a copy of your electronic records, it will be provided in the format requested or in a mutually agreed-upon format. You may also request access by sending us a letter to the address at the end of this notice. We may charge you for the cost of any electronic media (such as USB flash drive) used to provide a copy of the electronic PHI or a reasonable cost-based fee to locate and copy your PHI that is not electronic and postage if you want the copies mail to you. If you prefer, we will prepare a summary or explanation of your PHI for a fee.
 

b.           Accounting of Disclosures: You have the right to receive a list of instances in which we or our business associates disclosed your PHI for the purpose other than treatment, payment, healthcare operations and certain other activities after 11/01/2016. After November 01, 2016, the accounting will be provided for the past 6 years, if applicable. We will provide you with the date on which we made the disclosure, the name of the person or entity to whom we disclosed your PHI, a description of the PHII information we disclosed, the reason for the disclosure, and certain other information. If you request this list more than once in a 12-month period, we may charge you a reasonable, cost based fee for responding to these additional requests. Contact us using the information listed at the end of this notice for a full explanation of our fee structure.
 

c.         Restriction Requests: You have the right to request that we place additional restrictions on our use or disclosure of your PHI. We are not required to agree to these additional restrictions, but if we do, we will abide by our agreement (except in an emergency). Any agreement we may make a request for additional restrictions must be in writing signed by a person authorized to make such an agreement on our behalf. We will not be bound unless our agreement is so memorialized in writing. You also have the right to restrict that we do not share your PHI with the health plan for payment or operations purposes if the PHI relates to services for which you paid in full. For example, rather than allow us to file a claim with your medical insurance carrier for treatment of a specific medical condition, you choose to pay for the treatment in full, then you can restrict us from sharing your PHI related to that specific service with your medical insurance plan.
 

d.         Confidential Communication: You have the right to request that we communicate with you in confidence about your PHI by alternative means or to an alternative location. You must make your request in writing. We must accommodate your request if it is reasonable, specifies the alternative means or locations, and continue to permit us to bill and collect payment from you.
 

e.         Amendment: You have the right to request that we amend your PHI. Your request must be in writing, and it must explain why the information should be amended. We may deny your request if we did not create the information you want amended or for certain other reason. If we deny your request, we will provide you a written explanation. You may respond with a written disagreement of the denial. We will make a reasonable effort to inform others, including people or entities you name, of the amendments (if applicable) and to include the changes in any future disclosures of the information.
 

                                                            Questions and complaints
 

If you want more information about our privacy practices or have questions or concerns, please contact us using the information below. If you believe that we may have violated your privacy rights, or you disagree with a decision we made about access to your PHI or in response to the request you made, you may complain to us using the contact information below. You also may submit a written complaint to the US Department of Health and Human Services upon request.
 

We support your right to protect the privacy of your PHI. We will not retaliate in anyway if you choose to file a complaint with us or with the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Privacy Officer: office manager

Oldsmar Rheumatology and Dr Kavita Thomas