Effective Date
April 14, 2003
PULMONARY
GROUP OF SOUTH FLORIDA, P.A.
Notice of Privacy Practices
(Appendix ‘A’ to HIPAA Compliance Program Privacy Policy 004)
This notice describes how information about you may
be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please
review it carefully.
If you
have any questions about this notice, please contact our Practice’s Privacy
Officer or by contacting our HIPAA Compliance Office at 1 (866) COMPLY8:
Background
Timely, accurate, and complete health information must be
collected, maintained, and made available to members of an individual's
healthcare team so that members of the team can accurately diagnose and care
for that individual. Most consumers understand and have no objections to this
use of their information.
On the other hand, consumers may not be aware of the fact
that their health information may also be used as:
1.
a legal document describing the
care rendered;
2. verification
of services for which the individual or a third-party payer is billed;
3.
a tool in evaluating the adequacy and appropriateness of
care;
4. a tool in educating health
professionals;
5. a source of data for research;
6. a
source of information for tracking disease so that public health officials can
manage and improve the health of the nation; and/or
7.
a source of data for facility
planning and/or marketing.
Increasingly,
consumers want to be informed about what information is collected and to have
some control over how their protected health information is used.
With this in mind, the federal government and some states
have passed legislation requiring that health plans, healthcare clearinghouses,
and healthcare providers furnish individuals with a notice of information
privacy practices. The federal
standards for privacy of individually identifiable health information (also
known as the HIPAA privacy rule), require that except for certain variations or
exceptions for health plans and correctional facilities, an individual has a
right to a notice as to the uses and disclosures of protected health
information that may be made by the covered entity, as well as the individual’s
rights, and the covered entity's legal duties with respect to protected health
information.
Who Will Follow This Notice:
This Notice describes our practices and that
of:
1. any
health care professional authorized to enter information into your chart;
2.
all departments and units of the
Practice;
3. any member of a volunteer group we allow to help you while you are a patient;
4.
all
employees, staff and other personnel at the following sites or locations:
·
7000 S.W. 62nd AVENUE, SUITE #201, SOUTH
MIAMI, FLORIDA 33143
All of these individuals, entities, sites and locations
follow the terms of this Notice. In addition, these sites and locations may
share medical information with each other for treatment, payment or Practice
operations described in this notice.
Understanding
Your Health Record/Information
Each time you visit a hospital, physician, or other
healthcare provider, a record of your visit is made. Typically, this record
contains your symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment, and
a plan for future care or treatment. This information, often referred to as your health or medical
record, may serve as a:
1. basis
for planning your care and treatment;
2. means
of communication among the many health professionals who contribute to your
care;
3.
legal document describing the
care you received;
4. means
by which you or a third-party payer can verify that services billed were
actually provided;
5.
tool in educating heath
professionals;
6. source of data for medical
research;
7. source
of information for public health officials charged with improving the health of
the nation;
8.
source of data for facility
planning and/or marketing; and/or
9. tool with which
this Practice can assess and continually work to improve the care we render and
outcomes we achieve.
Understanding
what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to:
1.
ensure its accuracy;
2.
better understand who, what, when, where, and why others
may access your health information;
3.
make more informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to
others
Your Health Information Rights
Although your health record is the physical
property of the healthcare practitioner or facility that compiled it, the
information belongs to you. You have the right to:
1. request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of
your information as provided by 45 CFR 164.522;
2. request and keep a copy of this notice of information practices upon your request, and inspect and obtain a copy of your health record as provided for in 45 CFR 164.524;
3. amend
your health record as provided in 45 CFR 164.528;
4. obtain
an accounting of disclosures of your health information as provided in 45 CFR
164.528;
5. request
communications of your health information by alternative means or at
alternative locations;
6. revoke
your authorization to use or disclose health information except to the extent
that action has already been taken.
We understand that medical information about you and your
health is personal. We are committed to protecting medical information about
you. We create a record of the care and services you receive at this Practice.
We need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with certain
legal requirements. This notice applies to all of the records of your care
generated by the Practice. This notice
will tell you about the ways in which we may use and disclose medical
information about you. We also describe your rights and certain obligations we
have regarding the use and disclosure of medical information.
This Practice is required by law to:
1. maintain
the privacy of your health information;
2. provide
you with a notice as to our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to
information we collect and maintain about you;
3.
abide by the terms of this
notice;
4. notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction; and to
5.
accommodate reasonable requests to communicate health
information by alternative means or alterative locations.
We will
not use or disclose your health information without your authorization, except
as described in this notice.
For More Information or to Report a Problem
If you have questions, complaints or would like additional
information, you may contact the Practice’s Privacy Officer at the Practice, or
by contacting the Practice’s HIPAA Compliance Office at MediCompliant
Solutions, 350 N.W. 12th Avenue, Suite 150, Deerfield Beach, FL
33442, (866) COMPLY-8 (toll free). All complaints must be submitted in
writing. If you believe your privacy
rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with the Secretary
of Health and Human Services. There will be no retaliation for filing a
complaint.
How We Will Use and Disclose Medical Information About You
We may use medical information about you to
provide you with medical treatment or services. Information obtained by members
of your healthcare team will be recorded in your record and used by personnel
to determine the course of treatment that should work best for you. Your
physician will document in your record his or her expectations of the members
of your healthcare team. Members of your healthcare team will then record the
actions they took and their observations. In that way, the physician will know
how you are responding to treatment.
We will also provide your subsequent
healthcare provider with copies of various reports that should assist him or
her in treating you once your treatment with our Practice is completed.
Additionally, different
departments of this Practice may also share medical information about you in
order to coordinate the different things you need, such as prescriptions, lab
work and x-rays. We also may disclose medical information about you to
individuals outside the Practice who may be involved in your medical care, such
as family members, clergy or others we use to provide services that are part of
your care.
For
example: Another doctor treating you for a broken leg may need to
know if you have diabetes because diabetes may slow the healing process. In
addition the doctor may need to tell the dietitian in the hospital if you have
diabetes so that they can arrange for appropriate meals.
We will use
your health information for payment
We will use and disclose medical information
about you so that the treatment and services you receive from the Practice may
be billed to and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company or a
third party. We may also tell your health plan about a treatment you are going
to receive to obtain prior approval or to determine whether your plan will
cover the treatment.
For example: A bill may be sent to you or
a third-party payer. The information on or accompanying the bill may include
information that identifies you, as well as your diagnosis, procedures, and
supplies used.
We will use your health information for regular health
operations
We may use and disclose
medical information about you for this Practice's operations. Members of the
medical staff or members of the quality improvement team may use information in
your health record to assess the care and outcomes in your care and others like
it. This information will then be used in an effort to continually improve the
quality and effectiveness of the healthcare services we provide.
For example:
We may use
medical information to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the
performance of our staff in caring for you. We may also combine medical
information about many Practice patients to decide what additional services
this Practice should offer, what services are not needed, and whether certain
new treatments are effective. We may also disclose information to our personnel
for review and education purposes. We may also combine the medical information
we have with medical information from other practices to compare how we are
doing and see where we can make improvements in the care and services we offer.
We may remove information that identifies you from this set of medical
information so others may use it to study health care and health care delivery
without learning who the specific patients are.
Appointment reminders
We may use and disclose medical information to
contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for treatment or medical
care at the Practice.
We may use and disclose medical information to tell you
about health-related benefits or alternate treatment services that may be of
interest to you.
Business
Associates
There are some services provided by our Practice through
contracts with business associates, Examples could include certain laboratory
tests, transcription services or billing company services. The types of
services for which this Practice contracts with business associates may change
from time to time. When these services are contracted, we may disclose your
health information to our business associate so that they can perform the job
we've asked them to do and bill you or your third-party payer for services
rendered. To protect your health information, however, we require the business associate
to appropriately safeguard your information.
Notification
We may use or disclose information to notify
or assist in notifying a family member, personal representative, or another
person responsible for your care, of your location and general condition.
Communications with family or individuals involved in your care or payment for your care
Health professionals, using their best
judgment, may disclose to a family member, other relative, close personal
friend, or any other person you identify, health information relevant to that
person's involvement in your care or payment related to your care. We may also
give information to someone who just helps pay for your care. Additionally, we
may disclose medical information about you to an entity assisting in a disaster
relief.
Research
If physicians in this Practice participate in
a clinical study or other research with you, we may disclose information to
researchers if such research has been approved by an institutional review board
that has reviewed the research proposal and has established protocols to ensure
the privacy of your health information.
Coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors.
We may disclose health information to a
funeral director consistent with applicable law to carry out their duties. We
may also release medical information to a coroner or medical examiner in order
to identify a deceased person or determine the cause of death.
Organ
procurement organizations
Consistent with applicable law, we may
disclose health information to organ procurement organizations or other
entities engaged in the procurement, banking, or transplantation of organs for
the purpose of tissue donation and transplant.
Marketing
We may contact you to provide appointment
reminders or information about new treatment alternatives or other
health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
We may disclose to the FDA health information
relative to adverse events with respect to food, supplements, product and
product defects, or post marketing surveillance information to enable product
recalls, repairs, or replacement.
Workers compensation
We may disclose health information to the
extent authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with laws relating
to workers compensation or other similar programs established by law.
As required by law, we may disclose your health information to public
health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease,
injury or disability, reporting births and deaths, reporting child abuse or
neglect, reporting reactions to medications or problems with products,
notifying people of recalls of products they may be using or notifying the
appropriate government authority if we believe a patient has been the victim of
abuse, neglect or domestic violence.
Correctional institution
Should you be an inmate of a correctional
institution, we may disclose to the institution or agents thereof health
information necessary for your health and the health and safety of other
individuals.
Law enforcement
We may disclose health information for law
enforcement purposes as required by law or in response to a valid subpoena,
court order, warrant, summons or similar process. We may also release medical information, if asked to do so by a
law enforcement official, to identify the victim of a crime (if we are unable
to obtain the person's agreement), to find out about a death we believe may be
the result of criminal conduct, to find out about criminal conduct at this
Practice, and in emergency circumstances to report a crime.
Federal law makes provision for your health
information to be released to an appropriate health oversight agency, public
health authority, or attorney, provided that a work force member or business
associate believes in good faith that we have engaged in unlawful conduct or
have otherwise violated professional or clinical standards and are potentially
endangering patient(s), workers, or the public.
Military and veterans
If you are a member of the armed forces, we may
release medical information about you as required by military command
authorities. We may also release medical information about foreign military
personnel to the appropriate foreign military authority.
Lawsuits
and disputes
If you are involved in a
lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose medical information about you in response
to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose medical information
about you in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process
by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made to
tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information
requested.
National security and intelligence activities
We may release medical information about you
to authorized federal officials for intelligence, counterintelligence, and
other national security activities authorized by law.
Protective services for the President and others
We may disclose medical information about you to authorized
federal officials so they may provide protection to the President, other
authorized persons or foreign heads of state or conduct special investigations.
Your Rights Regarding Medical Information About You
You have
the following rights regarding medical information we maintain about you:
You have
the right to inspect and copy medical information that may be used to make
decisions about your care (you must allow us a reasonable time to delivery
copies of your medical information). Usually, this includes medical and billing
records, but does not include psychotherapy notes.
To inspect and copy medical information that
may be used to make decisions about you, you must submit your request in
writing to this Practice. If you
request a copy of the information, we may charge a fee for the costs of
copying, mailing, or other supplies associated with your request.
We may deny your request to inspect and copy
in certain very limited circumstances. If you are denied access to medical
information, you may request that the denial be reviewed. Another licensed
healthcare professional chosen by this Practice will review your request and
the denial. The person conducting the review will not be the person who denied
your request. We will comply with the outcome of the review.
Right to amend
If you feel that medical information we have about you is
incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information. You have the
right to request an amendment for as long as the information is kept by or for
the Practice.
To request an amendment, your request must be
made in writing and submitted to this Practice. In addition, you must provide a reason that supports your
request.
We may deny your request for an amendment if it is not in
writing or does not include a reason to support the request. In addition, we
may deny your request if you ask us to amend information that:
1. was not
created by us, unless the person or entity that created the information is no
longer available to make the amendment;
2. is not
part of the medical information kept by or for the Practice;
3. is not
part of the information which you would be permitted to inspect and copy; or
4.
is
accurate and complete.
Right to an accounting of disclosures
You have the right to request an "accounting
of disclosures." This is a list of
the disclosures we made of medical information about you. To request this list or accounting of
disclosures you must submit your request in writing to this Practice. Your
request must state a time period that may not be longer than six years and may
not include dates before February 26, 2003. Your request should indicate in
what form you want the list (for example, on paper or electronically). The first list you request within a 12-month
period will be free; we may charge you for the costs of providing additional
lists. We will notify you of the costs involved and you may choose to withdraw
or modify your request at any time before any costs are incurred.
Right to request restrictions
You have the right to request a restriction or
limitation on the medical information we use or disclose about you for
treatment, payment or health care operations. You also have the right to
request a limit on the medical information we disclose about you to someone who
is involved in your care or the payment for your care, like a family member or
friend.
For example: You
could ask that we not use or disclose information about a surgery you had.
We are not
required to agree to your request. If we do agree, we will comply
with your request unless the information is needed to provide you with
emergency treatment. We will advise you
regarding whether or not we agree to comply with your request.
To request restrictions, you must make your
request in writing to this Practice. In your request, you must tell us (1) what
information you want to limit; (2) whether you want to limit our use,
disclosure or both; and (3) to whom you want the limits to apply.
For example:
Disclosures to your spouse.
Right to
request confidential communication
You have
the right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a
certain way or at a certain location.
For example: You can ask that we only contact you at work
or by mail.
To request
confidential communications, you must make your request in writing to this
Practice. We will not ask you the reason for your request. We will accommodate
all reasonable requests. Your request must specify how or where you wish to be
contacted.
You have the right to a paper copy of this
notice. You may ask us to give you a copy of this notice at any time. Even if you have agreed to receive this
notice electronically, you are still entitled to a paper copy of this notice. You may obtain a copy of this notice at our
Practice or by contacting our Practice’s Privacy Officer.
Changes to this notice
We reserve the right to change this notice at
any time. We reserve the right to make the revised or changed notice effective
for medical information we already have about you as well as any information we
receive in the future. We will post a copy of the current notice in the waiting
room of the Practice. The notice will contain on the first page, in the top
right-hand comer, the “Effective Date”. In addition, each time you register at
or are admitted to this Practice for treatment or health care services, we will
make available to you a copy of the current notice in effect. We will post all
new notices in the waiting room of the Practice. You can request a copy of our
notice at any time.
Should we revise this notice because of a
material change to the uses or disclosures of protected health information, to
individual's rights, to our legal duties, or to other privacy practices stated
in the notice, we will promptly revise and make available the new notice.
Except when required by law, a material change in any term of the notice may
not be implemented prior to the Effective Date of the notice in which such
material change is reflected. Pursuant to the HIPAA privacy regulations, we
will document compliance with the notice requirements by retaining copies of
all notices issued.
Other uses and disclosures of
medical information not covered by this notice or the laws that apply to us
will be made only with your written authorization. You may request in writing
that we not use or disclose your information for treatment, payment and
administrative purposes except when specifically authorized by you, when
required by law, or in emergency circumstances. We will consider your request
but are not legally required to accept it. If you provide us authorization to
use or disclose medical information about you, you may revoke that
authorization, in writing, at any time. If you revoke your authorization, we
will no longer use or disclose medical information about you for the reasons
covered by your written authorization. You understand that we are unable to
take back any disclosures we have already made with your authorization, and
that we are required to retain our records of the care that we provided to you.
As a HIPAA covered healthcare
provider that occasionally provides care to our work force for medical
surveillance, work-related illness, or injury, we must provide written notice
to individuals seeking such care at the time healthcare is provided or we must
post this notice in a prominent place at the location where the healthcare is
provided.
The confidentiality of alcohol and drug
abuse patient records rules in HIPAA establish the following notice provisions
for patients of federally assisted drug or alcohol abuse programs:
1.
at the time of admission or as soon
thereafter as the patient is capable of rational communication, each substance
abuse program shall communicate to the patient the federal law and regulations
protect the confidentiality of alcohol and drug abuse patient records;
2.
the program must provide the
patient with a written summary of the federal law and regulations;
3.
the program may not say to a person
outside the program that a patient attends the program, or disclose any
information identifying a patient as an alcohol or drug abuser unless the
patient consents in writing, the disclosure is allowed by court order, or the
disclosure is made to medical personnel in a medical emergency or to qualified
personnel for research, audit, or program evaluation.
Violation of the federal law and regulations by a program
is a crime and suspected violations may be reported to appropriate authorities
in accordance with federal regulations.
Federal
law and regulations do not protect any information about a crime committed by a
patient either at the Practice or against any person who works for the
Practice, or about any threat to commit such a crime.
Federal
laws and regulations do not protect any information about suspected child abuse
or neglect from being reported under state law to appropriate state or local
authorities.