Notice of Privacy Practices
HIPAA April 2003
HIPAA:
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 requires doctors' offices to institutionalize measures to ensure that patient information, while shared professionally for the patient's benefit, remains confidential.
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.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR HEALTH RECORD/INFORMATION:
Each time you visit our office a record of your visit is made. Typically, this record contains your symptoms, examination, test results, diagnoses, treatment, and plans for follow-up. This information serves as a basis for planning your future care and treatment and as a means of communication with other health professionals who contribute to your care. Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to ensure its accuracy, better understand who, what, when, where, and why others may access your health information, and make more informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to others.
YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION RIGHTS:
Unless otherwise required by law, your health record is the physical property of the healthcare practitioner that compiled it, and the information belongs to you. You have the right to request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your information, and request amendments to your health record. This includes the right to obtain a paper copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices; inspect and obtain a copy of your health record; obtain an accounting of disclosures of your health information; request communications of your health information by alternative means or at alternative locations; and revoke your authorization to use or disclose health information except to the extent that action has already been taken.
OUR RESPONSIBILITIES:
Our office is required to maintain the privacy of your health information, and to provide you with a notice as to our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to information we collect and maintain about you. We must abide by the terms of this notice, notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction, accommodate reasonable requests you may have to communicate health information by alternative means or at alternative locations. We reserve the right to change our practices and to make the new provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain. Should our information practices change, we will notify patients of this, make paper copies available, and post on our website, www.Neurol.net. 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 and would like additional information, you may contact Karin Baxter, Office Manager at (410) 547-5000 x3. If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you can file a written complaint with the Secretary of Health and Human Services. There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint.
EXAMPLES OF DISCLOSURES FOR TREATMENT, PAYMENT, AND HEALTH OPERATIONS:
We will use your health information for treatment: Information obtained by us will be placed in your record and used to determine the course of treatment that should work best for you. We will also provide your other practitioners with copies of various reports that should assist them in treating you.
We will use your health information for payment: A bill may be sent to you &/or third-party payer(s). 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: Our office may use information in your health record to assess the care and outcomes in your case and others like it. This information may then be used in an effort to continually improve the quality and effectiveness of the healthcare and service we provide.
Business Associates: There may be some services provided by our office through contracts with business associates. Examples include physician services in the emergency department and radiology, consulting physicians, and laboratory studies. When these services are contracted, we may disclose some or all of your health information to our business associate so that they can perform the job we've asked them to do. 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, your location, and general condition.
Communication with family: Our office, using our best judgment, may disclose to a family member, other relatives, close personal friends or any other person you identify, health information relevant to that person's involvement in your care or payment related to your care.
Funeral directors: We may disclose health information to funeral directors consistent with applicable law to carry out their duties.
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 treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.
Fund raising: We may contact you as part of a fund-raising effort.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA): As required by law, 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.
Public health: As required by law, we may disclose your health information to public health or legal authorities charged with tracking birth and deaths, as well as with preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability.
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. An inmate does not have the right to the Notice of Privacy Practices.
Law enforcement: We may disclose health information for law enforcement purposes as required by law or in response to a valid subpoena. 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 one or more patients, workers or the public.
Notice of Privacy Practices availability: This notice will be prominently posted in the office where registration occurs. Patients will be made available a hard copy and the notice will be maintained on our Web site www.Neurol.net for downloading.
Effective Date: April 14, 2003
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