Patient Policies

• The Center has adopted a Patient Privacy Plan to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), as amended, including by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, and applicable security and privacy regulations, as well as our duty to protect the confidentiality, appropriate accessibility, and integrity of confidential medical information as required by law, professional ethics, and accreditation requirements. This policy applies to all personnel of the Center.

If you feel that your privacy or access protections have been violated, you may submit a written complaint with the Center or with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights. (See Grievance Procedure Section for contact information.) See posted Notice of Privacy Practices.

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION PLEASE REVIEW CAREFULLY

The Center and its employees are dedicated to maintaining the privacy of your personal health information (“PHI”), as required by applicable federal and state laws. These laws require us to provide you with this Notice of Privacy Practices, and to inform you of your rights and our obligations concerning Protected Health Information, or PHI, which is information that identifies you and that relates to your physical or mental health condition.

Permitted Disclosures of PHI. We may disclose your PHI for the following reasons:

1. Treatment We may disclose your PHI to a physician or other health care provider providing treatment to you.
2. Payment We may disclose your PHI to bill and collect payment for the services we provide to you. We may need to disclose this information to insurance companies to establish insurance eligibility benefits for We may also provide your PHI to our business associates, such as billing companies, claims processing companies and others that process our health care claims.

3. Health Care Operations We may disclose your PHI in connection with our health care operations. Health care operations include quality assessment activities, reviewing the competence or qualifications of health care professionals, evaluating provider performance, and other business operations. For example, we may use your PHI to evaluate the performance of the health care services you received and how we can improve our services.

4. Emergency Treatment We may disclose your PHI if you require emergency treatment or are unable to communicate with us.
5. 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.
6. 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.

7. 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.
8. 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.

9. 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. We may also de-identify health information in accordance with applicable law. After the information is de- identified, it is no longer subject to this notice and it may be used for any lawful purposes.
10. 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.
11. Workers’ Compensation We may disclose your PHI to comply with laws relating to workers’ compensation or other similar programs.
12. 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.
13. Organ Donation If you are an organ donor, or have not indicated that you do not wish to be a donor, we may disclose your PHI to organ procurement organizations to facilitate organ, eye or tissue donation and transplantation.

14. Coroners, Medical Examiners, Funeral Directors We may disclose your PHI to coroners or medical examiners for the purposes of identifying a deceased person or determining the cause of death, and to funeral directors as necessary to carry out their duties.
15. Disaster Relief Unless you object, we may disclose your PHI to a governmental agency or private entity (such as FEMA or Red Cross) assisting with disaster relief efforts.

YOUR RIGHTS WITH RESPECT TO YOUR 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 Privacy 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 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 Privacy 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 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 Privacy Officer listed 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.
9. Changes to this Notice. We reserve the right to change this Notice at any time in accordance with applicable law. Prior to a substantial change to this Notice related to the uses or disclosures of your PHI, your rights, or our duties, we will revise and distribute this Notice.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RECEIPT OF NOTICE

We may ask you to sign an acknowledgment that you received this Notice.

QUESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS

If you would like 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, or you disagree with a decision we made regarding the use, disclosure,

or access to you PHI, you may complain to us by contacting the Privacy/Compliance Officer at the address and phone number 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 provide you with the address to file such a complaint upon request.

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

Please direct any of your questions or complaints to:

Privacy Officer:

Administrator

LOG Surgery Center

717-925-2897