Effective Date: April 14, 2003
If you have any questions about this notice, please contact our Privacy Officer, Jenn Liptak, RN.
Each time you visit the hospital, surgery center, 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/treatment. This notice applies to all of the records of your care generated by Legacy Heart Center, P.A.
Our Responsibilities:
We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your health information and provide you a description of our privacy practices. We will abide by the terms of this notice and notify you if we cannot agree to a requested restriction. We will accommodate reasonable requests you may have to communicate health information by alternative means or at alternative locations.
Uses and Disclosure(s) of Information: How we may use and disclose medical information about you.
The following categories describe examples of the way we use and disclose medical information.
For Treatment: We may use medical information about you to provide you treatment or services. We may disclose medical information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, or other personnel who are involved in taking care of you.
For Health Care Operations: Members of the staff may use information in your record to assess the care and outcomes in your case and others like it. The results will then be used to continually improve the quality of care for all patients we serve. For example, we may also combine medical information about many patients to evaluate the need for new services or treatment. We may remove information that identifies you from this set of medical information to protect your privacy.
We may also use and disclose medical information:
- To remind you that you have an appointment for medical care;
- To assess your satisfaction with our services;
- To tell you about possible treatment alternatives;
- To tell you about health related benefits or services;
- For population based activities relating to improving health or reducing health care costs; and
- For conducting training programs or reviewing competence of health care professionals.
Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care: We may release medical information about you to a friend or family member who is involved in your medical care or who helps to pay for your care. In addition, we may disclose medical information about you to an entity assisting in a disaster relief effort so that your family can be notified about your condition, status and location.
Future Communications: We may communicate to you via newsletters, mail outs or other means regarding treatment options, health related information, disease-management programs, wellness programs, or other community based initiatives or activities our facility is participating in.
As required by law, we may use and disclose health information to:
- Food and Drug Administration
- Public Health or Legal Authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability
- Correctional Institutions
- Workers Compensation Agents
- Organ and Tissue Donation Organizations
- Military Command Authorities
- Health Oversight Agencies (AHCA, etc.)
- Funeral Directors, Coroners and Medical Directors
- National Security and Intelligence Agencies
Law Enforcement / Legal Proceedings: We may disclose health information for law enforcement purposes as required by law or in response to a valid subpoena.
State specific requirements: Many states have requirements for reporting including population based activities relating to improving health or reducing health care costs.
Your Health Information Rights
Although your health record is the physical property of the healthcare practitioner or facility that compiled it, you have the right to:
- Right to Inspect and Copy: You have the right to inspect and copy medical information that may be used to make decisions about your care. Usually, this is medical and billing records, but does NOT include psychotherapy notes. 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 health care professional chosen by the physician 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 second review.
- 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. However, if we do agree, we will comply with your request unless the information is needed to provide you emergency treatment.
- Right to Amend: You have the right to request that incorrect or incomplete protected health information is corrected or made complete. The request must be made in writing. The covered entity must act on the request within 60 days, but may have an additional 30 days if an explanation for the delay is provided. If the covered entity accepts the request, it must make the correction in all of the affected records, make reasonable efforts to inform its business associates and others of the correction, and inform the patient of these actions. A policy is available for more information, if needed.
- Right to Request Confidential Communications: You have the right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way or at a certain location. We will agree to the request to the extent that it is reasonable for us to do so. For example, you may ask that we contact you only at work or by e-mail.
- Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice: 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 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 website if applicable. To exercise any of your rights, please obtain the required forms from the Privacy Officer and submit your request in writing.
Complaints
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with the Privacy Officer. All complaints must be submitted in writing. You will NOT be penalized for filing a complaint.
Other Uses of Medical Information
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 permission. If you provide us permission to use or disclose medical information about you, you may revoke that permission, in writing, at any time. If you revoke your permission, 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 may have already made with your permission, and that we are required to retain our records of the care that we provided to you.
