NOTICE OF PRIVACY
PRACTICES
For BOAS SURGICAL INC.
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.
If you have any questions about this
Notice please contact: our Privacy Contact who is Mr. Chris Field
OUR COMMITMENT TO PROTECT YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION
This Notice of Privacy Practices describes how we may use and disclose
your protected health information to carry out treatment, payment
or health care operations and for other purposes that are permitted
or required by law. It also describes your rights to access and
control your protected health information. Your "protected health
information" means any of your written and oral health information,
including your demographic data that can be used to identify you.
This is health information that is created or received by your health
care provider, and that relates to your past, present or future
physical or mental health or condition. We are strongly committed
to protecting your medical information. We create a medical record
about your care because we need the record to provide you with appropriate
treatment and to comply with various legal requirements. We transmit
some medical information about your care in order to obtain payment
for the services you receive, and we use certain information in
our day to day operations. This Notice will let you know about the
various ways we use and disclose your medical information, describe
your rights and our obligations with respect to the use or disclosure
of your medical information. We will also ask that you acknowledge
receipt of this Notice the first time you come to or use any of
our facilities, because the law requires us to make a good faith
effort to obtain your acknowledgment.
We are required by law to:
Make sure that any medical or health information that we
have that identifies you is kept private, and will be used or disclosed
only in accord with this Notice of Privacy Practices and applicable
law;
Give you this Notice of our legal duties and our privacy
practices; and
Abide by the terms of the Notice of Privacy Practices that
is in effect from time to time.
1. USES AND DISCLOSURES OF PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION
A. Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information for Treatment,
Payment and Healthcare Operations Your protected health information
may be used and disclosed by your (Orthotist or Prosthetist), our
office staff and others outside of our office who are involved in
your care and treatment for the purpose of providing health care
services to you. Your protected health information may also be used
and disclosed to pay your health care bills and to support the operation
of this facility. Following are examples of the types of uses and
disclosures of your protected health care information that this
facility is permitted to make. We have provided some examples of
the types of each use or disclosure we may make, but not every use
or disclosure in any of the following categories will be listed.
For Treatment: We will use and disclose your protected health
information to provide, coordinate, or manage your health care and
any related treatment. This includes the coordination or management
of your health care with a third party that has already obtained
your permission to have access to your protected health information.
For example, we would disclose your protected health information,
as necessary, to the physician that referred you to us. We will
also disclose protected health information to other health care
providers who may be treating you when we have the necessary permission
from you to disclose your protected health information.
For Payment: Your protected health information will 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, reviewing services provided
to you for medical necessity, and undertaking utilization review
activities. We may also tell your health plan about an orthotic
or prosthetic device you are going to receive to obtain prior approval
or to determine whether your plan will cover the device.
For Healthcare Operations: We may use or disclose, as needed,
your protected health information in order to support the business
activities of this facility. These activities include, but are not
limited to, quality assessment activities, employee review activities,
legal services, licensing, and conducting or arranging for other
business activities. We may share your protected health information
with third party "business associates" that perform various activities
(e.g., billing, transcription services) for this facility. Whenever
an arrangement between our facility and our business associate involves
the use or disclosure of your protected health information, we will
have a written contract that contains terms that will protect the
privacy of your protected health information.
Treatment Alternatives: We may use or disclose your protected
health information, as necessary, to provide you with information
about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and
services that may be of interest to you.
Appointment Reminders: We may use or disclose your protected
health information, as necessary, to contact you to remind you of
your appointment.
Sign In Sheets: We may use a sign-in sheet at the registration
desk where you will be asked to sign your name. We may also call
you by name in the waiting room when your (Orthotist or Prosthetist)
is ready to see you.
Marketing and Health Related Benefits and Services: We may
also use and disclose your protected health information for other
marketing activities. For example, we may send you information about
products or services that we believe may be beneficial to you. You
may contact our Privacy Contact to request that these materials
not be sent to you.
Sale of the Practice: If we decide to sell this practice
or merge or combine with another practice, we may share your protected
health information with the new owners.
B. Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information Based
upon Your Written Authorization
Other uses and disclosures of your protected health information
will be made only with your written authorization, unless otherwise
permitted or required by law as described below. You may revoke
your authorization, at any time, in writing. You understand that
we can not take back any use or disclosure we may have made under
the authorization before we received your written revocation, and
that we are required to maintain a record of the medical care that
has been provided to you. The authorization is a separate document,
and you will have the opportunity to review any authorization before
you sign it. We will not condition your treatment in any way on
whether or not you sign any authorization.
C. Other Permitted and Required Uses and Disclosures That May
Be Made Either With Your Agreement or the Opportunity to Object
We may use and disclose your protected health information in the
following instances. You have the opportunity to agree or object
to the use or disclosure of all or part of your protected health
information. If you are not present or able to agree or object to
the use or disclosure of the protected health information, then
your (Orthotist or Prosthetist) may, using their professional judgment,
determine whether the disclosure is in your best interest. In this
case, only the protected health information that is relevant to
your health care will be disclosed.
Others Involved in Your Healthcare: Unless you object, we
may disclose to a member of your family, a relative, a close friend
or any other person you identify, orally or in writing, your protected
health information that directly relates to that person's involvement
in your health care. 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 your protected health information
to notify or assist in notifying a family member, personal representative
or any other person that is responsible for your care of your location
or general condition.
D. Other Permitted and Required Uses and Disclosures That May
Be Made Without Your Authorization or Opportunity to Object
We may use or disclose your protected health information in the
following situations without your authorization or providing you
the opportunity to object.
Required By Law: We may use or disclose your protected health
information to the extent that the use or disclosure is required
by federal, state or local law. The use or disclosure will be made
in compliance with the law and will be limited to the relevant requirements
of the law. You will be notified, as required by law, of any such
uses or disclosures.
Public Health: We may disclose your protected health information
for public health activities and purposes to a public health authority
that is permitted by law to collect or receive the information.
The disclosure will be made for the purpose of controlling disease,
injury or disability. A disclosure under this exception would only
be made to somebody in a position to help prevent the threat to
public health
Communicable Diseases: We may disclose your protected health
information, if authorized by law, to a person who may have been
exposed to a communicable disease or may otherwise be at risk of
contracting or spreading the disease or condition.
Health Oversight: We may disclose protected health information
to a 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 health
care system, government benefit programs, other government regulatory
programs and civil rights laws.
Abuse or Neglect: We may disclose your protected health information
to a public health authority that is authorized by law to receive
reports of child abuse or neglect. In addition, we may disclose
your protected health information if we believe that you have been
a victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence to the governmental
entity or agency authorized to receive such information. We will
only make this disclosure if you agree or when required or authorized
by law. In this case, the disclosure will be made consistent with
the requirements of applicable federal and state laws.
Military and Veterans: If you are a member of the military,
we may release protected health information about you as required
by military command authorities.
Food and Drug Administration: We may disclose your protected
health information to a person or company required by the Food and
Drug Administration to report adverse events, product defects or
problems, biologic product deviations, track products; to enable
product recalls; to make repairs or replacements, or to conduct
post marketing surveillance, as required.
Legal Proceedings: We may disclose your protected health
information in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding,
in response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal (to
the extent such disclosure is expressly authorized), in certain
conditions in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other
lawful process.
Law Enforcement: We may also disclose your protected health
information, so long as applicable legal requirements are met, for
law enforcement purposes. These law enforcement purposes might include
(1) legal processes and otherwise required by law, (2) limited information
requests for identification and location purposes, (3) pertaining
to victims of a crime, (4) suspicion that death has occurred as
a result of criminal conduct, (5) in the event that a crime occurs
on the premises of the practice, and (6) medical emergency (not
on the facility's premises) and it is likely that a crime has occurred.
Coroners, Funeral Directors, and Organ Donation: We may disclose
your protected health information to a coroner or medical examiner
for identification purposes, determining cause of death or for the
coroner or medical examiner to perform other duties authorized by
law. We may also disclose protected health information to a funeral
director, as authorized by law, in order to permit the funeral director
to carry out their duties. We may disclose such information in reasonable
anticipation of death. Protected health information may be used
and disclosed for cadaver organ, eye or tissue donation purposes.
Research: Under certain circumstances, we may disclose your
protected health information to researchers when their research
has been approved by an institutional review board that has reviewed
the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy
of your protected health information.
Criminal Activity: Consistent with applicable federal and
state laws, we may disclose your protected health information, if
we believe that the use or disclosure is necessary to prevent or
lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of
a person or the public. We may also disclose protected health information
if it is necessary for law enforcement authorities to identify or
apprehend an individual.
Military Activity and National Security: When the appropriate
conditions apply, we may use or disclose protected health information
of individuals who are Armed Forces personnel (1) for activities
deemed necessary by appropriate military command authorities; (2)
for the purpose of a determination by the Department of Veterans
Affairs of your eligibility for benefits, or (3) to foreign military
authority if you are a member of that foreign military services.
We may also disclose your protected health information to authorized
federal officials for conducting national security and intelligence
activities, including for the provision of protective services to
the President or others legally authorized.
Workers' Compensation: We may disclose your protected health
information as authorized to comply with workers' compensation laws
and other similar legally-established programs that provide benefits
for work-related illnesses and injuries.
Inmates: We may use or disclose your protected health information
if you are an inmate of a correctional facility and your (Orthotist
or Prosthetist) created or received your protected health information
in the course of providing care to you.
Required Uses and Disclosures: Under the law, we must make
disclosures to you and when required by the Secretary of the Department
of Health and Human Services to investigate or determine our compliance
with the requirements of the final rule on Standards for Privacy
of Individually Identifiable Health Information.
2. YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU
Following is a statement of your rights with respect to your protected
health information and a brief description of how you may exercise
these rights.
You have the right to inspect and copy your protected health
information. This means you may inspect and obtain a copy of
your protected health information contained in your medical and
billing records and any other records that your (Orthotist or Prosthetist)
uses for making decisions about you, for as long as we maintain
the protected health information. To inspect and copy your medical
information, you must submit a written request to the Privacy Contact
listed on the first and last pages of this Notice. If you request
a copy of your information, we may charge you a fee for the costs
of copying, mailing or other costs incurred by us in complying with
your request. We may deny your request in limited situations specified
in the law. For example, you may not inspect or copy psychotherapy
notes; or information compiled in reasonable anticipation of, or
use in, a civil, criminal, or administrative action or proceeding,
and certain other specified protected health information defined
by law. In some circumstances, you may have a right to have this
decision reviewed. The person conducting the review will not be
the person who initially denied your request. We will comply with
the decision in any review. Please contact our Privacy Contact if
you have questions about access to your medical record.
You have the right to request a restriction of your protected
health information. This means you may ask us not to use or
disclose any part of your protected health information for the purposes
of treatment, payment or healthcare operations. You may also request
that any part of your protected health information not be disclosed
to family members or friends who may be involved in your care or
for notification purposes as described in this Notice of Privacy
Practices. Your request must state the specific restriction requested
and to whom you want the restriction to apply.
Your (Orthotist or Prosthetist) is not required to agree to
a restriction that you may request. If the (Orthotist or
Prosthetist) believes it is in your best interest to permit use
and disclosure of your protected health information, your protected
health information will not be restricted. If your (Orthotist or
Prosthetist) does agree to the requested restriction, we may not
use or disclose your protected health information in violation of
that restriction unless it is needed to provide emergency treatment.
With this in mind, please discuss any restriction you wish to request
with your (Orthotist or Prosthetist). You may request a restriction
by contacting our Privacy Contact and submitting your request
in writing, to Mr. Chris Field, (610) 423 - 6736 or email at cfield@boassurgical.com.
You have the right to request to receive confidential communications
from us by alternative means or at an alternative location.
We will accommodate reasonable requests. We may also condition this
accommodation by asking you for information as to how payment will
be handled or specification of an alternative address or other method
of contact. We will not request an explanation from you as to the
basis for the request. Please make this request in writing to our
Privacy Contact.
You may have the right to have your (Orthotist or Prosthetist)
amend your protected health information. This means you may
request an amendment of your protected health information contained
in your medical and billing records and any other records that your
(Orthotist or Prosthetist) uses for making decisions about you,
for as long as we maintain the protected health information. You
must make your request for amendment in writing to our Privacy Contact,
and provide the reason or reasons that support your request. We
may deny any request that is not in writing or does not state a
reason supporting the request. We may deny your request for an amendment
of any information that:
Was not created by us, unless the person that created the
information is no longer available to amend the information;
Is not part of the protected health information kept by or
for us;
Is not part of the information you would be permitted to
inspect or copy; or
Is accurate and complete.
If we deny your request for amendment, we will do so in writing
and explain the basis for the denial. You have the right to file
a written statement of disagreement with us. We may prepare a rebuttal
to your statement and will provide you with a copy of any such rebuttal.
Please contact our Privacy Contact to determine if you have questions
about amending your medical record.
You have the right to receive an accounting of certain disclosures
we have made, if any, of your protected health information.
This right only applies to disclosures for purposes other than treatment,
payment or healthcare operations as described in this Notice of
Privacy Practices. It also excludes disclosures we may have made
to you, to family members or friends involved in your care, or for
notification purposes. You have the right to receive specific information
regarding these disclosures that occurred after April 14, 2003.
The right to receive this information is subject to certain exceptions,
restrictions and limitations. You must submit a written request
for disclosures in writing to the Privacy Contact. You must specify
a time period, which may not be longer than six years and cannot
include any date before April 14, 2003. You may request a shorter
timeframe. Your request should indicate the form in which you want
the list (i.e., on paper, etc). You have the right to one free request
within any 12 month period, but we may charge you for any additional
requests in the same 12 month period. We will notify you about the
charges you will be required to pay, and you are free to withdraw
or modify your request in writing before any charges are incurred.
You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this notice from
us, upon request to our Privacy Contact, or in person at our
office, at any time, even if you have agreed to accept this notice
electronically. You may obtain a copy of this notice at our website,
www.boassurgical.com.
3. COMPLAINTS
You may complain to us or to the Secretary of Health and Human Services
if you believe your privacy rights have been violated by us. You
may file a complaint with us by notifying our privacy contact of
your complaint. We will not retaliate against you in any way for
filing a complaint, either with us or with the Secretary. You may
contact our Privacy Contact, Mr. Chris Field at (610) 432-6736 or
email at cfield@boassurgical.com
for further information about the complaint process.
4. CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE
We reserve the right to change the privacy practices that are described
in this Notice of Privacy Practices. We also reserve the right to
apply these changes retroactively to Protected Health Information
received before the change in privacy practices. You may obtain
a revised Notice of Privacy Practices by calling the office and
requesting a revised copy be sent in the mail, asking for one at
the time of your next appointment, or accessing our website. This
notice was published and becomes effective on April 14, 2003.
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