Privacy Practices

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USEDAND DISCLOSED, AND HOW YOU GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY. If you have any questions about this notice, please contact Janette Courtney, our President at (859) 466-7914. THE DRUMMOND COMPANY P. O. Box 5602 Fresno, Ca. 93755 WHO WILL FOLLOW THIS NOTICE This notice describes information about privacy practices followed by our employees, staff and other office personnel. The practices described in this notice will also be followed by healthcare providers you consult with by telephone (when your regular healthcare provider form our office is not available) who provide “call coverage” for your healthcare provider. YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION This notice applies to the information and records we have about your hearing health, and the hearing health and services you receive at this office. We are required by law to give you this notice. It will tell you about the ways we may use disclose health information about you and it describes your rights and our obligations regarding the use and disclosure of that information. HOW MAY WE USE AND DISCLOSE HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU We must have your written, signed Consent to use and disclose health information for the following purposes: For Treatment We may use health information about you to provide you with hearing services. We may disclose health information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, office staff or other personnel who are involved in taking care of you and your health. For example, your doctor may be treating you for a heart condition and may need to know if you have other health problems that could complicate your treatment. The doctor could use your medial history to decide what treatment is best for you. The doctor may also tell another doctor about your condition so that doctor can help determine the most appropriate care for you. Different personnel in our office may share information about you and disclose information to people who do not work in our office in order to coordinate your care. Family members and other healthcare providers may be part of your medical care outside this office and may require information about you that we have. For Payment We may use and disclose health information about you so that the treatment and services you receive at this office may be billed to and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company, or a third party. For example, we may need to give your health plan information about a service you received here so your health plan will reimburse us or reimburse you for the service. 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 Healthcare Operations We may use and disclose health information about you in order to run the office and make sure that you and our other patients receive quality care. For example, we may use your health information to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you. We may also use health information about all or many of our patients to help us decide what additional services we should offer, how we can become more efficient, or whether certain treatments are effective. Appointment Reminders: We may contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for treatment of medical care at the office. Treatment Alternatives: We may tell you about or recommend possible treatment options or alternatives that may be of interest to you. Health-Related Products and Services: We may tell you about health-related products or services that may be of interest to you. Please notify us if you do not wish to be contacted for appointment reminders, or if you do not wish to receive communications about treatment alternatives or health-related products and services. If you advise us in writing (at the address listed at the top of this notice) that you do not wish to receive such communications, we will use or disclose your information for these purposes. You may revoke your Consent at any time by giving us written notice. Your revocation will be effective when we receive it, but it will not apply to any uses and disclosures that occurred before that time. If you do revoke your consent, we will not be permitted to use or disclose information for purposes of treatment, payment, or healthcare operations, and we may therefore choose to discontinue providing you with healthcare treatment and services. SPECIAL SITUATIONS We may use or disclose health information about you without your permission for the following purposes, subject to all applicable legal requirements and limitations. To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety We may use and disclose health information about you when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person. Required by law: We will disclose health information about you when required to do so by the federal, state or local law. Research: We may use and disclose health in formation about you for research projects that are subject to a special approval process. We will ask you for your permission if the researcher will have access to your name, address or other information that reveals who you are, or will be involved in your care at the office. Military, Veterans, National Security and Intelligence: If you are or were a member of the armed forces, or part of the national security or intelligence communities, we may be required by military command or other government authorities to release health information about you. We may also release information about foreign military personnel to the appropriate foreign military authority. Worker’s Compensation: We may release health information about you for workers’ compensation or similar programs. These programs provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness. Health Oversight Activities: We may disclose health information to a health oversight agency for audits, investigations, inspections, or licensing purposes. These disclosures may be necessary for certain state and federal agencies to monitor the healthcare system, government programs, and compliance with civil rights laws. Lawsuits or Disputes: If you are involved in a lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose health information about you in response to a court or administrative order. Subject to all applicable legal requirements, we may also disclose health information about you in response to a subpoena. Information Not Personally Identifiable: We may use or disclose health information about you in a way that does not personally identify you or reveal who you are. Family and Friends: We may disclose health information about you to your family members or friends if we obtain your verbal agreement to do so, or if we give you an opportunity to object to such a disclosure and you do not raise an objection. We may also disclose hearing health information to your family of friends if we can infer from the circumstances, based on our professional judgment that you would not object. For example, we may assume you agree to our disclosure of your personal health information to your spouse when you bring your spouse with you into the exam room during treatment or while treatment is discussed. OTHER USES AND DISCLOSURES OF HEALTH INFORMATION We will not use or disclose your hearing health information for any purpose other than those identified in the previous sections without your specific, written Authorization. We must obtain your Authorization separate from any Consent we may have obtained from you. If you give us Authorization to use or disclose health 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 information about you for the reasons covered by your written Authorization, but we cannot take back any uses or disclosures already made with your permission. If we have HIV or substance abuse information about you, we cannot release that information without a special signed, written authorization (different from the Authorization and Consent mentioned above) from you. In order to disclose these types of records for purposes of treatment, payment, or healthcare operations, we will have to have both your signed Consent and a special written Authorization that complies with the law governing HIV or substance abuse records. YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU You have the following rights regarding health information we maintain about you. Right to Inspect and Copy: You have the right to inspect and copy your health information, such as medical and billing records, that we use to make decisions about your care. You must submit a written request to Janette Courtney, in order to inspect and/or copy your health information. If you request a copy of the information, we may charge a fee for the costs of copying, mailing, or other associated supplies. We may deny your request to inspect and /or copy in certain limited circumstances. If you are denied access to your health information, you may ask that the denial be reviewed. If such a review is required by law, we will select a licensed healthcare professional to review your request and our denial. The person conducting the review will not be the person who denied your request, and we will comply with the outcome of the review. Right to Amend: If you believe health 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 as long as the information is kept by this office. To request an amendment, complete and submit a Medical Record Amendment/Correction Form to Janette Courtney. We may deny your request for an amendment if it not writing or does not include a reason to support the request. In addition, 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 a) We did not create, unless the person or entity that created the information is no longer available to make the amendment. b) Is not part of the health information that we keep. c) You would not be permitted to inspect and copy. d) Is accurate and complete. Right to an Accounting of Disclosures: You have the right to request a “accounting of disclosures”. This is a list of the disclosures we made of medical information about you for the purposes other than treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. To obtain this list, you must submit your request in writing to Janette Courtney. It must state a time period, which may not be longer than six years and may not include dates before April 14, 2003. Your request should indicate in what form you want the list (for example, on paper or electronically). We may charge you for the costs of providing the list. We will notify you of the cost involved, and you may choose to withdraw or modify your request at that time before any costs are incurred. Right to Request Restrictions: You have the request a restriction of limitation on the health information we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations. You also have the right to request a limit on the health information we disclose about you to someone who is involved in your care or the payment for it, like a family member or friend. To request confidential communications, you may complete and submit the Submit the Request for Restrictions on Use/Disclosure of Medical Information to Janette Courtney. Right to Request Confidential Communications: You have the right to request that we communicate with you about Hearing health care 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 may complete and submit the Request for Restrictions on Use/Disclosure of Medical Information and/ or Confidential Communications to Janette Courtney. We will not ask you for the reason for your request. We will accommodate all reasonable requests. Your request must specify how or where you wish to be contacted. 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 it electronically, you are still entitled to a paper copy. To obtain such a copy, contact Janette Courtney. Changes To This Notice We reserve the right to change this notice, and 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 summary of the current notice in the office with its effective date in the top right- hand corner. You are entitled to a copy of the notice currently in effect. If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with our office or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. To file a complaint with our office contact Janette Courtney at the address and telephone number list on the first page of this notice. You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.