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 IT CAREFULLY.
Original Effective Date: April 14, 2003
Last Revised: February 23, 2009
A federal regulation, known as the HIPAA Privacy Rule, requires that we provide detailed notice in writing of our privacy practices. We know that this Notice is long. The HIPAA Privacy Rule requires us to address many specific things in this notice.
OUR COMMITMENT TO PROTECTING HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU
In this Notice, we describe the ways that we may use and disclose health information about our patients. The HIPAA Privacy Rule requires that we protect the privacy of health information that identifies a patient, or where there is a reasonable basis to believe the information can be used to identify a patient. This information is called protected health information or PHI. This Notice describes your rights as our patient and our obligations regarding the use and disclosure of PHI. We are required by law to:
- Maintain the privacy of PHI about you
- Give you this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to PHI; and Comply with the terms of our Notice of Privacy Practices that is currently in effect
As permitted by the HIPAA Privacy Rule, we reserve the right to make changes to this Notice and to make such changes effective for all PHI we may already have about you. If and when this Notice is changed, we will post copy in our office in a prominent location. We will also provide you with a copy of the revised Notice upon your request made to our Privacy Official.
You will be asked to sign a form to show that you received this Notice. Even if you do not sign this form, we will still provide treatment.
