The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) provides safeguards to protect your privacy. Implementation of HIPAA requirements officially began on April 14 2003. Many of the polices have been our practice for years. This form is a “friendly” version. A more complete text is posted in the office.

What this is all about: Specifically, there are rules and restrictions on who may see or be notified of you Protected Health Information (PHI). These restrictions do not include normal interchange of information necessary to provide you with office services. HIPAA provides certain rights and protections to you as the patient. We balance these needs with our goal of providing you with quality professional service and care. Additional information is available from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. www.hhs.gov

We have adopted the following policies:

1.        Patient information will be kept confidential except as is necessary to provide services or to ensure that all administrative matters related to you care are handled appropriately. This specifically includes sharing of information with other healthcare providers laboratories health insurance payers as is necessary and appropriate for your care. Patient files may be stored in open file racks and will not contain any coding which identifies a patient’s condition or information which is not already a matter of public record. The normal course of providing care means that such records may be left at least temporarily, in administrative areas such as the front office examination room etc. Those records will not be available to persons other than office staff. You agree to the normal procedures utilized within the office for the handling of charts, patient records, PHI and other documents or information. 

2.       It is the policy of this office to remind patients of their appointments. We may do this by telephone, text message, e-mail, U.S. mail or by any means convenient for the practice and/or as requested by you. We may send you other communication informing you of changes to the office policy and new technology or services that you might find valuable or informative.

3.       The practice utilizes a number of vendors in the conduct of business. These vendors may have access to PHI but must agree to abide by the confidentiality rules of HIPAA.

4.       You understand and agree to inspections of the office and review of documents which may include PHI by regulatory agencies, government agencies or insurance payers in normal performance of their duties.

5.       Your agree to bring any concerns or complaints regarding privacy to the attention of the office manager or the Medical Director (Doctor).

6.       Your confidential information will not be used for the purposes of marketing or advertising of products, goods or services.

7.       We agree to provide patients with access to their records in accordance with the state and federal laws. We may require written requests for medical record and signature upon release of said records.

8.       We may change, add, delete or modify any of these provisions to better serve the needs of north the practice and the patient.

9.       You have the right to request restriction in the use of your PHI and to request change in certain policies used within the office concerning you PHI. However, we are not obligated to alter internal policies to conform to your request.