We care about our patients' privacy and strive to protect the confidentiality of your medical information at this practice. New federal legislation requires that we issue this official notice of our privacy practices. You have the right to the confidnetiality of your medical information, and this practice is required by law to maintain the privacy of that information.

Thsi practice is required to abide by the terms of the Notice of Privacty Practices currently in effect, and to provide notice of its legal duties and privacy practices with respect to protected health information. If you have any questions about this Notice, please contact the Privacy Officer of this practice listed below:

TRACY SMITH, PRACTICE COORDINATOR

How We May Use & Disclose Medical Information About You

The following categories describe different ways that we may use and disclosed medical information without your specific consent or authorization. Examples are provided for each category of uses or disclosures. Not all possible uses or disclosures are listed.

For Treatment

We may use medical information about you to provide you with medical treatment or services. Example: In treating you for a specific condition, we may need to know if you have allergies that could influence which medications we prescribe for the treatment process.

For Payment

We may use and disclose medical information about you so that the treatment and services you receive from us may be billed and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company or a third party. Example: We many need to send your protected health information, such as you name, address, office visit date and codes identifying your diagnosis and treatment to your insurance company.

For Health Care Operations

We may use and disclose medical information about you for health care operations to assure that you receive quality care. Example: We may use medical information to review our treatment and services and evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you.

Other Uses or Disclosure That Can Be Made Without Your Consent or Authorization

• As required during an investigation by law enforcement agencies
• To avert a serious threat to public health or safety
• As required by military command authorities for their medical records
• To workers' compensation or similar programs for processing of claims
• In response to a legal proceeding
• To a coroner or medical examiner for identification of a body
• If an inmate, to the correctional institution or law enforcement official
• As required by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• Other healthcare providers' treatment activities
• Other covered entities' and providers' payment activities
• Other cover entitites' healthcare operations activities(to the extent permitted under HIPAA)
• Uses and disclosures required by law.
• Uses and disclosures in domestic violence or neglect sitiuations
• Health oversight activities
• Other public health activities

We may contact you to provide appointment reminders or information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.

Uses and Disclosure of Protected Health Information Requiring Your Written Authorization

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 authorization. If you give us authorization to use or disclose medical information about you, you may revoke that authorization, in writing, at any time. If you revoke you authorization, we will thereafter no longer use or disclose medical information about you for the reasones covered by your written authorization. We are unable to take back any disclosures we have already made with your authorization, and we are required to retain our records of the care we have provided you.

Click here to read your Individual Rights regarding this Privacy Policy.

Who Will Follow This Notice

Any health care professional authorized to enter information into your medical record, all employees, staff and other personnel at this practice who may need access to your information must abide by this Notice. All subsidiaries, business associates (e.g. a billing service), sites and locations of this practice may share medical information with each other for treatment, payment purposes or health care operations described in this Notice. Except where treatment is involved, only minimum necessary information needed to accomplish the task will be shared.

Changes To This Notice

We reserve the right to change this Notice. We reserve the right 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 copy of the current Notice, with the effective date on the posted copy.