Privacy Policy

 

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND

DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.  PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.  THE PRIVACY OF YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION IS IMPORTANT TO US.

OUR LEGAL DUTY

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA") we are required to maintain the privacy of your protected health information and provide you with notice of our legal duties and

Privacy practices with respect to such protected health information.   We are required to abide by the terms of the notice currently in effect. We reserve the right to change the terms of our notice at any time and to make the new notice provisions effective for all protected health information that we maintain.

 

We reserve the right to change our privacy practices and the terms of this Notice at any time, provided such changes are permitted by applicable law. We reserve the right to make the changes in our privacy practices and the new terms of our Notice effective for all health information that we maintain, including health information we created or received before we made the changes. In the event we make a material change in our privacy practices, we will change this Notice and provide it to you.

 

You may request a copy of our Notice at any time. For more information about our privacy practices, or for additional copies of this Notice, please contact us using the information listed at the end of this Notice.

 

USES AND DISCLOSURES OF HEALTH INFORMATION

ALAFAYA VISION CENTER is committed to protecting medical information about you. This Notice describes the privacy practices and that of all its departments and units, all employees, staff and services of all of all of its associates.  This Notice will tell you about the ways in which we may use and disclose medical information about you.

The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose Private Health Information (PHI). For each category of uses or disclosures we will explain what we mean and try to give some examples. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories.

 

Treatment:  We may use or disclose your health information to an optician, ophthalmologist or other healthcare provider providing treatment to you for:  a) the provision, coordination, or management of health care and related services by health care providers; (b) consultation between health care providers relating to a patient; (c) the referral of a patient for health care from one health care provider to another; or (d) recall information.

 

Payment:  We may use and disclose your health information to obtain payment for services we provide to you.  This may include:  (a) billing and collection activities and related data processing; (b) actions by a health plan or insurer to obtain premiums or to determine or fulfill its responsibilities for coverage and provision of benefits under its health plan or insurance agreement, determinations of eligibility or coverage, adjudication or subrogation of health benefit claims; (c) medical necessity and appropriateness of care reviews, utilization review activities; and (d) disclosure to consumer reporting agencies of information relating to collection of premiums or reimbursement.

 

Healthcare Operations:  We may use and disclose your health information in connection with our healthcare operations. Healthcare operations include things such as quality assessment and improvement activities, reviewing the competence or qualifications of healthcare professionals, evaluating practitioner and provider performance, conducting training programs, accreditation, certification, licensing or credentialing activities.  We may use and disclose medical information about you for Specialty Care. These uses and disclosures are necessary to the referring physician and make sure that all of our patients receive quality care.

Your 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 provide us an authorization to use or disclose medical 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 medical information about you for the reasons covered by the written authorization. You understand that we are unable to take back any disclosures we have already made with your authorization, and that we are required to retain our records of the care that we provide to you. Your Rights Regarding Health Information About You:

Marketing Health Products or Services:  We will not use your health information for marketing communications without your prior written authorization. We may provide you with information regarding products or services that we offer related to your health care needs.  We will never sell your health information without your prior authorization.

 

To You, Your Family and Friends:  We must disclose your health information to you, as described in the Patient Rights section of this Notice. We may disclose your health information to a family member, friend or other person to the extent necessary to help with your healthcare or with payment for your healthcare, but only if you agree that we may do so or, if you are not able to agree, if it is necessary in our professional judgment.

 

Persons Involved in Care:  We may use or disclose health information to notify, or assist in the notification of (including identifying or locating) a family member, your personal representative or another person responsible for your care, of your location, your general condition, or death. If you are present, then prior to use or disclosure of your health information, we will provide you with an opportunity to object to such uses or disclosures. In the event of your incapacity or emergency circumstances, we will disclose health information based on a determination using our professional judgment disclosing only health information that is directly relevant to the person’s involvement in your healthcare. We will also use our professional judgment and our experience with common practice to make reasonable inferences of your best interest in allowing a person to pick up filled prescriptions, medical supplies, x-rays, or other similar forms of health information.

 

Required by Law:  We may use or disclose your health information when we are required to do so by law, including judicial and administrative proceedings.

 

Abuse or Neglect:  We may disclose your health information to appropriate authorities if we reasonably believe that you are a possible victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence or the possible victim of other crimes. We may disclose your health information to the extent necessary to avert a serious threat to your health or safety or the health or safety of others.

 

National Security:  We may disclose to military authorities the health information of Armed Forces personnel under certain circumstances. We may disclose to authorized federal officials health information required for lawful intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities. We may disclose to correctional institution or law enforcement official having lawful custody of protected health information of inmate or patient under certain circumstances.

 

For special purposes. We may disclose medical information about you for special purposes as permitted or required by law, including the following:

Community and public health activities and reports such as disease control, abuse or neglect, and health and vital statistics.   Administrative oversight for such things as audits, investigations, licensure, or determining cause of death. Court order or other legal processes related to law enforcement activities including custody of inmates, legal actions, or national security activities.  Military and veteran reporting on members of the armed forces of U.S. or foreign military as required by military command authorities.  Organ and tissue donation and transplant reports as required by regulatory organizations as necessary to facilitate organ or tissue donation and transplant.  Workers’ compensation or other rehabilitative activities reporting as required by law or insurers in order to provide benefits for work-related or victim injuries or illnesses.

Research. Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose medical information about you for research purposes. For example, a research project may involve comparing the health and recovery of all patients who received one medication to those who received another, for the same condition. Before we use or disclose medical information for research, the project will have been approved through a research approval process.

To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety. We may use and disclose medical 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. Any disclosure, however, would only be to someone able to help prevent the threat.

Appointment Reminders and Treatment Alternatives:  We may use or disclose your health information to provide you with appointment reminders (such as voicemail messages, postcards, or letters) or information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.

 

PATIENT RIGHTS

Access:  You have the right to review or get copies of your health information, with limited exceptions. You may request that we provide copies in a format other than photocopies. We will use the format you request unless we cannot

Practically do so. You must make a request in writing to obtain access to your health information. You may obtain a form to request access by using the contact information listed at the end of this Notice. We will charge you a reasonable cost