NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
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
We are required by applicable federal and state law to maintain the privacy of your health information. We are also required to give you this Notice about our privacy practices, our legal duties, and your rights concerning your health information. We must follow the privacy practices that are described in this Notice while it is in effect. This Notice takes effect March 1, 2019 and will remain in effect until we replace it.
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. Prior to making any significant change in our privacy practices, we will change this Notice and make the new Notice available upon request.
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.
HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE HEALTH INFORMATION
We use and disclose health information about you for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations in accordance with applicable law in the following ways:
- Treatment: We may use and disclose your health information to a physician, physician’s assistant, or other healthcare provider providing treatment to you.
- Payment: We may use and disclose your health information to obtain payment for services we provide to you. This may include certain activities that your health insurance plan may undertake before or after it approves or pays for the health care services we recommend for you, such as making a determination of eligibility or coverage for insurance benefits, reviewing services provided to you for medical necessity, and undertaking utilization review activities.
- Healthcare Operations: We may use and disclose your health information in connection with our healthcare operations. Healthcare operations include appointment scheduling, quality assessment and improvement activities, reviewing the competence or qualifications of healthcare professionals, evaluating practitioner and provider performance, and conducting training programs, accreditation, certification, licensing or credentialing activities.Â
- We will share your protected health information with third party “business associates” that perform various activities (e.g. billing services) for the practice. Whenever an arrangement between our facilities and a business associate involves the use or disclosure of your protected health information, we will have a written contract that contains terms that will protect the privacy of your protected health information.
- Your Authorization: In addition to our use of your health information for treatment, payment or healthcare operations, you may give us written authorization to use your health information or to disclose it to anyone for any purpose. If you provide us with an authorization, you may revoke it in writing at any time. Your revocation will not affect any use or disclosures permitted by your authorization while it was in effect. Unless you give us a written authorization, we cannot use or disclose your health information for any reason except those described in this Notice.
- To 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, except as otherwise described in this Notice. Accompaniment implies your consent.
- 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.
- Emergencies: We may use or disclose your protected health information in an emergency treatment situation. If this happens, our licensed staff shall try to obtain your consent as soon as reasonably practicable after the delivery of treatment. If our licensed staff is required by law to treat you and has attempted to obtain your consent but is unable to obtain your consent, he or she may still use or disclose your protected health information to treat you.
- Communication Barriers: We may use and disclose your protected health information if our licensed staff attempts to obtain consent from you but is unable to do so due to substantial communication barriers and our licensed staff determines, using professional judgment, that you intend to consent to use or disclosure under the circumstances.
- Marketing Health-Related Services: We will not use your health information for marketing communications or make disclosures that would constitute a sale of PHI without your written authorization. We may use your name, image, likeness, or appearance in marketing materials that advertise or promote our services or programs. We will not do so unless and until we obtain a written authorization permitting us to do so from you or your authorized representative.
- Required by Law: We may use or disclose your health information when we are required to do so by law.
- 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 and Correctional Facilities: 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 protected health information to correctional institution or law enforcement officials having lawful custody of an inmate or patient under certain circumstances.
- Appointment Reminders: We may use or disclose your health information to provide you with appointment reminders (such as voicemail messages, postcards, or letters).
- Public Health: We may disclose your protected health information for public health activities and purposes to a public health authority that is permitted by law to collect or receive the information. The disclosure will be made for the purpose of controlling disease, injury or disability. We may also disclose your protected health information, if directed by a public health authority, to a foreign government agency that is collaborating with the public health authority.
- Communicable Diseases: We may disclose your protected health information, if authorized by law, to a person who may have been exposed to a communicable disease or may otherwise be at risk of contracting or spreading the disease or condition.
- Health Oversight: We may disclose protected health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations, and inspections. Oversight agencies seeking this information include government agencies, government benefit programs, other government regulatory programs and civil rights agencies.
- Food and Drug Administration: We may disclose your protected health information to a person or company required by the Food and Drug Administration to report adverse events, product defects or problems, biologic product deviations, track products, to enable product recalls, to make repairs or replacements, or to conduct post marketing surveillance, as required.
- Legal Proceedings: We may also disclose protected health information in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding, in response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal (to the extent such disclosure is expressly authorized), in certain conditions in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process.
- Coroners, Funeral Directors, and Organ Donation: We may disclose protected health information to a coroner or medical examiner for identification purposes, determining cause of death or for the coroner or medical examiner to perform other duties authorized by law. We may also disclose protected health information to a funeral director, as authorized by law, in order to permit the funeral director to carry out his or her duties. We may disclose such information in reasonable anticipation of death. Protected health information may be used and disclosed for cadaveric organ, eye or tissue donation purposes.
- Research: We may disclose your protected health information to researchers when their research has been approved by an institutional review board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your protected health information.
- Criminal Activity: Consistent with applicable federal and state laws, we may disclose your protected health information, if we believe that the use or disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public. We may also disclose protected health information if it is necessary for law enforcement authorities to identify or apprehend an individual.
- Workers’ Compensation: Your protected health information may be disclosed by us as authorized to comply with workers’ compensation laws and other similar legally-established programs.
- Required Uses and Disclosures: Under the law, we must make disclosures to you when required by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate or determine our compliance with the requirements of 45 CFR Section 164.500 et. seq.
YOUR RIGHTS
- Access: You have the right to look at or receive 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 practicably 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-based fee for expenses such as copies and staff time. You may also request access by sending us a letter to the address at the end of this Notice. If you request copies, we will charge you a base fee of $23.71 and $1.19 per page up to 20 pages, $0.60 per page for 21-20 pages, and $0.23 per page for greater than 51 pages. These fees are for staff time to locate and copy your health information, and postage if you want the copies mailed to yourself. If you request an alternative format or films or videotapes, we will charge a cost-based fee for providing your health information in that format. If you prefer, we will prepare a summary or an explanation of your health information for a fee. Contact us using the information listed at the end of this Notice for a full explanation of our fee structure.
- Electronic Access: You have the right to access protected health information in an electronic format if we maintain protected health information in such format, subject to a reasonable cost-based fee.
- Disclosure Accounting: You have the right to receive a list of instances in which we or our business associates disclosed your health information for purposes other than treatment, payment, healthcare operations and certain other activities for the last 6 years, but not before April 14, 2003. If you request this accounting more than once in a 12-month period, we may charge you a reasonable cost-based fee for responding to these additional requests. For electronic health records, the list of disclosures is limited to the last 3 years but applies to all disclosures made by us regardless of purpose.
- Breach Notification: You have the right to be notified in the event of a breach of your unsecured PHI in the event one occurs, which such notification will be made directly to you or by alternative means as permitted by applicable law and regulations.
- Restriction: You have the right to request that we place additional restrictions on our use or disclosure of your health information. We are not required to agree to these additional restrictions, but, if we do agree, we will abide by our written agreement signed by you and us (except in an emergency). We are required to agree to a request for restriction if it relates to a disclosure to a health plan for purposes of carrying out payment or health care operations and the PHI pertains solely to a healthcare item or service for which we have been paid by you out-of-pocket in full.
- Alternative Communication: You have the right to request that we communicate with you about your health information by alternative means or to alternative locations. You must make your request in writing. Your request must specify the alternative means or location, and provide satisfactory explanation how payments will be handled under the alternative means or location you request.
- Amendment: You have the right to request that we amend your health information. (Your request must be in writing, and it must explain why the information should be amended.) We may deny your request under certain circumstances.
- Electronic Notice: If you receive this Notice on our Web site or by electronic mail (e-mail), you are entitled to receive this Notice in written form.
QUESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS
If you want more information about our privacy practices or have questions or concerns, please contact us.
If you are concerned that we may have violated your privacy rights, or you disagree with a decision we made about access to your health information or in response to a request you made to amend or restrict the use or disclosure of your health information or to have us communicate with you by alternative means or at alternative locations, you may submit a complaint to us using the contact information listed at the end of this Notice. You may also submit a written complaint to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We will provide you with the address to file your complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services upon request.
We support your right to the privacy of your health information. We will not retaliate in any way if you choose to file a complaint with us or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- Contact: Medical Records
- Phone: 586.261.1960 ext. 12024
- Fax: 586.722.0201
- E-mail: medicalrecords@synergyhealth.org
- Address: 500 Stephenson Hwy, Ste 300, Troy, MI, 48083