HIPAA the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 has recently been formalized and will help govern the relationship between patients and their providers of Health Care to provide all entitled Medical Services in the most efficient way. THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU, AS THE PATIENT, MAY GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.

If you have any questions about this notice, please contact our Privacy Officer. We appreciate the trust that patients place in us and we recognize the importance of protecting the confidentiality of non-public personal information that we have in our possession. This information will be used only to ensure accuracy in carrying out treatments for you and in keeping your records. In conducting transactions with patient’s health carriers or affiliates they designate, we will always endeavor to use information that is absolutely necessary to comply. If we change this policy, we will notify you in advance.

This notice describes the information privacy practices that are followed by our employees, physicians and all other office personnel. YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION This notice applies to the information and records we have about your health, health status, and the health care/services you receive at this office. It also reviews the way in which your health information may be disclosed to other entities and it describes your rights and our obligations in managing the privacy and integrity of your care.

We are required by law to give you this notice and to help you understand its intent. PATIENT’S RIGHT TO REVIEW PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION You may and are encouraged to review your entire health care record maintained in this office by making an appointment with our administrator. Please feel free to discuss and put in writing any discrepancies you feel may be present so that we can meet and resolve any issues or questions of care and service. HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU: FOR YOUR TREATMENT REQUIREMENTS we may use your health information to provide you with medical treatment and necessary services.

In addition, we may need to disclose your health information to physicians and other caregivers such as nurses, technician, and office or other personnel who are involved in your health care and medical requirements. For example your physician may be treating you for a condition that requires health information from other health care experts who may have already cared for you or are required to be consulted in the full scope of providing you with the most complete care for your particular condition(s). Thus, the doctor team may best decide what alternatives are optimal for you. However, for personal health information to be sent to another office that is outside the treatment endeavors of this office, your written consent will be required. Different personnel in our office may share information about you and disclose information to healthcare personnel who are not located in our office, but still involved in your immediate care. Designated family members and other healthcare providers may require information about you as well, such as surgical supply houses, case manager and social workers, or perhaps visiting nurses.

FOR PAYMENT PURPOSES we may be required to disclose health information about you such as diagnoses and treatment modalities in order for this office to be reimbursed for the services provided to you. Other personal health information and identifying information may be appropriately disclosed such as social security numbers, driver license numbers so relevant health plans can settle all or a portion of your account with this office. We may also share information with your health plan concerning treatment recommended in order to receive their prior approval. FOR HEALTHCARE OPERATIONS we may use and disclose health information about you in order to evaluate our office operations and monitor the quality of our care. For example, we may use and disclose health information about you in order to evaluate the performance and quality our staff provides in servicing your needs. Such information may also be used to determine what additional services we can and must offer to increase the effectiveness of treatment.