Privacy
Policy (HIPAA)
Notice of Privacy Practices
This
notice describes how medical 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 (4/14/03), 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.
Before we make a 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.
Uses
and Disclosures of Health Information
We use and disclose health information about you for
treatment, payment, and healthcare operations.
For example:
Treatment:
Your health information may be
used by staff members or disclosed to other health care
professionals for the purpose of evaluating your health,
diagnosing medical conditions and providing treatment.
For example results of laboratory tests and procedures
will be available in your medical record to all health
professionals who may provide treatment or who may be
consulted by staff members.
Payment:
Your health information may be
used to seek payment from your health plan, from other sources
of coverage such as from credit card companies that you may
use to pay for services.
For example, your health plan may request and receive
information on dates of service, the services provided, and
the medical condition being treated.
Health
care operations: Your
health information may be used as necessary to support the
day-to-day activities and management of Sugar Land Cardiology
Associates. For
example, information on the services you received may be used
to support budgeting and financial reporting, and activities
to evaluate and promote quality.
Law
Enforcement: Your health
information may be disclosed to law enforcement agencies,
without your permission, to support government audits and
inspections, to facilitate law enforcement investigations and
to comply with government mandated reporting.
Public
Health Reporting: Your health
information may be disclosed to public health agencies as
required by law. For
example, we are required to report certain communicable
diseases to the state’s public health department.
Other
uses and disclosures require your authorization: Disclosure of your health information or its use for any
purpose other than those listed above requires your specific
written authorization. If
you change your mind after authorizing a use or disclosure of
your information you may submit a written revocation of the
authorization. However,
your decision to revoke the authorization will not affect or
undo any use or disclosure of information that occurred before
you notified us of your decision.
Additional
Uses of Information
Appointment
reminders: Your
health information could be used by our staff to send you
appointment reminders.
Information
about treatments: Your
health information may be used to send you information on the
treatment and management of your medical condition that you
may find to be of interest.
We may also send you information describing other
health related goods and services that we believe may interest
you.
Individual
Rights: You have certain rights
under the privacy standards.
These include:
1.
The right to request restrictions on the use and disclosure
of your protected health information.
2.
The right to receive confidential communications concerning
your medical condition and treatment.
3.
The right to inspect and receive a copy of your protected
health information.
4.
The right to amend or submit corrections to your protected
health information.
5.
The right to receive an accounting of how and to whom your
protected health information has been disclosed.
6.
The right to receive a printed copy of this notice.
Sugar
Land Cardiology Associates Duties
We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your
protected health information and to provide you with this
notice of privacy practices.
We also are required to aide by the privacy policies
and practices that are outlined in this notice.
Right
to Revise Privacy Practices
As permitted by law, we reserve the right to amend or modify
our privacy policies and practices.
These changes in our policies and practices may be
required by changes in federal and state laws and regulations.
Whatever the reason for these revisions, we will
provide you with a revised notice on your next office visit.
The revised policies and practices will be applied to
all protected health information that we maintain.
Requests
to Inspect Protected Health Information.
As permitted by federal regulation, we require that requests
to inspect or copy protected health information be submitted
in writing. You
may obtain a form to request access to your records by
contacting our medical records clerk.
