Privacy & HIPPA
Physicians Weight Control & Wellness – Privacy and HIPAA Policy
Introduction
At Physicians Weight Control & Wellness, we prioritize your privacy and are committed to maintaining the confidentiality and security of your health information. We want you to understand how we use and share your Protected Health Information and your rights related to this information. This Privacy and HIPAA Policy reflects our commitment to you and complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule.
Definitions
1. HIPAA – The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which establishes standards for the protection of certain health information.
2. Protected Health Information (PHI) – Information about you that pertains to your past, present, or future medical condition, treatment of your medical condition, and payment for your medical treatment. This includes demographic data that might identify you.
3. Use – The manner in which we (physicians and staff) within our office properly share, employ, apply, review, or analyze your Protected Health Information.
4. Disclose – The action where we (physicians and staff) appropriately release, transfer, or provide access to your Protected Health Information to external individuals or entities.
5. Designated Record Set – Medical and billing records that our office creates and preserves for treatment and payment purposes.
Use and Disclosure of Protected Health Information
1. Treatment: We may use or disclose your PHI to provide, manage, or coordinate your healthcare and related services. This might involve communication with other healthcare professionals regarding your treatment and coordination and management of your healthcare with others.
2. Payment: Your PHI may be used to obtain payment for the healthcare services we provide. This might include billing your health insurance or providing health information to our billing service and your health plan.
3. Healthcare Operations: We may use and disclose PHI for our healthcare operations, including quality assessment, employee review, training, licensing, and other functions related to the care and treatment of our patients.
4. Appointment Reminders: We may use and disclose PHI to contact you for appointment reminders.
5. Required by Law: We may use or disclose PHI when we are required to do so by law.
6. Public Health: We may disclose PHI for public health activities. This includes disclosures to prevent or control disease, injury, or disability.
Your Rights
1. Access: You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of your PHI contained in our designated record set.
2. Amend: If you believe your PHI is incorrect, you may request we amend your records.
3. Disclosure Accounting: You can request a list of instances where we disclosed your PHI for reasons other than treatment, payment, or related administrative purposes.
4. Restriction: You may request that we place additional restrictions on our use or disclosure of your PHI.
5. Alternative Communication: You may request that we communicate with you about your PHI in an alternative manner or at an alternative location.
6. Complaints: If you think your rights have been violated, you have the right to file a complaint with our office or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Changes to This Policy
We reserve the right to change this Privacy and HIPAA Policy. If we change our policy, we will post the revised version here.
Contact Information
For further information about our Privacy and HIPAA Policy, please contact our office.
Your trust is of utmost importance to us. We are dedicated to ensuring the privacy and integrity of your medical information. Thank you for choosing Physicians Weight Control & Wellness.