THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY.

This notice of Privacy Practices is being provided to you as a requirement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This notice describes how we may use and disclose your protected health information to carry out treatment, payment, or health care operations and for other purposes that are permitted by law. It also describes your rights to access and control your protected health information in some cases. Your protected health information means any of your written and oral health information, including demographic data that can be used to identify you. This is health information that is created or received by your health care provider, and that relates to your past, present, and future physical or mental health condition.

I. Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information

The practice may use your protected health information for purposes of providing treatment, obtaining payment for treatment, and conducting health care operations. Your protected health information may be used or disclosed only for these purposes unless the practice has obtained your authorization or the use and disclosure is otherwise permitted by the HIPAA Privacy Regulations or State law. Disclosures of your protected health information for the purposes described in this Notice may be in writing, orally, or by facsimile.

A. Treatment. We will use and disclose your protected health information to provide, coordinate, or manage your health care and related services. This includes the coordination or management of your health care with a third party for treatment purposes. For example, we may disclose your protected health information to a referring physician to coordinate and approve your plan of care, or to a OBGYN professional to provide updates on your progress in preparation for your return to work. We may also disclose protected health information to other physicians who may be treating you or consulting with your physician with respect to your care. In some cases, we may also disclose your protected health information to another OBGYN provider for purposes of continuing your care with that provider.

B. Payment. Your protected health information will be used, as needed, to obtain payment for the services that we provide. This may include certain communications to your health insurer to get approval for the treatment that your referring physician and we recommend. We may also disclose protected health information to your insurance company to determine whether you are eligible for benefits or whether a particular service is covered under your health plan. In order to get payment for our services, we may also need to disclose your protected health information to your insurance company to demonstrate the medical necessity of the services or, as required by your insurance company, for utilization review or auditing. We may also disclose patient information to another provider involved in your care for the other provider?s payment activities.

C. Operations. We may use or disclose your protected health information, as necessary, for our own health care operations in order to facilitate the function of the practice and to provide quality care to all patients. Health care operations include such activities as:

In certain situations, we may also disclose patient information to another provider or health plan for their health care operations.

D. Other Uses and Disclosures. As part of treatment, payment and healthcare operations, we may also use or disclose your protected health information for the following purposes:

II. Uses and Disclosures beyond Treatment, Payment, and Health Care Operations Permitted Without Authorization or Opportunity to Object .

Federal privacy rules allow us to use or disclose your protected health information without your permission or authorization for a number of reasons including the following:

A. When Legally Required. We will disclose your protected health information when we are required to do so by any Federal, State, or local law.

B. When there are Risks to Public Health. We may disclose your protected health information for the following public activities and purposes:

C. To Report Abuse, Neglect, or Domestic Violence. We may notify government authorities if we believe that a patient is the victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence. We will make this disclosure only when specifically required or authorized by law or when the patient agrees to the disclosure.

D. To Conduct Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose your protected health information to a health oversight agency for activities including audits; civil, administrative, or criminal investigations, proceeding, or actions; inspections; licensure or disciplinary actions; or other activities necessary for appropriate oversight as authorized by law. We will not disclose your health information if you are the subject of an investigation and your health information is not directly related to your receipt of health care or public benefits.

E. In Connection With Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. We may disclose your protected health information in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding in response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal as expressly authorized by such order or in response to a signed authorization (in a format approved by the Michigan Court Administrator).

F. For Law Enforcement Purposes. We may disclose your protected health information to a law enforcement official for law enforcement purposes as follows:

G. To Coroners, Funeral Directors, and for Organ Donation. We may disclose protected health information to a coroner or medical examiner for identification purposes, to determine 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 their 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.

H. For Research Purposes. We may disclose your protected health information for research when the use or disclosure for research has been approved by an institutional review board or privacy board that has reviewed the research proposal and research protocols to address the privacy of your protected health information.

I. In the Event of a Serious Threat to Health or Safety. We may, consistent with applicable law and ethical standards of conduct, use or disclose your protected health information if we believe, in good faith, that such a disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to your health or safety or to the health and safety of the public.

J. For Specified Government Functions. In certain circumstances, the Federal regulations authorize the practice to use or disclose your protected health information to facilitate specified government functions relating to military and veterans activities, national security and intelligence activities, protective services for the President and others, medical suitability determinations, correctional institutions and law enforcement custodial situations.

K. For Worker?s Compensation. The practice may release your protected health information to comply with worker?s compensation laws or similar programs.

III. Uses and Disclosures Permitted Without Authorization but With Opportunity to Object

We may disclose your protected health information to your family member or a close personal friend if it is directly relevant to the person?s involvement in your care or payment related to your care. We can also disclose your information in connection with trying to locate or notify family members or others involved in your care concerning your location, condition or death.

You may object to these disclosures. If you do not object to these disclosures or we can infer from the circumstances that you do not object or we determine, in the exercise of our professional judgment, that it is in your best interests for us to make disclosure of information that is directly relevant to the person?s involvement with your care, we may disclose your protected health information as described.

IV. Uses and Disclosures Which You Authorize

Other than as stated above, we will not disclose your health information other than with your written authorization. You may revoke your authorization in writing at any time except to the extent that we have taken action in reliance upon the authorization.

V. Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your health information:

A. The right to inspect and copy your protected health information. You may inspect and obtain a copy of your protected health information that is contained in a designated record set for as long as we maintain the protected health information. A ?designated record set? contains medical and billing records and any other records that your therapist and the practice uses for making decisions about you.

Under Federal law, however, you may not inspect or copy the following records: psychotherapy notes; information compiled in reasonable anticipation of, or for use in, a civil, criminal, or administrative action or proceeding; and protected health information that is subject to a law that prohibits access to protected health information. Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to have a decision to deny access reviewed.

We may deny your request to inspect or copy your protected health information if, in our professional judgment, we determine that the access requested is likely to endanger your life or safety or that of another person referenced within the information. You have the right to request a review of this decision.

To inspect and copy your medical information, you may be asked to submit a written request to the Privacy Officer whose contact information is listed at the end of the Notice. If you request a copy of your information, we may charge you a fee for the costs of copying, mailing or other costs incurred by us in complying with your request. Please contact our Privacy Officer if you have questions about access to your medical record.

B. The Right to Request a Restriction on Uses and Disclosures of Your Protected Health Information. You may ask us not to disclose certain parts of your protected health information for the purposes of treatment, payment or health care operations. You may also request that we not disclose your health information to family members or friends who may be involved in your care or for notification purposes as described in this document. Your request must state the specific restriction requested and to whom you want the restriction to apply.

The practice is not required to agree to a restriction that you may request. We will notify you if we deny your request to a restriction. If the practice does agree to the requested restriction, we may not use or disclose your protected health information in violation of the restriction unless it is needed to provide emergency treatment. You may request a restriction by contacting the Privacy Officer.

C. The right to Request to Receive Confidential Communications from us by Alternative Means or at an Alternative Location. You have the right to request that we communicate with you in certain ways. We will accommodate reasonable requests. We may condition this accommodation by asking you for information as to how payment will be handled or specification of an alternative address or other method of contact. We will not require you to provide an explanation of your request which must be made in writing to the Privacy Officer.

D. The Right to Have Your Physician Amend Your Protected Health Information. You may request an amendment of protected health information about you in a designated record set for as long as we maintain this information. In certain cases, we may deny your request for an amendment. If we deny your request for amendment, you have the right to file a statement of disagreement with us and we may prepare a rebuttal to your statement and will provide you with a copy of any such rebuttal. Requests for amendment must be in writing and must be directed to our Privacy Officer. In this written request, you must also provide a reason to support the requested amendments.

E. The Right to Receive an Accounting. You have the right to request an accounting of certain disclosures of your protected health information made by the practice. This right applies to disclosures for purposes other than treatment, payment or health care operations as described in this document. We are also not required to account for disclosures that you requested, disclosures that you agreed to by signing an authorization form, disclosures for a facility directory, to friends or family members involved in your care, or certain other disclosures we are permitted to make without your authorization. The request for an accounting must be made in writing to our Privacy Officer. The request should specify the time period sought for the accounting. We are not required to provide an accounting of the disclosures that take place prior to April 14, 2003. Accounting requests may not be made for periods of time in excess of six years. We will provide the first accounting you request during any 12-month period without charge. Subsequent accounting requests may be subject to a reasonable cost-based fee.

F. The Right to Obtain a Paper Copy of this Notice. Upon request, we will provide a separate paper copy of this notice even if you have already received a copy of the notice or have agreed to this notice electronically.

VI. Our Duties

The practice is required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information and to provide you with this Notice of our duties and privacy practices. We are required to abide by terms of this Notice as may be amended from time to time. We reserve the right to change the terms of this Notice and to make the new Notice provisions effective for all protected health information that we maintain. If the practice changes this Notice, we will provide a copy of the revised Notice.

VII. Complaints

You have the right to express complaints to the practice and to the Secretary of Health and Human Services if you believe that your privacy rights have been violated. You may complain to the practice by contacting the practice?s Privacy Officer verbally or in writing, using the contact information below. You will not be retaliated against in any way for filing a complaint.

VIII. Contact Person

The practice's contact person for all issues regarding patient privacy and you rights under the Federal privacy standards is the Privacy Officer. Information regarding matters covered by this Notice can be requested by contacting the Privacy Officer. Complaints against the practice can be mailed to the Privacy Officer by sending it to:

Trenton OBGYN Group
3851 West Road
Trenton, MI 48183

The Privacy Officer can be contacted by telephone at (734) 671-3248.

IX. Effective Date

This Notice is effective April 14, 2003.

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