Notice of Privacy Practice

This Notice Describes How Medical Information About You May Be Used, Disclosed, and How You Can Get Access To This Information. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

If you have any questions about this notice, don't hesitate to get in touch with the Clinic Manager/Privacy Officer at (501)-224-4001

 

Our Pledge Regarding Medical Information.

We understand that medical information about you and your health is personal. We are committed to protecting medical information reasonably and appropriately. We create a record of the care and the services you receive at Mocek Spine. We need this record to provide you with quality care, and it complies with legal requirements. This notice applies to all the records of your care generated by the Mocek Spine Clinic. This notice will tell you how we may use and disclose medical information about you, your rights, and certain obligations regarding the use and disclosure of medical information.

 

We are required by law to:

  • Make sure that medical information that identifies you is kept private.
  • Give you this notice of our legal duties and practices concerning medical information about you.
  • Follow the terms of this notice that is currently in effect.

 

How We May Use and Disclose Medical Information About You. 

The following describes how we may use and disclose health information and how that affects your identity. Except for the purposes described below, we will use and disclose Health Information only with your written permission. You may revoke such authorization at any time by writing our Privacy Officer.

  • For Treatment: We may use your health information and share it with other professionals treating you.
  • For Payment: We may use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities.
  • For Health Care Operations: We may use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary.
  • Appointment Reminders, Treatment Alternatives, and Health-Related Benefits and Services: We may share and disclose Health Information to contact you to remind you that you have an appointment with us. We may also use and disclose Health Information to tell you about treatment alternatives or health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.
  • Individuals Involved In Your Care or Payment for Your Care: When appropriate, we can share Health Information with a person involved in your medical care or payment for your care, such as your family or a close friend.
  • Research: Under certain circumstances, we can share and disclose Health Information for research. Before we use or disclose Health Information for research, the project will undergo a unique approval process. Even without special approval, we may permit researchers to look through records to help them identify patients as research participants. As long as they do not remove or take a copy of any Health Information.
  • As Required By Law: We can share and disclose Health Information about you when required to do so by federal, state, or local laws.
  • To Advert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety: We can share and disclose Health Information about you when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person.
  • For All Other Uses and Disclosures: All other uses and disclosures of information not contained in this Notice of Privacy Practices will not be disclosed without your authorization.
  • Organ and Tissue Donation: We may share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.
  • Workers' Compensation, Law Enforcement, and Other Government Agencies: We may share health information about you for workers' compensation, for law enforcement purposes and healthcare oversight agencies for activities authorized by the law, or particular government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protection.
  • Public Health Risks: We may share Health Information about you for certain situations:
    • To prevent or control diseases.
    • To report births and deaths.
    • To report child abuse or neglect.
    • To report reactions to medications or problems with products.
    • To notify people of recalls of products that they may be using.
    • To notify a person who may have been exposed to a disease or other risk.
  • Lawsuits and Legal Disputes: We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order or a subpoena.
  • Compliance with the Law: We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with Health and Human Services should it want to see we are complying with federal privacy law.
  • Coroners, Medical Examiners, and Funeral Directors: We can share Health Information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies.

 

Uses and Disclosures that Require us to give you an opportunity to Object and Opt-Out:

In these cases, you can tell us what we may share:

  1. Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care.
  2. Share information in a disaster relief situation.
  3. Include your data and information in a hospital directory
  4. Contact you for fundraising efforts (We may contact you, but you can tell us not to).

 

Your Written Authorization is Required for other uses and Disclosures:

In these cases, we never share your information unless you have given us written permission:

  1.  Marketing Purposes
  2.  Sale of your information
  3.  Sharing of psychotherapy notes

If you authorize us, you may revoke it at any time by submitting a written revocation to our Privacy Officer. We will no longer disclose Protected Health Information under the authorization. But any disclosure that we made in reliance on your consent before you revoked it will not be affected by the revocation.

 

Your Rights:

You have the following rights regarding Health Information we have about you:

Right to Inspect and Obtain a Copy of Your Medical Records: You may ask to see or get an electronic copy of your medical record or other health information we have about you. If your Protected Health Information is maintained in an electronic format, you have the right to request that an electronic copy of your records be given to you or transmitted to another individual or entity. We will provide a copy or summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

Right to Correct Your Medical Records: You may ask us to correct your health information that you think is either incorrect or incomplete. We may also say "no" to your request, but we will tell you why in writing within 60 days. To request an amendment, you must make your request, in writing, to our Privacy Officer.

Right to an Account of Disclosures: You may ask us for a list (accounting) of the times we have shared your health information for six years before the date you ask, whom we shared it with, and why. We will include all the disclosures except those about treatment, payment, and health care operations. We will provide one accounting disclosure per year for free. There will be a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another accounting within 12 months. To request an accounting of disclosures, you must make your request, in writing, to our Privacy Officer.

Right to Limit Information We Share: You have the right to ask us not to use or share certain Health Information for treatment, payment, or health care operations. We are required to agree to your request unless it would affect your care. For example, if you pay out-of-pocket services in total for a specific item or service, you can ask that your Protected Health Information is not shared with your health insurer for payment. We will say yes unless a law requires us to share that information.

Right to Request Confidential Communications: You have the right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way or at a specific location. You must make your request in writing to our Privacy Officer. We will say yes to all reasonable requests.

Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice: You have the right to a paper copy of this notice at any time. Even if you have agreed to receive this notice electronically, you are still entitled to a paper copy of this notice. To obtain a paper copy, contact our Privacy Officer. 

Changes to this Notice: We reserve the right to change this notice and make a new notice that applies to the Health Information we already have and any information we receive in the future. In addition, we will post a copy of our current notice at our office. The message will contain the effective date on the first page.

Complaints: If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with our office by contacting our Privacy Officer at (501)-224-4001. The Secretary of Health and Human Services at www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/. All complaints must be in writing. You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.