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Notice
of Privacy Practices
for Valley Care
IPA Patients
What Is
in This Notice
What and Where Is Your Protected Health Information? We create a record of the care and services you receive from our medical group. We need this record of your care to provide you with quality care and to do what local, state and federal laws say we must. All of the information we have about you is called your protected health information, or PHI for short. Our medical group will observe the PHI privacy practices and policies described in this notice. When you see the term "our medical group," we also mean: any health care professional authorized to enter information into your chart, including practitioners and health care providers employed by or affiliated with our medical group who participate in the delivery of health care services to our patients all employees, staff and other personnel including consultants, subcontractors and temporary employees Our Pledge Regarding Protected Health Information We understand that information about you and your health is protected. We are committed to protecting your personal health information that our medical group accumulates in the course of delivering health care services to you. Our policy on privacy practices applies to all of the records of your care, whether made by our medical group employees, your personal doctor or another health care professional or provider. How We May Use and Share Your Protected Health Information Those governed by the policies and practices described in this notice may share your PHI with each other for treatment, payment or business operations purposes. The following categories describe different ways that we may use and share your protected health information. For each category of uses or sharings, we will explain and give examples. Not every use or sharing in a category will be listed. However, all of the ways we are permitted to use and share information will fall within one of these categories. For Health Care Treatment We may use your PHI to provide
you with medical treatment
or services. We may share
your PHI with doctors, nurses,
technicians, medical students,
allied health students,
or other personnel who are
involved in taking care
of you. We also may share
your PHI with people outside
the practice who may be
involved in your medical
care or others we use to
provide services that are
part of your care. For Payment of Services We may use and give your medical
information to others to
bill and collect payment
for treatment and services
provided to you. Before
you receive scheduled services,
we may share information
about these services with
your health plan(s). Sharing
information allows us to
ask for coverage under your
plan or policy and for approval
of payment before we provide
the services. We may also
share portions of your PHI
with the following: Billing Departments; Example: Let's say
your have a broken leg.
We may need to give your
health plan information
about your condition, supplies
used and services received.
The information is given
to our billing department
and your health plan so
we can be paid or you can
be reimbursed. We may use and share PHI about
you for our medical group
business operations. These
uses and disclosures are
necessary to make sure that
all of our patients receive
quality care.
Health Care Oversight Activities
Coroners, Medical Examiners,
and Funeral Directors Right to Inspect and Copy
The list will include the
date of the disclosure,
the name (and address, if
available) of the person
of organization receiving
the information, a brief
description of the information
disclosed, and the purpose
of the disclosure. If you
request a list of disclosures
more than once in 12 months,
we can charge you a reasonable
fee. Right to Request Restrictions You have the right to ask
us to restrict or limit
the PHI we use or share
for treatment, payment or
our business operations.
We are not required to agree
to your request. However,
even if we agree to your
request, in certain situations
your restrictions may not
be followed. These situations
include emergency treatment,
disclosures to the Secretary
of the Department of Health
and Human Services, and
uses and disclosures as
noted above other than uses
for Treatment, Payment and
Health Care Operations. You have the right to ask
us to tell you about medical
matters in a certain way
or at a certain location.
To request confidential
communications, you must
make your request in writing
to our medical group. The
request must state how or
where you wish to be contacted.
We must accommodate reasonable
requests, but, when appropriate,
may condition that accommodation
on your providing us with
information regarding how
payment, if any, will be
handled. You have the right to a paper
copy of this notice. You
may ask for a 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. Privacy
Officer
We reserve the right to change
this notice and the privacy
policies and practices described
in it. We reserve the right
to make the revised or changed
notice effective for protected
health information we already
have about you, as well
as any information we receive
in the future. We will post
a copy of the current notice
in our medical group offices.
In addition, each time you
register at an office for
treatment or health care
services, a copy of the
current notice and privacy
policies and practices will
be available to you. Complaints About Violations
of Our Privacy Practices
and Policies |
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