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 READ IT CAREFULLY.

Each time you visit a hospital, physician, or other healthcare provider, a record of your visit is made. Typically, this record contains your symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment, and if applicable, a plan for future treatment. This information serves as:

Understanding what is in your record and how that information is used helps you to:

Although your health record is the physical property of the healthcare practitioner or facility that compiled it, the information belongs to you. By law, you have many rights regarding your information.

You may ask us to restrict our uses and disclosures for purposes of treatment (except emergency treatment), payment, or healthcare operations. We do not have to agree to do this, but if we do agree, we must honor the restrictions that you want. To ask for a restriction, send a written request to: HIPAA Coordinator, Oncology Associates, PC at 8303 Dodge Street Suite 225, Omaha, NE 68114, or fax to 402-354-2350.

You may ask us to communicate with you in a confidential way, such as phoning you at work rather than at home, by mailing health information to a different address, or by using Email to your personal Email address. We will accommodate these requests if they are reasonable, and if you pay us for any extra cost. To ask for confidential communication, send a written request to: HIPAA Coordinator, Oncology Associates, PC at the address above or fax number above on this notice.

You may ask to see or get photocopies of your health information. By law, there are a few limited situations in which we can refuse to permit access or copying. For the most part, however, you will be able to review your health information within 10 days after we receive your request (possibly up to 21 days if we notify you of the reason for the delay). You may have a copy of your health information within 30 days after we receive your request. You may have to pay for your photocopies in advance. If we deny your request, we will send you a written explanation and instructions about how to get an impartial review of the denial if one is legally required. IF you want to review or receive copies of your health information, send a written request to: HIPAA Coordinator, Oncology Associates, PC at the address above or fax number above on this notice.

You may ask us to amend your healthcare information if you think that it is incorrect or incomplete. If we agree, we will amend the information within 60 days of receiving your request. WE will send the corrected information to other healthcare providers whom we know received the wrong information as well as any others you specify. If we do not agree, you may write a statement of your position and we will include it with our information as well as any rebuttal we may write. By law, we can have one 30 day extension period to consider a request for amendment if we notify you, in writing, of the extension. If you want us to amend your health information, send a written request to: HIPAA Coordinator, Oncology Associates, PC at the address above or fax number above on this notice.

 You may get a list of disclosures that we make of your health information, except disclosures for purposes of treatment, payment, or healthcare operations and some other limited disclosures. We will usually respond to your request within 60 days after we receive your request. By law, we can have one 30 day extension of time if we notify you of the extension in writing. If you want to request a list, send a written request to: HIPAA Coordinator, Oncology Associates, PC at the address above or fax number above on this notice.

You may get additional copies of this Notice of Privacy Practices upon request. If you want additional copies, send a written request to: HIPAA Coordinator, Oncology Associates, PC at the address above or fax number above on this notice.

This Organization is Required to:

We reserve the right to change our practices and make new provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain. Should our information practices change, we will provide you with a revised notice.

We will use your health information for treatment. For example: Information obtained by a nurse, physician or other member of your healthcare team will be recorded in your record and used to determine the course of treatment that should work best for you. We may also provide your health information to other physicians, practitioners, or facilities of or their use in providing treatment to you.

We will also use your health information for payment. For example: A bill may be sent to you or a third party payer, such as your insurance company or other payer. The information on or accompanying the bill may include information that identifies you, as well as your diagnoses, procedures and supplies used.

We will use your health information for regular healthcare operations. For example: members of the medical staff may use information in your health record to assess care and outcomes in your case and others like it.

Business Associates: There are some services provided in our organization through contracts with business associates. Examples include insurance filing and billing services. When these services are contracted, we may disclose your health information to our business associates so that they can perform the job we’ve asked them to do.

This information will then be used in an effort to continually improve the quality and effectiveness of the healthcare and services we provide.

We are required to disclose health information to the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services when requested by the Secretary to review our compliance with the HIPAA privacy rule.

We may also use or disclose health information incident to a use or disclosure permitted by the HIPAA privacy rule.

So that your health information is protected, however, we require our business associates to appropriately safeguard your information.

Notification: We may use or disclose information to notify or assist in notifying a family member, personal representative or another person responsible for your care, your location and general condition.

Research: We may disclose information to researchers when their research has been approved by an Institutional Review Board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your health information, and when you have signed an additional informed consent to participate.

Funeral Directors: We may disclose health information to funeral directors or coroners consistent with applicable law to carry out their duties.

Marketing: We may contact you to provide appointment reminders or information about treatment alternatives or other health related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or Other Agencies: We may disclose to the FDA or other government agencies, health information relative to adverse events with respect to food, supplements, product defects, post marketing surveillance information to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacement, or for other governmental health oversight activities such as audits and licensure processes.

Workers Compensation: We may disclose health information to the extent necessary to comply with laws relating to workers compensation or other similar programs established by law.

Law Enforcement and Other Legal Requirements: We may disclose health information for law enforcement purposes as required by law or in response to a valid subpoena, court order, warrant, summons, administrative agency request, or other authorized processes, for the health or safety of patients who are inmates and others at correctional institutions or other law enforcement custodial situations.

Specialized Government Functions: Under certain conditions, we may disclose health information as provided by law for certain military and veteran activities, including determination of eligibility for veterans benefits and where deemed necessary by military command authorities, for national security and intelligence activities, to help provide protective services for the President of the United States and others.

We may disclose health information under other circumstances required by law, such as mandatory reporting of abuse situations or certain infectious diseases; or to prevent what we believe to be an imminent health or safety threat.

By law, we must abide by the terms of the Notice of Privacy Practices until we choose to change it. We reserve the right to change this notice at anytime in compliance with and as allowed by law. If we change this notice, the new privacy practices will apply to your health information that we already have as well as to such information that we may generate in the future. If we change our Notice of Privacy Practices, we will post the new notice in our office and have copies available in our office for you.

If you think that we have not properly respected the privacy of your health information, you are free to complain to us, and to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. We will not retaliate against you if you make a complaint. If you want to complain to us, send a written complaint to: HIPAA Coordinator, Oncology Associates, PC at the address above or fax number above on this notice. If you prefer, you can discuss your complaint in person or by phone after filing a written complaint.

If you have any questions about this notice, please contact the HIPAA Coordinator, Oncology Associates, PC at the following address or fax number below.

HIPAA Coordinator, Oncology Associates, PC at 8303 Dodge Street Suite 225, Omaha, NE 68114, or fax to 402-354-2350.