THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
We are required by federal and state law to maintain the privacy of your health information. We are also required to give you this Notice about our privacy practices, legal obligations, and your rights concerning your health information (“Protected Health Information” or “PHI” We must follow the privacy practices that are described in this Notice, which may be amended from time to time. For more information about our privacy practices, or for additional copies of this Notice, please contact us using the information listed in Section II G of this Notice.
I. USES AND DISCLOSURES OF PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION
a. Permissible Uses and Disclosures Without Your Written Authorization – We may use and disclose PHI without your written authorization, excluding Psychotherapy Notes as described in Section II, for certain purposes as described below. The examples provided in each category are not meant to be exhaustive, but instead are meant to describe the types of uses and disclosures that are permissible under federal and state law. i. Payment: We may use or disclose PHI so that services you receive are appropriately billed to, and payment is collected from, your health plan. For example, we may disclose PHI to permit your health plan to take certain actions before it approves or pays for treatment services. ii. Health Care Operations: We may use or disclose PHI in connection with my health care operations, including quality improvement activities, training programs, accreditation, certification, licensing, or credentialing activities. iii. Communications: We may use or disclose PHI to contact you regarding missed appointments or if we need to change our appointment time. We may leave messages on your answering machine unless you have directed me otherwise. When we communicate by cell phone or computer, be aware that the information is not always secure from access by third parties. iv. Treatment: We may use PHI to diagnose and treat you. We may use PHI to inform you about treatment alternatives or other related topics. We may also use or disclose PHI for clinical coverage during periods of my absence.