Privacy Policy

This Notice of Privacy Practices 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 or required by law. It also describes your rights to access and control your protected health information. “Protected health information” is information about you, including demographic information, that may identify you and that relates to your past, present or future physical or mental health or condition and related health care services.

We are required to abide by the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices. We may change the terms of our notice at any time. The new notice will be effective for all protected health information that we maintain both before and after the change. Upon your request, we will provide you with any revised Notice of Privacy Practices by calling the office and requesting that a revised copy be sent to you in the mail or asking for one at the time of your next appointment.

1.Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information

You will be asked by your audiologist to sign this Notice of Privacy Practices. We will make a good faith effort to obtain a written acknowledgement that you received this Notice of Privacy Practices for Protected Health information the first time we provide services to you after April 14,2003 or as soon as reasonably practicable under the circumstances. Your protected health information may be used and disclosed by your audiologist, our office staff and others outside of our offices that are involved in your care and treatment for the purpose of providing health care services to you. Your protected health information may also be used and disclosed to obtain payment for your health care bills and to support the operation of the physician’s practice.

Following are examples of the types of uses and disclosures of your protected health care information that the Hearing Center office is permitted to make. These examples are not meant to be exhaustive, but to describe the types of uses and disclosures that may be made by our office.

Treatment. We will use and disclose your protected health information to provide, coordinate or mange your health care and any related services. This includes the coordination of management of your health care with a third party that may need access to your protected health information. For example, we would disclose your protected health information, as necessary, to a home health agency that provides care to you. We will also disclose protected health information to other physicians who may be treating you. For example, your protected health information may be provided to a physician to whom you have been referred to ensure that the physician has the necessary information to diagnose or treat you.

In addition, we may disclose your protected health information from time-to-time to another audiologist, physician or health care provider (e.g. a specialist or laboratory) who, at the request of your physician or audiologist, becomes involved in your care by providing assistance with your health care diagnosis or treatment to your physician.

Payment. Your protected health information will be used, as needed, to obtain payment for your health care services. This may include certain activities that your health insurance plan may undertake before it approves or pays for the health care services we recommend for you such as: making a determination of eligibility or coverage for insurance benefits, reviewing services provided to you for medical necessity and undertaking utilization review activities.

Others involved in Your Healthcare. Unless you object, we may disclose to a member of your family, a relative, a close friend, or any other person you identify your protected health information that directly relates to that person’s involvement in your health care. If your are unable to agree or object to such a disclosure, we may disclose such information as necessary if we determine that it is in your best interest based on our professional judgment. We may use or disclose protected health information to notify or assist in notifying a family member, personal representative or any other person that is responsible for your care of your location, condition or death. Finally we may use or disclose your protected health information to an authorized public or private entity to assist in disaster relief efforts and to coordinate uses and disclosures to family or other individuals involved in your health care.

Emergencies. We may use or disclose your protected health information in an emergency treatment situation. If this happens, your audiologist or physician shall try to obtain your acknowledgement of our Privacy Practices as soon as reasonably practical after the delivery of treatment. If your audiologist/physician or another physician in the practice is required by law to treat you and the audiologist/ physician has attempted to obtain your acknowledgement, but is unable, he or she may still use or disclose your protected heath information for treatment, payment, and heath care operations.

Communication Barriers. We may use and disclose your protected health information if your audiologist/physician, or another audiologist/physician in the practice attempts to obtain an acknowledgement of our Privacy Practices from you, but is unable to do so due to substantial communication barriers. Other Permittedand Required Uses and Disclosures that may be made without Your Consent, Authorization or Opportunity to Object.

2. Your Rights
Following is a statement of your rights with respect to your protected health information and a brief description of how you may exercise these rights.

You have the right to inspect and copy your protected health information. This means you may inspect and obtain a copy of protected health information about you 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 audiologist/physician and the practice use 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 use in, a civil, criminal, or administrative action or proceeding, or protected health information that is subject to law that prohibits access to protected health information. In some circumstances you may have a right to have this decision reviewed. Please contact our Privacy Contact if you have questions about access to your medical records.

You have the right to request a restriction of your protected health information. This means you may ask us not to use or disclose any part of your protected health information for the purpose of treatment, payment or healthcare operations. You may also request that any part of your protected health information not be disclosed to family members or friends who may be involved in your care or for notification purposes as described in the Notice of Privacy Practices. Your request must state the specific restriction requested and to whom you want the restriction to apply.

Your audiologist/physician is not required to agree to restrictions that you may request. If an audiologist/physician believes it is in your best interest to permit use and disclosure of your protected health information, your protected health information will not be restricted. If your audiologist/physician does agree to the requested restriction we may not use or disclose your protected health information in violation of that restriction unless it is needed to provide emergency treatment. With this in mind, please discuss any restriction you wish to request with your audiologist/physician. You may request a restriction by submitting a written request to our Privacy Contact.

You have the right to request to receive confidential communications from us by alternative means or at an alternative location. We will accommodate reasonable requests. We may also 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 request an explanation from you as to the basis for the request. Please make this request in writing to our Privacy Contact.

You have the right to have your physician/audiologist amend your protected health information. This means 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. Please contact our Privacy Contact if you have questions about amending your medical record.

You have the right to receive an accounting of certain disclosures we have made of any of your protected health information. This right applies to disclosures for purposes other than treatment, payment or healthcare operations and valid authorizations or incidental disclosure as described in this Notice of Privacy Practices. It excludes disclosures we may have made to you, for a facility directory, to family members or friends involved in your care, or for notification purposes. You have the right to receive specific information regarding these disclosures that occurred after April 14, 2003. You may request a shorter time frame. The right to receive this information is subject to certain exceptions, restrictions and limitations.

You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this notice from us, upon request, even if you have agreed to accept this notice electronically.

3. Complaints
You may complain to us or to the Secretary of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy rights have been violated by us. You may file a complaint with us by notifying our Privacy Contact of your complaint. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

You may contact our Privacy Contact Tim Lawrence at (317) 243-2888 for further information about the complaint process.

Healthcare Operations. We may use or disclose, as needed, your protected health information in order to support the business activities of your Hearing Center practice. These activities include, but are not limited to, quality assessment activities, employee review activities, training of medical student, licensing, and conducting or arranging for other business activities.

For example, we may disclose your protected health information to medical school students that see patients at our office. In addition, we may use a sign-in sheet at the registration desk where you will be asked to sign your name and indicate your audiologist or physician. We may also call you by name in the waiting room when your audiologist or physician is ready to see you. We may use or disclose your Protected health information, as necessary, to contact you to remind you of your appointment.

We will share your protected health information with third party “business associates” that perform various activities (e.g. billing, transcription services) for the practice. Whenever an arrangement between our office and a business associate involves the use or disclosure of your protected health information, we will have a written contract that contains terms that will protect the privacy of your protected health information.

We may use or disclose your protected health information, as necessary, to provide you with information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you. We may also use and disclose your protected health information for other marketing activities. For example, your name and address may be used to send you a newsletter about our practice and the services we offer. We may also send you information about products or services that we believe may be beneficial to you. You may contact our Privacy Contact to request that these materials not be sent to you.

We may use or disclose your demographic information and the dates that you received treatment from your audiologist or physician, as necessary, in order to contact you for fund raising activities supported by our office. If you do not want to receive these materials, please contact our Privacy Contact and request that these fundraising materials not be sent to you.

Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information Based Upon Your Written Authorization

Other uses and disclosures of your protected health information will be made only with your written authorization, unless otherwise permitted or required by law as described below. You may revoke this authorization at any time, in writing, except to the extent that your audiologist, physician or the physician’s practice has taken an action in reliance on the use of disclosure indicated in the authorization.

Other Permitted and Required Uses and disclosures that may be made without Your Authorization or Opportunity to Object

We may use and disclose your protected health information in the following instances. You have the opportunity to agree or object to the use of disclosure of all or part of your protected health information. If you are not present or able to agree or object to the use of disclosure of the protected health information, then your audiologist or physician may, using professional judgment, determine whether the disclosure is in your best interest. In this case, only the protected health information that is relevant to your health care will be disclosed.

Facility Directories. Unless you object, we will use and disclose in our facility directory, your name, the location at which you are receiving care, your condition (in general terms), and your religious affiliation. All of this information, except religious affiliation, will be disclosed to people that ask for you by name.