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Notice
of Privacy Practices
It is the policy
of our practice that all physicians and staff preserve the integrity and
the confidentiality of protected health p\information (PHI_ pertaining
to our patients. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that our
practice and its physicians and staff have the necessary medical and PHI
to provide the highest quality medical care possible while protecting
the confidentiality of the PHI of our patients to the highest degree
possible. Patients should not be afraid to provide information to our
practice and its physicians and staff for purposes of treatment, payment
and healthcare operations (TPO). To that end. Our practice and its
physicians and staff will-
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Adhere to the
standards set forth in the Notice of Privacy Practices.
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Collect, use
and disclose PHI only in conformance with state and federal laws and
current patient covenants and/or authorizations, as appropriate. Our
practice and its physicians and staff will not use or disclose PHI
for uses outside of practice's TPO, such as marketing, employment,
life insurance applications, etc. without an authorization from the
patient.
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Use and
disclose PHI to remind patients of their appointments unless they
instruct us not to.
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Recognize
that phi collected about patients must be accurate, timely, complete
and available when needed. Our practice and its physicians and staff
will implement reasonable measures to protect the integrity of all
PHI maintained about patients.
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Recognize
that patients have a right to privacy. Our practice and its
physicians and staff respect the patient's individual dignity at all
times. Our practice and its physicians and staff will respect
patient's privacy to the extent consistent with providing the
highest quality medical care possible and with the efficient
administration of the facility.
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Act as
responsible information stewards and treat all PHI as sensitive and
confidential. Consequently, our practice and its physician's and
staff will:
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Treat all
PHI data as confidential in accordance with professional ethics,
accreditation standards, and legal requirements.
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Not
disclose PHI data unless the patient (or his or her authorized
representative) has properly authorized the release or the release
is otherwise authorized by law.
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Recognize
that, although our practice "owns" the medical record, the
patient has a right to inspect and obtain a copy of his/her PHI. In
addition, patients have a right to request an amendment to his;/her
medical record if he/she believes his/her information is inaccurate
or incomplete. Our practice and its physicians and staff will.
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Permit
patients access to their medical records when their written
requests are approved by our practice. If we deny their request,
then we must inform that patients have an on-site healthcare
professional review the patients' appeals.
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Provide
patients an opportunity to request the correction of inaccurate or
incomplete PHI in their medical records in Accordance with the law
and professional standards.
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All
physicians and staff or our practice will maintain a list of certain
disclosures of PHI for purposes other than TPO for each patient and
those made pursuant to an authorization as required by HIPAA rules.
We will provide this list to patients upon request, so long as their
requests are in writing.
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All
physicians and staff or our practice will adhere to any restrictions
concerning the use or disclosure of PI that patients have requested
and have been approved by our practice.
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All
physicians and staff of our practice must adhere to this policy. Our
practice will not tolerate violations of this policy. Violation of
this policy is grounds for disciplinary action, up to an including
termination of employment and criminal or professional sanctions in
accordance with our practice's personnel rules and regulations.
Our practice may
change this privacy policy in the future. Any changes will be effective
upon the release of a revised privacy policy and will be made available
to patients upon request.
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