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 REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
This notice describes Urologic Institute of N.J., P.A. /
Center for Male Reproductive Medicine practices and that of:
- All physicians and staff of our Practice.
- Our Practice follows the terms of this notice.
OUR PLEDGE REGARDING MEDICAL INFORMATION:We understand
that medical information about you and your health is personal.
We are committed to protecting medical information about you. We
create a record of the care and services you receive at our
Practice. We need this record to provide you with quality care
and to comply with certain legal requirements. This notice
applies to all of the records of your care generated by our
Practice.
This notice will tell you about the ways in which we may use
and disclose medical information about you. We also describe your
rights and certain obligations we have regarding the use and
disclosure of medical information.
We are required by law to:
- Make sure that medical information that identifies you is
kept private'
- Give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy
practices concerning medical information about you; and
- Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in
effect.
HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT
YOU.We use and disclose medical information in many ways.
For each category of uses or disclosures we will explain what we
mean and try to give some examples. Not every use or disclosure
in a category will be listed. However, all of the ways we are
permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of
the categories.
For Treatment. We may use medical information about you
to provide you with medical treatment or services. We may
disclose medical information about you to doctors, nurses,
technicians, nursing and medical students, or hospital personnel
who are involved in taking care of you. For example, a doctor
treating you for a broken leg may need to know if you have
diabetes because diabetes may slow the healing process. In
addition, the doctor may need to tell the dietician if you have
diabetes so that we can arrange for nutritional counseling. We
also may share medical information about you in order to
coordinate the different things you need, such as prescriptions,
lab work and x-rays. We also may disclose medical information
about you to people who may be involved in your medical care such
as family members, clergy, rehabilitation centers, etc.
For Payment. We may use and disclose medical
information about you so that the treatment and services you
receive at our Practice may be billed for and payment may be
collected from you or on your behalf from an insurance company or
third party. For example, we may need to give your health plan
information about x-rays that you received at our Practice so
your health plan will pay us or reimburse you for those services.
We may also tell your health plan about a treatment you are going
to receive to obtain prior approval or to determine whether your
plan will cover the treatment.
For Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose
medical information about you for our Practice's operations.
These uses and disclosures are necessary to run our organization
and make sure that all of our patients receive quality care. For
example, we may use medical information to review our treatment
and services and to evaluate the performances of our staff in
caring for you. We may also combine medical information about
many of our Practice patients to decide what additional services
our Practice should offer, what services are not needed, and
whether certain new treatments are effective. We may also
disclose information to doctors, nurses, technicians, nursing and
medical students, and other personnel for review and learning
purposes. We may also combine the medical information we have
with medical information from other similar organizations to
compare how we are doing and see where we can make improvements
in the care and services we offer. We may remove information that
identifies you from this set of medical information so others may
use it to study healthcare and healthcare delivery without
learning who the specific patients are.
Appointment Reminders. We may use and disclose medical
information to contact you as a reminder that you have an
appointment for treatment or medical care at our Practice.
Treatment Alternatives. We may use and disclose medical
information to tell you about or recommend possible treatment
options or alternatives that may be of interest to you.
Health-Related Benefits and Services. We may use and
disclose medical information to tell you about health-related
benefits or services that may be of interest to you.
Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your
Care. We may release medical information about you to a
friend or family member who is involved in your medical care. We
may also give information to someone who helps pay for your care.
We may also tell your family or friends your condition and that
you have been seen in our office. In addition, we may disclose
medical information about you to a friend or family member should
an emergent situation arise while you are at our office.
Research. Under certain circumstances, we may use and
disclose medical information about you for research purposes. For
example, a research project may involve comparing the health and
recover of all patients who received one medication to those who
received another, for the same condition. All research projects,
however, are subject to special approval process. This process
evaluates a proposed research project and its use of medical
information, trying to balance the research needs with patients'
need for privacy of their medical information. Before wee use or
disclose medical information for research, the project will have
been approved through this research approval process, but we may,
however, disclose medical information about you to people
preparing to conduct a research project, for example, to help
them look for patients with specific medical needs, so long as
the medical information they review does not leave our
organization. We will always ask for your specific permission if
the researcher will have access to your name, address or other
information that reveals who you are, or will be involved in your
care with our Practice.
As Required By Law. We will disclose medical
information about you when required to do so by federal, state or
local law.
To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety. We may
use and disclose medical information about you when necessary to
prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health
and safety of the public or another person. Any disclosure,
however, would only be to someone able to help prevent the
threat.
YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOUYou
have the following rights regarding medical information we
maintain about you.
Right to Inspect and Copy. You have the right to
inspect and copy medical information that may be used to make
decisions about your care. Usually, this includes medical and
billing records, but does not include psychotherapy notes.
To inspect and copy medical information that may be used to
make decisions about you, you must submit your request in writing
to our Privacy Officer. If you request a copy of the information,
we may charge a fee for the costs of copying, mailing or other
supplies associated with your request.
We may deny your request to inspect and copy in certain very
limited circumstances. If you are denied access to medical
information, you may request, in writing, that the denial be
review. Another licensed health care professional chosen by our
Practice will review your request and the denial. The person
conducting the review will not be the person who previously
denied your request. We will comply with the outcome of the
review.
Right to Amend. If you feel that the medical
information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may
ask us to include additional information in your medical record.
You have the right to request an amendment as long as all of the
information, both old and new, is kept by or for our
practice.
To request an amendment, your request must be made in writing
and submitted to our Privacy Officer. In addition, you must
provide a reason that supports your request. We may deny your
request for an amendment if it is not in writing or does not
include a reason to support the request. In addition, we may deny
your request if you ask us to amend information that:
- Was not created by us, unless the person or entity that
created the information is no longer available to make the
amendment;
- Is not a part of the medical information kept by or for our
practice;
- Is not part of the information which you would be permitted
to inspect and copy; or
- Is accurate and complete.
Right to an Accounting of Disclosures. You have the
right to request an "accounting of disclosures." This is a list
of the disclosures we made of medical information about you,
excluding disclosures for the purpose of treatment, payment and
healthcare operations.
To request this list or accounting of disclosures, you must
submit your request in writing to the Office Manager. Your
request must state a time period, which may not be longer than
six years and may not include dates before April 14, 2003. Your
request should indicate in what for you want the list (fore
example, on paper, electronically). The first list you request
within a 12-month period will be free. For additional lists, we
may charge you for the costs of providing the list. We will
notify you of the cost involved and you may choose to withdraw or
modify your request at that time before any costs are
incurred.
Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to
request a restriction or limitation on the medical information we
use or disclose about you for treatment, payment or healthcare
operations. You also have the right to request a limit on the
medical information we disclose about you to someone who is
involved in your care or the payment for your care, like a family
member or friend. For example, you could ask that we not use or
disclose information about a surgery you had.
We are not required to agree to your request. If we do
agree, we will comply with your request unless the information
needed to provide you emergency treatment. To request
restrictions, you must make your request in writing to our
Privacy Officer. In your request, you must tell us (1) what
information you want to limit; (2) whether you want to limit our
use, disclosure or both; and (3) to whom you want the limits to
apply, for example, disclosures to your spouse.
Signature:__________________________________________________
Date:__________________
|