HIPAA Privacy PolicyUSES AND DISCLOSURES OF PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATIONYour protected health information may be used and disclosed by Michele Cooper, M.D., her office staff and others outside of our office 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 pay your health care bills and to support the operation of the practice. The following examples include types of uses and disclosures of your protected health care information that Dr. Cooper’s office is permitted to make. These examples are not meant to be exhaustive, but to give comprehensive information on the types of uses and disclosures that may be made by our office. TREATMENTYour protected health information will be used by us for providing, coordinating or managing your health care and any related services. This includes the coordination or management of your health care with a third party that has already obtained your permission to have access to your protected health information. For example, we would disclose your protected health information, as necessary, to a recovery facility that provides care to you. We will also disclose protected health information to other physicians who may be treating you when we have the necessary permission from you to disclose your protected health information. 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 physician or health care provider (e.g., a specialist or laboratory) who, at the request of your physician, becomes involved in your care by providing assistance with your health care diagnosis or treatment to your physician. PAYMENTYour 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. For example, obtaining approval for a hospital stay may require that your relevant protected health information be disclosed to the health plan to obtain approval for the hospital admission. HEALTHCARE OPERATIONSWe may use or disclose, as needed, your protected health information in order to support the business activities of your physician’s practice. These activities include, but are not limited to, quality assessment activities, employee review activities, training of medical students, licensing, marketing and fundraising activities, 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 physician. We may also call you by name in the waiting room when Dr. Cooper 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 physician, as necessary, in order to contact you for fundraising 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 AUTHORIZATIONOther 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 physician or the physician ’ s practice has taken an action in reliance on the use or disclosure indicated in the authorization. OTHER PERMITTED AND REQUIRED USES AND DISCLOSURES THAT MAY BE MADE WITH YOUR AUTHORIZATION OR OPPORTUNITY TO OBJECTWe may use and disclose your protected health information in the following instances. You have the opportunity to agree or object to the use or disclosure of all or part of your protected health information. If you are not present or able to agree or object to the use or disclosure of the protected health information, then Dr. Cooper 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 DIRECTORIESUnless 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. Members of the clergy will be told your religious affiliation. OTHERS INVOLVED IN YOUR HEALTHCAREUnless you object, we may disclose your protected health information to a member of your family, a relative, a close friend or any other person you identify when it directly relates to that person ’ s involvement in your health care. If you 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, general 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. EMERGENCIESWe may use or disclose your protected health information in an emergency treatment situation. If Dr. Cooper or another physician in the practice is required by law to treat you, he or she may still use or disclose your protected health information. OTHER PERMITTED AND REQUIRED USES AND DISCLOSURES THAT MAY BE MADE WITHOUT YOUR AUTHORIZATION OR OPPORTUNITY TO OBJECTWe may use or disclose your protected health information in the following situations without your authorization. These situations include: Required by Law Public Health Communicable Diseases Health Oversight Abuse or Neglect Food and Drug Administration Legal Proceedings Law Enforcement Coroners, Funeral Directors, and Organ Donation Research Criminal Activity Military Activity and National Security Workers’ Compensation Inmates Required Uses and Disclosures 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 INFORMATIONThis 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 Dr. Cooper and her practice uses 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, and protected health information that is subject to law that prohibits access to protected health information. Depending on the circumstances, a decision to deny access may be reviewable. 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 record. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REQUEST A RESTRICTION OF YOUR PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATIONThis means you may ask us not to use or disclose any part of your protected health information for the purposes 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 this Notice of Privacy Practices. Your request must state the specific restriction requested and to whom you want the restriction to apply. Dr. Cooper is not required to agree to a restriction that you may request. If your 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 Dr. Cooper 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 Dr. Cooper. Restriction requests must be made in writing, to our practice, at 1090 West Causeway Approach, Mandeville, LA 70471. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REQUEST TO RECEIVE CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS FROM US BY ALTERNATIVE MEANS OR AT AN ALTERNATIVE LOCATIONWe 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 MAY HAVE THE RIGHT TO HAVE YOUR PHYSICIAN 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 to determine if you have questions about amending your medical record. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO RECEIVE AN ACCOUNTING OF CERTAIN DISCLOSURES WE HAVE MADE, IF ANY, OF YOUR PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION.This right applies to disclosures for purposes other than treatment, payment or healthcare operations 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 timeframe. 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 USYou may request a paper copy of this notice, even if you have agreed to accept this notice electronically. COMPLAINTSYou 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 office at (985) 626-6163 for further information about the complaint process. This notice was published and becomes effective on January 1, 2003. |
HIPAA Privacy Policy![]() ![]() ![]() |