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Privacy Policy
KERRVILLE
EYE CENTER, P.A.
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 medical information. Please review this notice carefully.
Kerrville Eye Center, P.A. (KEC)
creates a record of the care and services you receive at all of our facilities.
We need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with legal
requirements. It is the policy of KEC to protect the confidentiality, integrity
and security of the health and personal medical information of our patients and
to prevent unauthorized access to, or unauthorized use or disclosure of such
medical information. This policy applies to current and former patients of KEC.
We are required by law to
maintain the privacy of our individually identifiable health information and
personal medical information and to provide you with notice of our legal duties
and privacy practices with respect to your medical information. Individually
identifiable health and personal medical information are any medical information
obtained by KEC in connection with providing healthcare treatment, obtaining
payment, and related healthcare operations. This relates to past, present and
future medical information that KEC receives from you as our patient.
KEC collects personal medical
information in order to learn about your medical history and medical conditions,
to render treatment, and to collect payment for our services. We gather this
medical information from your patient forms, health questionnaires, insurance
cards and other forms that you will be asked to complete from time to time. In
addition, we will assemble medical information based on our examinations as well
as through discussions and conversations with you, your personal representatives
and or your family members. Your healthcare plan or insurance carrier may also
provide medical information to our office.
Your medical information is maintained in our offices within our computerized
practice management system. We also maintain medical information about you in
your medical chart. KEC limits access to your protected medical information to
those employees and business associates who need to know that medical
information. With some limitations, you have the right to inspect, amend, copy
and receive an accounting of disclosures of your medical and billing records.
I. How KEC May Use or Disclose Your Medical Information
The law permits us to disclose your medical information for the following
purposes:
1. Treatment. We may
use medical information about you to provide you with caring and quality medical
treatment and services. We may share your medical information with a facility
such as a hospital, laboratory, pharmacy, diagnostic service or another
healthcare provider in order to efficiently coordinate your treatment plan. For
example, we may routinely inform your primary care physician about your plan of
care and we may disclose your medical information to laboratories, pharmacies
and diagnostic facilities so that they may perform procedures and provide
supplies requested by our physicians.
2. Payment. Your medical information may be used for claims management
and to obtain payment from you, your insurance carrier or a third party. We will
exchange data with you, your insurance carrier, or a responsible third party to
determine if you are eligible for benefits and to secure payment for services we
render. We may also tell your insurance carrier about a treatment or procedure
that you are going to receive in order to obtain prior approval or to determine
whether your plan will cover a specific treatment or procedure.
3. Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose your medical
information for health care operations. These uses and disclosures are necessary
to run the organization and in an effort to continually improve the quality and
effectiveness of the care we provide. We may use your information, or combine it
with other patients’ information, to review our treatments and services, and to
evaluate our physicians and staff. Operations include services provided by
business associates (BAs), i.e., transcription and information systems
maintenance. BAs may be given medical information in order to do their job.
Other third parties may inadvertently come in contact with your information in
assisting us with operations, i.e., maintenance or testing of medical equipment.
We require these outside entities and BAs to appropriately safeguard your
information.
4. Appointment Reminders. We may use and
disclose medical information in order to contact you to remind you that you have
an appointment or need follow-up at one of our facilities. We may leave reminder
messages for you at your home, either on your answering machine or with a family
member. We may also mail postcards, or send email, to you confirming that you
have an appointment or need follow-up.
5. Treatment Alternatives and Health Related Products. We may use and
disclose medical information to tell you about or recommend possible treatment
options or alternatives, health related products or services offered by KEC, or
send you educational materials.
6. Communication with Friends and Family. We may disclose your relevant
medical information to a close personal friend, a family member who is involved
in your care, to someone who helps pay for your care, or to any person you
identify. We may use or disclose your relevant medical information to notify
your friends or family members of your location, your general condition, or in
the event of your death. If you do not want us to use or disclose your medical
information for these purposes, you may object by notifying us in writing of
your objection. If you are unavailable or unable to object due to incapacity or
emergency, our providers and staff will use their professional judgment and
common practice to determine relevant medical information to disclose in your
best interest.
7. Required by Law, Judicial or Administrative Proceeding or to Law
Enforcement. We may disclose your medical information as required by law, or
in the course of administrative or judicial proceedings. We may disclose your
medical information to a law enforcement official for the following reasons:
a. In response to a court order, subpoena, search warrant or summons.
b. To identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing
person.
c. About a death we believe to be the result of criminal conduct.
d. About criminal conduct at our facilities.
8. To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety and for Public Health
Purposes. We may disclose your medical information to appropriate agencies
such as DMV or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent serious threat
to your health and safety, or the health and safety of the public or another
person. As required by law, we may disclose your medical information to public
health authorities for purposes related to:
a. Preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability.
b. Reporting child, elder, or dependent adult abuse or neglect.
c. Reporting domestic violence.
d. Reporting problems with products and reactions to medications.
e. Reporting disease and infection exposure.
f. Reporting deaths.
9. Deceased Person Medical Information. In the event of your death, we
may disclose your medical information to coroners, medical examiners and funeral
directors as necessary to carry out their duties.
10. National Security, Military Personnel, and Inmates. We may disclose
your medical information to federal officials for military, intelligence,
counterintelligence, or other national security purposes. If you are a member of
the armed forces, we may disclose your medical information to military command
authorities. If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or under the
custody of a law enforcement official, we may release medical information about
you to the correctional institution or the law enforcement official.
11. Workers Compensation. We may disclose your medical information for
workers’ compensation or similar programs that provide benefits for work related
injuries or illness.
12. Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose your medical information
for activities authorized by law. These oversight activities include audits,
investigations, inspections and physician licensure to name a few. The
activities are necessary for the government to monitor the health care system,
government programs, and compliance with laws.
II. Other Uses of Medical Information
Other uses and disclosures of your medical information not covered by this
notice or the laws that apply to us will be made only with your written
authorization. If you provide us authorization to use or disclose your medical
information, you may revoke that authorization, in writing, at any time. If you
revoke your authorization, this will stop any further use or disclosure of your
medical information for the purposes that you originally authorized, except if
we have already acted in reliance on your authorization.
III. Your Medical Information Rights
You have the following rights regarding medical information we maintain about
you:
1. Right to Inspect and Copy. You have the right to inspect and request a copy
of medical information that may be used to make decisions about your care by
submitting a request in writing to our Medical Records department. If you
request a copy of your medical information, we may charge you for the cost of
copying, mailing, or other costs associated with your request. We may deny your
request in certain limited circumstances, in which case you may submit a written
request for a review of that decision.
2. Right to Amend. You have the right to amend your medical information if you
feel we have incorrect or incomplete medical information by submitting a request
to us in writing to our Medical Records department. You must provide a reason
that supports your request. We may deny your request to amend a record if the
information was not created by us; if it is not part of the medical information
maintained by or for KEC; or if we determine that the record is complete and
accurate. If we deny your request, you have the right to submit a written
addendum, not to exceed 250 words, with respect to any item or statement in your
record that you believe to be incorrect or incomplete. The addendum will be
attached to your medical record.
3. Right to an Accounting of Disclosures. You have the right to make a written
request to us for a list of those instances where we have disclosed medical
information about you (an “accounting of disclosures”) other than for treatment,
payment, health care operations, or where you specifically authorized a
disclosure. You may submit your written request to our Medical Records
department. Your request must state a time period desired for the accounting
which may not be longer than six years and may not include disclosures dated
before April 14, 2003. The first request in a twelve-month period is free; other
requests will be charged according to our cost of producing the list. We will
inform you of the cost before you incur any charge.
4. Right to Request Restrictions. You may request that we not use or disclose
medical information about you for treatment, payment, health care operations, or
to persons involved in your care except when specifically authorized by you,
when required by law, or in an emergency. You must submit your request in
writing to our Privacy Officer department. Your request must include: what
medical information you want to limit; whether you want to limit use, disclosure
or both; and to whom you want the limits to apply. We will consider your request
but our processes may not be able to accommodate it and we are not legally
obligated to agree to your request. We will inform you of our decision on your
request.
5. Alternate Contact Information for Confidentiality Purposes. You have the
right to request that medical information about you be communicated to you in a
confidential manner, such as sending mail to an address other than your home. To
request alternative methods of contacting you confidentially, you must make a
request in writing at the time of service or in writing to our Privacy Officer.
We will attempt to accommodate reasonable requests.
6. Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice. You have the right to a paper copy of
this notice. You may obtain a paper copy of this notice at the front desk of any
of our offices.
IV. Changes to this Notice of Privacy Practices
KEC reserves the right to change this Notice of Privacy Practices at any time in
the future, and to make the new provisions effective for all medical information
we maintain, including medical information that was created or received prior to
the date of the change. We will provide you with revised notices by posting the
current notice in our facilities or by providing copies of the current notice
showing the effective date. KEC is required by law to abide by the notice
currently in effect.
V. Contacts for Complaints
For further information about this notice or to make a complaint if you believe
your privacy rights have been violated, contact our Privacy Officer. You may
also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Office of Civil Rights. Our Privacy Officer can provide you the address. Under
no circumstances will you be penalized or retaliated against for filing a
complaint.
Our Contact Information:
Medical Records
Kerrville Eye Center
228 Washington
Kerrville, TX 78028
Privacy Officer
Kerrville Eye Center
228 Washington
Kerrville, TX 78028
(830) 257-4417 |
