As required by the privacy regulations created as a result of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

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.

Our Commitment to Your Privacy

Evans & Taylor Eye Care Group is dedicated to maintaining the privacy of your individually identifiable health information (also called protected health information, or PHI). In conducting our business, we will create records regarding you and the treatment and services we provide to you. We are required by law to maintain the confidentiality of health information that identifies you. We are also required by law to provide you with this notice of our legal duties and the privacy practices that we maintain in our practice concerning your PHI. By federal and state law, we must follow the terms of the Notice of Privacy Practices that we have in effect at the time.

We realize that these laws are complicated, but we must provide you with the following important information:

  • How we may use and disclose your PHI
  • Your privacy rights in you PHI
  • Our obligations concerning the use and disclosure of your PHI

The terms of this notice apply to all records containing your PHI that are created or retained by our practice. We reserve the right to revise or amend this Notice of Privacy Practices. Any revision or amendment to this notice will be effective for all of your records that our practice has created or maintained in the past, and for any of your records that we may create or maintain in the future. Our practice will post a copy of our current Notice in our offices in a visible location at all times, and you may request a copy of our most current Notice at any time.

Uses and Disclosures

Treatment. Your health information may be used by staff members or disclosed to other healthcare professionals for the purpose of evaluating your health, diagnosing medical conditions, and providing treatment. For example, results of laboratory tests and procedures will be available in your medical record to all health professionals who may provide treatment or who may be consulted by staff members.

Payment. Your health information may be used to seek payment from your health plan, from other sources of coverage such as an automobile insurer, or from credit card companies that you may use to pay for services. For example, your health plan may request and receive information on dates of service, the services provided, and the medical condition being treated.

Health care operations. Your health information may be used as necessary to support the day-to-day activities and management of Evans & Taylor Eye Care Group. For example, information on the services you received may be used to support budgeting and financial reporting, and activities to evaluate and promote quality.
Law enforcement. Your health information may be disclosed to law enforcement agencies to support government audits and inspections, to facilitate law-enforcement investigations, and to comply with government mandated reporting.

Public health reporting. Your health information may be disclosed to public health agencies as required by law. For example, we are required to report certain communicable diseases to the state’s public health department.

Other uses and disclosures require your authorization. Disclosure of your health information or its use for any purposes other than those listed above requires your specific written authorization. If you change your mind after authorizing a use or disclosure of your information, you may submit a written revocation of the authorization. However, your decision to revoke the authorization will not affect or undo any use or disclosure of information that occurred before you notified us of your decision to revoke your authorization.

Without your authorization, we are expressly prohibited to use or disclose your protected health information for marketing purposes when financial remuneration is involved. We may not sell your protected health information without your authorization. We may not use or disclose most psychotherapy notes contained in your protected health information. We will not use or disclose any of your protected health information that contains genetic information that will be used for underwriting purposes.

Additional Uses of Information

Appointment reminders. Your health information will be used by our staff to send you appointment reminders.

Information about treatments. Your health information may be used to send you information on the treatment and management of your medical condition that you may find interesting. We may also send you information describing other health-related products and services that we believe may interest you.

Fundraising. Unless you request us not to, we will use your name and address to support our fund-raising efforts. If you do not want to participate in fund-raising efforts, please check off the following box.

_____ Please do not use my information for fund-raising purposes.

Marketing. Unless you request us not to, there are some marketing activities for which we may use your name and address, to provide you with information about services available at our practice. If you’d rather not receive marketing communication from our practice, please check off the following box.

_____ Please do not use my information for marketing purposes.

Individual Rights

You have certain rights under federal privacy standards. These include:

  • The right to request restrictions on the use and disclosure of your protected health information
  • The right to receive confidential communications concerning your medical condition and treatment
  • The right to inspect and copy your protected health information
  • The right to amend or submit corrections to your protected health information
  • The right to receive an accounting of how and to whom your protected health information has been disclosed
  • The right to receive a printed copy of this notice

Evans & Taylor Eye Care Group’s Duties

We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information and to provide you with this notice of privacy practices. We also are required to abide by the privacy policies and practices outlined in this notice. In the event of a breach of unsecured protected health information, if your information has been compromised it is our duty to notify you.

Right to Revise Privacy Rules

As permitted by law, we reserve the right to amend or modify our privacy policies and practices. These changes in our policies and practices may be required by changes in federal and state laws and regulations. Upon request, we will provide you with the most recently revised notice on any office visit.

The revised policies and practices will be applied to all protected health information we maintain.

Requests to Inspect Protected Health Information

You may generally inspect or copy the protected health information that we maintain. As permitted by federal regulation, we require that requests to inspect or copy protected health information be submitted in writing. You may obtain a form to request access to your records by contacting our Patient Care Coordinator or Compliance Officer. Your request will be reviewed and will generally be approved unless there are legal or medical reasons to deny the request.

Complaints

If you would like to submit a comment or complaint about our privacy practices, you can do so by sending a letter outlining your concerns to:

Compliance Officer—Loretta Taylor, OD
Evans & Taylor Eye Care Group
1221 S. Creasy Lane, Suite A
Lafayette, IN 47905

If you believe that your privacy rights have been violated, you should call the matter to our attention by sending a letter describing the cause of your concern to the same address. You will not be penalized or otherwise retaliated against for filing a complaint.

Contact Person

The name and address of the person you may contact for further information concerning our privacy practices is:

Compliance Officer—Loretta Taylor, OD
Evans & Taylor Eye Care Group
1221 S. Creasy Lane, Suite A
Lafayette, IN 47905
(765) 447-4951

Effective: September 2013

This notice is effective on or after September 23, 2013.

Text body taken from 2013 OptumInsight, Inc.