For Treatment. We will use
health information about you to furnish services and supplies to you, in
accordance with our policies and procedures. For example, we will use your
medical history, such as any presence or absence of heart disease , to
assess your health and perform requested ultrasound or other diagnostic
services.
For Payment. We will use and
disclose health information about you to bill for our services and to
collect payment from you or your insurance company. For example, we may need
to give a payer information about your current medical condition so that it
will pay us for the ultrasound examinations or other services that we have
furnished you. We may also need to inform your payer of the tests that you
are going to receive in order to obtain prior approval or to determine
whether the service is covered.
For Health Care Operations.
We may use and disclose information about you for the general operation of
our business. For example, we sometimes arrange for accreditation
organizations, auditors or other consultants to review our practice,
evaluate our operations, and tell us how to improve our services.
Public Policy Uses and Disclosures.
There are a number of public policy reasons why we may disclose information
about you.
We may disclose health information about you when we are
required to do so by federal, state, or local law.
We may disclose protected health information about you in
connection with certain public health reporting activities. For instance, we
may disclose such information to a public health authority authorized to
collect or receive PHI for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease,
injury or disability, or at the direction of a public health authority, to
an official of a foreign government agency that is acting in collaboration
with a public health authority. Public health authorities include state
health departments, the Center for Disease Control, the Food and Drug
Administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the
Environmental Protection Agency, to name a few.
We are also permitted to disclose protected health
information to a public health authority or other government authority
authorized by law to receive reports of child abuse or neglect. Additionally
we may disclose protected health information to a person subject to the Food
and Drug Administration’s power for the following activities: to report
adverse events, product defects or problems, or biological product
deviations, to track products, to enable product recalls, repairs or
replacements, or to conduct post marketing surveillance.
We may disclose your protected health information in
situations of domestic abuse or elder abuse.
We may disclose protected health information in connection
with certain health oversight activities of licensing and other agencies.
Health oversight activities include audit, investigation, inspection,
licensure or disciplinary actions, and civil, criminal, or administrative
proceedings or actions or any other activity necessary for the oversight of
1) the health care system, 2) governmental benefit programs for which health
information is relevant to determining beneficiary eligibility, 3) entities
subject to governmental regulatory programs for which health information is
necessary for determining compliance with program standards, or 4) entities
subject to civil rights laws for which health information is necessary for
determining compliance.
We may disclose information in response to a warrant,
subpoena, or other order of a court or administrative hearing body, and in
connection with certain government investigations and law enforcement
activities.
We may release personal health information to a coroner or
medical examiner to identify a deceased person or determine the cause of
death. We also may release personal health information to organ procurement
organizations, transplant centers, and eye or tissue banks.
We may release your personal health information to workers’ compensation
or similar programs.
Information about you also will be disclosed when necessary to prevent a
serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of others.
We may use or disclose certain personal health information about your
condition and treatment for research purposes where an Institutional Review
Board or a similar body referred to as a Privacy Board determines that your
privacy interests will be adequately protected in the study. We may also use
and disclose your protected health information to prepare or analyze a
research protocol and for other research purposes.
If you are a member of the Armed Forces, we may release personal health
information about you as required by military command authorities. We also
may release personal health information about foreign military personnel to
the appropriate foreign military authority.
We may disclose your protected health information for legal or
administrative proceedings that involve you. We may release such information
upon order of a court or administrative tribunal. We may also release
protected health information in the absence of such an order and in response
to a discovery or other lawful request, if efforts have been made to notify
you or secure a protective order.
If you are an inmate, we may release protected health information about
you to a correctional institution where you are incarcerated or to law
enforcement officials.
Finally, we may disclose protected health information for national
security and intelligence activities and for the provision of protective
services to the President of the United States and other officials or
foreign heads of state.
Our Business Associates. We sometimes work with outside
individuals and businesses who help us operate our business successfully. We
may disclose your health information to these business associates so that
they can perform the tasks that we hire them to do. Our business associates
must guarantee to us that they will respect the confidentiality of your
personal and identifiable health information.
Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your
Care. We may disclose information to individuals
involved in your care or in the payment for your care, but we will obtain
your agreement before doing so. This includes people and organizations that
are part of your "circle of care" -- such as your spouse, your other
doctors, or an aide who may be providing services to you. Although we must
be able to speak with your other physicians or health care providers, you
can let us know if we should not speak with other individuals, such as your
spouse or family.
Appointment Reminders. We may
use and disclose medical information to contact you as a reminder that you
have an appointment or that you should schedule an appointment.