The content in this web site, as well as the information in our training programs are not intended to diagnose, treat diabetes, or to take the place of the guidance of your healthcare provider.
NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
Effective April 14, 2003
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY.
If you have any questions about this notice, please contact:
Any staff of the Alamo Diabetes Team:
Ernestine G. Gonzales, Jerry Gonzales
Address: P.O. Box 701986, San Antonio Texas 78270
Phone: 210 733-200 Fax: 210 733-6202
OUR PLEDGE REGARDING PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION:
We, at Alamo Diabetes Team, LLP (ADT) understand that protected health information (PHI) about you and your health is personal. We are committed to protecting health information about you. This Notice applies to all of the records of your care generated by ADT whether made by ADT staff or your personal doctor.
This Notice will tell you about the ways in which we may use and disclose protected health information about you. We also describe your rights and certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of protected health information. The law requires us to:
Make sure that protected health information that identifies you is kept private;
Notify you about how we protect protected health information about you;
Explain how, when and why we use and disclose protected health information;
Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.
We are required to follow the procedures in this Notice. We reserve the right to change the terms of this Notice and to make new notice provisions effective for all protected health information that we maintain by:
-Posting the revised Notice in our office;
-Making copies of the revised Notice available upon request;
-Posting the revised Notice on our Web site.
HOW WE USE AND DISCLOSE PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU.
The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose protected health information without your written authorization.
For Treatment. We may use protected health information about you to provide you with, coordinate or manage your medical treatment or services. We may disclose protected health information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, or other ADT staff who are involved in taking care of you.
ADT staff may also share protected health information about you in order to coordinate the different things you need, such as prescriptions, lab work and x-rays. We also may disclose protected health information about you to people outside ADT who may be involved in your medical care, such as clergy or others we use to provide services that are part of your care.
We may use and disclose protected health information to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for treatment or medical care at the ADT. We may use and disclose protected health information to tell you about or recommend possible treatment options or alternatives or health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.
For Payment for Services. We may use and disclose protected health information about you so that the treatment and services you received at ADT may be billed to and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company or a third party. For example, we may need to give your health plan information about services you received at ADT so your health plan will pay us or reimburse you for the service. We may also tell your health plan about the services 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 protected health information about you for ADT health care operations, such as our quality assessment and improvement activities, case management, coordination of care, business planning, customer services and other activities. These uses and disclosures are necessary to run the facility, reduce health care costs, and make sure that all of our patients receive quality care.
For example, we may use protected health information to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the performance of ADT staff who provides your services. We may also combine protected health information about many ADT patients to decide what additional services the ADT should offer, what services are not needed, and whether certain new treatments are effective. We may also disclose information to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, and other ADT staff for review and learning purposes. We may also combine the protected health information we have with protected health information from other health care facilities to compare how we are doing and see where we can make improvements in the care and services we offer. We will remove information that identifies you from this set of protected health information so others may use it to study health care and health care delivery without learning who the specific patients are. We may also contact you as part of a fundraising effort.
However, subject to applicable state law, in some limited situations the law allows or requires us to use or disclose your health information for purposes beyond treatment, payment, and operations. Some of the disclosures set forth below may never occur at our facilities.
As Required By Law. We will disclose protected health information about you when required to do so by federal, state or local law.
Health Risks. We may disclose protected health information about you to a government authority if we reasonably believe you are a victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence. We will only disclose this type of information to the extent required by law, if you agree to the disclosure, or if the disclosure is allowed by law and we believe it is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to you or another person.
Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. If you are involved in a lawsuit or dispute, we may disclose your information in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose health information about you in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made, either by us or the requesting party, to tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.
Business Associates. We may disclose information to business associates who perform services on our behalf (such as billing companies;) however, we require them to appropriately safeguard you information.
Public Health. As required by law, we may disclose your protected health information to public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability.
Research. We may disclose your PHI to researchers when their research has been approved by an institutional review board or privacy board that has review the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your information.
To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety. We may use and disclose protected health 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.
Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose protected health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law. These activities include audits, investigations, and inspections, as necessary for licensure and for the government to monitor the health care system, government programs, and compliance with civil rights laws.
Law Enforcement. We may release protected health information as required by law, or in response to an order or warrant of a court, a subpoena, or an administrative request. We may also disclose protected health information in response to a request related to identification or location of an individual, victims or crime, decedents, or a crime on the premises.
Special Government Functions: If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release protected health information about you if it relates to military and veterans activities. We may also release your protected health information for national security and intelligence purposes, protective services for the President, and medical suitability or determinations of the Department of State.
Correctional Institutions and Other Law Enforcement Custodial Situations. If you are under the custody of a law enforcement official, we may release protected health information about you to the correctional institution or law enforcement official as necessary for your or another person’s health and safety.
Worker’s Compensation. We may disclose information as necessary to comply with laws relating to worker’s compensation or other similar programs established by law.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA). We may disclose to the FDA, or persons under the jurisdiction of the FDA, protected health information relative to adverse events with respect to drug, foods, supplements, products and product defects, or post marketing surveillance information to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacement.
YOU CAN OBJECT TO CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES
Unless you object, or request that only a limited amount or type of information be shared, we may use or disclose protected health information about you in the following circumstances:
We may share with a family member, relative, friend or other person identified by you protected health information directly relevant to that person’s involvement in your care or payment for your care. We may also share information to notify these individuals of your location, general condition or death.
We may share information with a public or private agency (such as the American Red Cross) for disaster relief purposes. Even if you object, we may still share this information if necessary for the emergency circumstances.
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