Patient Privacy

This notice describes how health information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information.Please review it carefully. The privacy of your health information is important to us.

Our Legal Duty

We are required by applicable federal law to maintain the privacy of your health information. We are also required to give you the Notice about our privacy practices, our legal duties, and your rights concerning your health information. We must follow the privacy practices that are described in the Notice while it is in effect. This Notice takes effect April 14, 2003, and will remain in effect until we replace it.We reserve the right to change our privacy practices and the terms of the Notice at any time, provided such changes are permitted by applicable law. We reserve the right to make the changes in our privacy practices and the new terms of our Notice effective for all health information that we maintain, including health information we created or received before we made the changes. Before we make a significant change in our privacy practices, we will change the Notice and make the new Notice available upon request.You may request a copy of our Notice at any time. For more information about our privacy practices, or for additional copies of the Notice, please contact us by e-mail or by using the information listed at the end of this Notice.

Uses And Disclosures Of Health Information

We use and disclose health information about you for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. For example:

Treatment: We will use and disclose your health information to provide, coordinate and manage health care and related services for you. For example we will disclose information to a specialist to whom you have been referred to ensure the provider has enough information to diagnose and/or treat you. We may also disclose information to a laboratory that, at our request, becomes involved in your treatment.

Payment: Your protected health information will be used, as needed, to obtain payment for your health care services. This may include certain activities that your healthinsurance 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 Operations: We may use and disclose your health information in connection with our healthcare operations. Healthcare operations include quality assessment and improvement activities, reviewing the competence or qualifications of healthcare professionals, evaluating practitioner and provider performance, conducting training programs, educational programs, accreditation, certification, licensing or credentialing activities.

We may use a sign-in sheet at the registration desk where you will be asked to sign your name. We may also call you by name in the waiting room when we are ready to begin your treatment.

Appointment Reminders: We may use or disclose your information to provide you with appointment reminders (such as voicemail messages, e-mail, postcards, or letters).

Your Authorization: In addition to our use of your health information for treatment, payment or healthcare operations, you may give us written authorization to use your health information or to disclose to anyone for any purpose. If you give us an authorization, you may revoke it in writing at any time. Your revocation will not affect any use or disclosures permitted by your authorization while it was in effect. Unless you give us a written authorization, we cannot use or disclose your health information for any reason except those described in the Notice.

To Your Family and Friends: We must disclose your health information to you, as described in the Patient Rights section of this Notice. We may disclose your health information to a family member, friend or other person to the extent necessary to help with your healthcare or with payment for your healthcare, but only if you agree that we may do so.Persons Involved In Care: We may use or disclose health information to notify, or assist in the notification of (including identifying or locating) a family member, your personal representative or another person responsible for your care, of your location, your general condition, or death. If you are present, then prior to use or disclosure of your health information, we will provide you with an opportunity to object such uses or disclosures. In the event of your incapacity or emergency circumstances, we will disclose health information based on a determination using our professional judgment disclosing only health information that is directly relevant to the person’s improvement in your healthcare. We will also use our professional judgment and our experience with common practice to make reasonable references of your best interest in allowing a person to pick up filled prescriptions, medical supplies, x-rays, or other similar forms of health information.

Marketing Health-Related Services: We will not use your health information for marketing communications without your written authorization.

Required by Law: We may use or disclose your health information when we are required to do so by law.Abuse or Neglect: We may disclose your health information to appropriate authorities if we reasonably believe that you are a possible victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence or the possible victim of other crimes. We may disclose your health information to the extent necessary to avert a serious threat to your health or safety or the health or safety of others.

Law Proceedings: We may disclose protected health information in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding, in response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal (to the extent such disclosure is expressly authorized), in certain conditions in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process.

Law Enforcement: We may also disclose protected health information, so long as applicable legal requirements are met, for law enforcement purposes. These law enforcement purposes include (1) legal processes and otherwise required by law, (2) limited information requests for identification and location purposes, (3) pertaining to victims of a crime, (4) suspicion that death has occurred as a result of criminal conduct, (5) in the event that a crime occurs on the premises of the practice, and (6) medical emergency (not on the Practice’s premises) and it is likely that a crime has occurred.

National Security: We may disclose to military authorities the health information of Armed Forces personnel under certain circumstances. We may disclose to authorized federal officials health information required for lawful intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities.

Workers’ Compensation: We may disclose your protected health information as authorized to comply with workers’ compensation laws and other similar legally established programs.

Inmates: We may use or disclose your protected health information if you are an inmate of correctional facility and your physician created or received your protected health information in the course of providing care to you.

Patient Rights

Access: You have the right to look at or get copies of your health information, with limited exceptions. (You must make a request in writing to obtain access to your health information. You may obtain a form to request access by contacting us through our web site or by using the contact information listed at the end of the Notice. We will charge you a reasonable cost-based fee for expenses such as copies and staff time. You may also request access by sending us a letter to the address at the end of this Notice. If you request copies, we will charge you $.50 for each page, $10.00 minimum for staff time to locate and copy your health information, and postage if you want the copies mailed to you. If you prefer, we will prepare a summary of an explanation of your health information for a fee. Contact us using the information listed at the end of this Notice for a full explanation of our fee structure.)

Disclosure Accounting: You have the right to receive a list of instances in which we or our business associates disclosed your health information for purposes, other than treatment, payment, healthcare operations and certain other activities, for the last 6 years, but not before April 13, 2003. If you request this account more than once in a 12-month period, we may charge you a reasonable, cost-based fee for responding to these additional requests.

Restrictions: You have the right to request that we place additional restrictions on our use or disclosure of your health information. We are not required to agree to these additional restrictions, but if we do, we will abide by our agreement (except in an emergency).

Amendment: You have the right to request that we amend your health information. (Your request must be in writing and it must explain why the information should be amended.) We may deny your request under certain circumstances.

Electronic Notice: If you receive this Notice on our web site or by electronic mail (e-mail), you are entitled to receive this Notice in written form.

Questions and Complaints

If you want more information about our privacy practices or have questions or concerns, please contact us. If you are concerned that we may have violated your privacy rights, or you disagree with a decision we made about your health information or in response to a request you made to amend or restrict the use or disclosure of your health information or to have us communicate with you by alternative means or at alternative locations, you may complain to us using the contact information listed at the end of the Notice. You also may submit a written complaint to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

We will provide you with the address to file your complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services upon request.We support your right to the privacy of your health information. We will not retaliate in any way if you choose to file a complaint with us or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Contact Officer:

Dr. David J. Darab
P.O. Box 2526
Hickory, NC 28603
Telephone: (828) 322-1667
Fax: (828) 324-5877