NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU OR YOUR CHILD/DEPENDENT MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) is a federal program that protects the privacy of your health care records and requires that all health care providers maintain confidentiality of medical records and other individually identifiable health information used or disclosed by us in any form, whether electronically, paper, or orally.
THIS NOTICE APPLIES TO
This notice describes the health information practices of the Kind Rhodes ABA ACE. A complete listing of facilities and sites operating under this notice may be obtained by contacting Kind Rhodes ABA at (805) 407-1929 or through our website at www.kindrhodesaba.com
This notice describes the practice of this ACE and those of:
- Any healthcare professionals authorized to enter information into your record;
- Any employee, staff and other office personnel; and
- Any volunteers, interns, or students working with you while you are a client of any practice in the Kind Rhodes ABA ACE.
SUMMARY OF RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS CONCERNING HEALTH INFORMATION
The Kind Rhodes ABA Affiliated Covered Entity (ACE) is committed to preserving the privacy and confidentiality of your health information, which is required both by federal and state law. We are required by law to provide you with this notice of our legal duties, your rights, and our privacy practices, with respect to using and disclosing your health information that is created or retained by the Kind Rhodes ABA ACE. We have an ethical and legal obligation to protect the privacy of your health information, and we will only use or disclose this information in limited circumstances.
- You have the right to request restrictions on uses and disclosures of protected health information, including those related to disclosures to family members, other relatives, close personal friends, or any other person identified by you. We are, however, not required to agree to a requested restriction. If we do agree to a restriction, we must abide by it unless you agree in writing to remove it.
- You have the right to a reasonable request to receive confidential communications of protected health information in a private and confidential manner, when feasible. For example, you may want to be contacted at an alternative telephone number.
- You have the right to inspect and obtain copies of your protected health information that may be used to make decisions about you. Requests must be made in writing and an appropriate charge may be assessed for each page copied.
- You have the right to request a change to your medical information that is used to make decisions about you if you believe there is an error, or the information is incomplete. You must submit a request in writing; including the information you believe should be changed and we will change your record, if appropriate. We reserve the right to deny the request to change your record, if the change is not appropriate.
- You have the right to receive an accounting of disclosures of protected health information, except disclosures made for the purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations. Requests must be made in writing. You may receive one listing per calendar year without charge; any additional listings may be subject to a reasonable fee.
- You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this notice from us upon request.
Personal Representative. If you have a personal representative, such as a legal guardian, we will treat that person as if that person is you, with respect to disclosures of his or her health information.
THE DUTIES OF THE KIND RHODES ABA ACE
The Kind Rhodes ABA ACE is required by law to maintain the privacy of your personal medical information and to provide you with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to that information. We are also required to abide by the terms of our current Notice of Privacy Practices.
USE AND DISCLOSE OF YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION FOR TREATMENT, PAYMENT, AND HEALTH CARE OPERATIONS
As required by HIPAA, we have prepared this explanation of how we are required to maintain the privacy of your information and how we may use and disclose your health information without your authorization. We may use and disclose your health information for treatment, payment, and health care operations.
- Treatment means providing, coordinating, or managing health care and related services by one or more providers to assist in treating you. We may use and disclose your protected health information to provide, coordinate, and manage your care;
- Payment means such activities as obtaining reimbursements for services, confirming coverage, billing and collection activities, and utilization review. An example of this would be sending a bill for your visit to your insurance company for payment. We may use and disclose your health information so that we may bill and collect payment for the services that we provided to you. We may release your health information to your health plans or other insurers that pay for your care, to review and assess your insurance, reimbursement, and coverage for services. Such information may include your name, age, gender, medical diagnosis, insurance identifiers, or medical providers you identify.
- Health care operations include: the operational needs to run the business, such as conducting quality assessment and improvement activities, auditing functions, cost-management analysis, and customer service. An example of this would be an internal quality assessment review of the services provided to determine how we can improve our services. We may create de-identified health information from your health information by removing all identifiers (such as your name, dates, zip code) from your health information. We may use or disclose de-identified information for any purpose.
CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE
We reserve the right to change our health information practices and the terms of our Notice of Privacy Practices, and to make the changes effective for all protected health information we maintain, including health information created or received before the effective date of the changes. In the event we change our health information practices, we will post the notice on our website and/or personally provide a revised Notice of Privacy Practices.
EFFECTIVE DATE
This notice was last updated 8/1/2022