Notice of Privacy Practices

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.

This notice takes effect on March 22, 2010 and remains in effect until we replace it.

1. Our pledge regarding medical information

The privacy of your medical information is important to us. We understand that your medical nformation is personal and we are committed to protecting it. We create a record of the care and services you receive at our organization. We need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with certain legal requirements. This notice provides details about the ways we may use and share medical information about you. We also describe your rights and certain duties we have regarding the use and disclosure of medical information in the summary of rights below.

2. Our legal duty

Law requires us to:

  1. Keep your medical information private.
  2. Give you this notice describing our legal duties, privacy practices, and your rights regarding your medical information.
  3. Follow the terms of the current notice.

We have the right to:

  1. Change our privacy practices and the terms of this notice at any time, provided that the changes are permitted by law.
  2. Make the changes in our privacy practices and the new terms of our notice effective for all medical information that we keep, including information previously created or received before the changes.

Notice of changes to privacy practices:

  1. Before we make an important change in our privacy practices, we will change this notice and make the new notice available upon request.

3. Use and disclosure of your medical information

The following section describes the different ways that we use and disclose medical information. Not every use or disclosure will be listed. However, we have listed the different ways we are permitted to use and disclose medical information. We will not use or disclose your medical information for any purpose not listed below without your specific authorization. Any specific written authorization you provide may be revoked at any time by writing to us at the address provided at the end of this notice.

For Treatment: We may use medical information about you to provide you with medical treatment or services. We may disclose information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, or other people who are taking care of you. We may also share medical information about you with your other health care providers to assist them in treating you.

For Payment: We may use and disclose your medical information for payment purposes. A bill may be sent to you or a third-party payer. The information on or accompanying the bill may include you medical information.

For Health Care Operations: We may use and disclose your medical information for our health care operations. This might include using your health care information to measure quality, evaluate the performance of employees, or conduct training programs. We may also require and use your health care information in order to receive accreditation, certificates, licenses and credentials that we need to serve you.

Additional Uses And Disclosures: In addition to using and disclosing your medical information for treatment, payment, and health care operations, we may use and disclose medical information for the following purposes:

  • Facility directory: Unless you notify us that you object, the following medical information about you will be placed in our facility directories: your name, your location in our facility, your condition described in general terms, or your religious affiliation (if identified).
  • Notification: We may use and disclose information to notify or help notify the following persons: a family member, your personal representative, or another person responsible for your care. We will share information about your location, general condition, or death. If you are present, we will provide you with the opportunity to grant or deny permission to share your information if possible. We will share only the health information that is directly necessary for your health care according to our professional judgment. We will also use our professional judgment to make decisions in your best interest about allowing someone to pick up medicine, medical supplies, x-ray or medical information about you.
  • Disaster relief: We may share medical information with a public or private organization or person who can legally assist in disaster relief efforts.
  • Research in limited circumstances: We may use medical information for research purposes in limited circumstances where the research has been approved by a review board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of medical information.
  • Funeral director, coroner, medical examiner: To help them carry out their duties, we may share the medical information of a person who has died with a coroner, medical examiner, funeral director, or an organ procurement organization.
  • Specialized government functions: of providing data to military personnel and veterans, for national security and intelligence activities, for protective services for the President and others, for medical suitability determinations for the Department of State, for correctional institutions and other law enforcement custodial situations, and for government programs providing public benefits.
  • Court orders and judicial and administrative proceedings: We may disclose medical information in response to a court or administrative order, subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process, under certain circumstances. Under limited circumstances, such as a court order, warrant, or grand jury subpoena, we may share your medical information with law enforcement officials. We may share limited information with a law enforcement official concerning the medical information of a suspect, fugitive, material witness, crime victim, or missing person. We may share the medical information of an inmate or other person in lawful custody with a law enforcement official or correctional institution under certain circumstances.
  • Public health activities: As required by law, we may disclose your medical information to public health or legal authorities in order to prevent or control disease, to report injury or disability, or to report child abuse or neglect. We may also disclose your medical information to persons subject to jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration for purposes of reporting adverse events associated with product defects or problems, to enable product recalls, to facilitate repairs or replacements, to track products, or to conduct activities required by the Food and Drug Administration. We may also, when we are authorized by law to do so, notify a person who may have been exposed to a communicable disease or otherwise be at risk of contracting or spreading a disease or condition.
  • Victims of abuse or domestic violence: We may use and disclose medical 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 share your medical information if it is necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health or safety of the health or safety of others. We may share medical information when necessary to help law enforcement officials recapture a person who has admitted to being a part of a crime or has escaped from legal custody.
  • Workers compensation: We may disclose health information when authorized or necessary to comply with laws relating to workers compensation or other similar programs.
  • Health oversight activities: We may disclose medical information to an agency providing health oversight for oversight activities authorized by law, including the following acts: audits, civil investigations, administrative investigations, or criminal investigations or proceedings, inspections, licensure or disciplinary actions, or other authorized activities.
  • Law enforcement: Under certain circumstances, we may disclose health information to law enforcement officials. These circumstances include reporting required by certain laws (such as the reporting of certain types of wounds) pursuant to certain subpoenas or court orders. Information released may also include limited information concerning identification and location at the request of law enforcement officials, reports regarding suspected victims of crimes at the request of a law enforcement official, death reports, crimes on our premises, and crimes in emergencies.
  • Appointment reminders: We may use and disclose medical information for purposes of sending you appointment postcards or otherwise reminding you of your appointments.
  • Alternative and additional medical services: We may use and disclose medical information to furnish you with information about health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you, and to describe or recommend treatment alternatives.

4. Your individual rights

  • You have a right to:
  • Look at or get copies of certain parts of your medical information. You may request that we provide copies in a format other than photocopies. We will use the format you request unless it is not practical for us to do so. You must make your request in writing. You may get the form to request access to your medical record by using the contact information listed at the end of this notice. If you request copies, we will charge you $ 0.20 for each page, and postage if you want the copies mailed to you. Contact us using the information listed at the end of this notice for full explanation of our fee structure.
  • Receive a list of all the times we or our business associates shared your medical information for purposes other than treatment, payment, and health care operations and other specified exceptions.
  • Request that we place additional restrictions on our use or disclosure of your medical information. We are not required to agree to these additional restrictions, but if we do, we will abide by our agreement (except in the case of an emergency).
  • Request that we communicate with you about your medical information by different means or to different locations. Your request that we communicate your medical information to you by different means or at different locations must be made in writing to the contact person listed at the end of this notice.
  • Request that we change certain parts of your medical information. We may deny your request if we did not create the information you want changed or for certain other reasons. If we deny your request, we will provide you with a written explanation. You may respond with a statement of disagreement that will be added to the information you want changed. If we accept your request to change the information, we will make reasonable efforts to tell others, including people you name, of the change and to include the changes in any future sharing of that information.
  • If you have received this notice electronically, and wish to receive a paper copy, you have the right to obtain a paper copy by making a request in writing to the contact person listed at the end of this notice.

Questions and complaints

If you have any questions about this notice or think that we may have violated your privacy rights, please contact us. You may also submit a written complaint to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. You may contact us to submit requests involving any of you rights in Section 4 of this notice by writing to the following address:

West Houston Allergy & Asthma, P.A.

  1. 705 S. Fry Rd. #115 Katy, TX 77450
  2. 7830 West Grand Parkway South, Suite 260, Richmond, TX 77407

Notice of Privacy Practices

We will provide you with the address to file your complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We will not retaliate in any way if you choose to file a complaint.

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Useful Links

West Houston Allergy & Asthma, Katy, TX

West Houston Allergy & Asthma, Richmond, TX