PRIVACY POLICY
AT HOME PRIMARY CARE
Notice of Privacy Practice
Your Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities.
Uses and Disclosures
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.
The appropriate collection, use, and disclosure of patients’ personal health information is fundamental to our day-to-day operations and to patient care.
Protecting the privacy and the confidentiality of patient personal information is important to the health care provider and staff at At Home Primary Care.
We strive to provide our patients with excellent medical care and service. Every member of At Home Primary Care must abide by our commitment to privacy in the handling of personal information.
Applicability of This Privacy Policy
Our Privacy Policy attests to our commitment to privacy and demonstrates the ways we ensure that patient privacy is protected. Our Privacy Policy applies to the personal health information of all our patients that is in our possession and control.
What is Personal Health Information?
Personal health information means identifying information about an individual relating to their physical or mental health (including medical history), the providing of health care to the individual, payments or eligibility for health care, organ and tissue donation and health number.
The 10 Principles of Privacy
Our Privacy Policy reflects our compliance with fair information practices, applicable laws and standards of practice.
1. Accountability
We take our commitment to securing patient privacy very seriously. Each healthcare provider and employee associated with At Home Primary Care is responsible for the personal information under his/her control. Our employees are informed about the importance of privacy and receive information periodically to update them about our Privacy Policy and related issues.
2. Identifying Purposes: Why We Collect Information
We ask you for information to establish a relationship and serve your medical needs. We obtain most of our information about you directly from you, or from other health practitioners whom you have seen and authorized to disclose to us. You are entitled to know how we use your information. We will limit the information we collect to what we need for those purposes, and we will use it only for those purposes. We will obtain your consent if we wish to use your information for any other purpose.
3. Consent
You have the right to determine how your personal health information is used and disclosed. For most health care purposes, your consent is implied as a result of your consent to treatment, however, in all circumstances express consent must be written.
Your written Consent will be forwarded to the Privacy Officer who will document the request inpatient’s medical records and notify appropriate Health care providers and their supporting staff.
Patients who have withdrawn consent to disclose PHI must sign and date the Consent to Withdrawal Form. It is understood that the consent directive applies only to the PHI which the patient has already provided, and not to PHI which the patient might provide in the future: At Home Primary Care permits certain collections, uses, and disclosures of the PHI, despite the consent directive; healthcare providers may override the consent directive in certain circumstances, such as emergencies; and the consent directive may result in delays in receiving health care, reduced quality of care due to healthcare provider’s lacking complete information about the patient, and healthcare provider’s refusal to offer non-emergency care. Your written Consent to Withdrawal Form will be forwarded to the Privacy Officer who will document the request in patient’s medical records and notify appropriate Health care providers and their supporting staff.
4. Limiting Collection
We collect information by fair and lawful means and collect only that information which may be necessary for purposes related to the provision of your medical care.
5. Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention
The information we request from you is used for the purposes defined. We will seek your consent before using the information for purposes beyond the scope of the posted Privacy Statement.
Under no circumstances do we sell patient lists or other personal information to third parties. There are some types of disclosure of your personal health information that may occur as part of this Practice fulfilling its routine obligations and/or practice management. This includes consultants and suppliers to the Practice, on the understanding that they abide by our Privacy Policy, and only to the extent necessary to allow them to provide business services or support to this Practice.
The following categories describe the different ways in which we may use and disclose your individually identifiable health information, unless you object:
Treatment. Your health information may be used by staff members or disclosed to other health care professionals for the purpose of evaluating your health, diagnosing medical conditions, and providing treatment. For example, results of laboratory tests and procedures will be available in your medical record to all health professionals who may provide treatment or who may be consulted by staff members. Additionally, we may disclose your health information to others who may assist in your care, such as other healthcare providers, your spouse, your children or parent.
Payment. Your health information may be used in order to bill and collect payment for the services and items you may receive from us. For example, we may use and disclose your health information to obtain payment from third parties that may be responsible for such costs, such as family members. Also we may use your health information to bill you directly for services and items.
Health care operations. Your health information may be used as necessary to support the day to day activities and management of At Home Primary Care. For example, information on the services you received may be used to support budgeting and financial reporting, activities to evaluate and promote quality, to develop protocols and clinical guidelines, to develop training programs, and to aid in credentialing medical review, legal services, and insurance.
Appointment reminders. Your health information will be used by our staff to contact you and send you appointment reminders.
Information about treatments. Your health information may be used to send you information that you may find interesting on the treatment and management of your medical condition. We may also send you information describing other health-related products and services that we believe may interest you.
Law enforcement. Your health information may be disclosed to law enforcement agencies to support government audits and inspections, facilitate law enforcement investigations, and comply with government-mandated reporting.
Release of Information to Family/Friends. Our practice may release your health information to a friend or family member that is involved in your care or who assists in taking care of you. For example, a parent or guardian may ask that a babysitter take their child for an appointment. In this example, the babysitter or friend may have access to this child’s medical information.
Patient mass communication. We may use your name and email address(es) and/or text numbers to contact you with bulk messaging. For instance, to share new promotions for the clinic, to send clinic newsletters, or to notify you of a provider’s upcoming absence, such as for vacations.
Other uses and disclosures in certain special circumstances.
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Public Health Risks - (i.e. vital statistics, child abuse/neglect, exposure to communicable diseases, reporting reactions to drugs or problems with products or devices.)
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Health Oversight Activities
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Lawsuits and Similar Proceedings – May use or disclose in response to a court or administrative order if you are involved in a lawsuit or similar proceeding or in response to a discovery request, subpoena, or other lawful processes.
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Deceased Patients – may be required to release to a medical examiner or coroner. If necessary, we may also release information in order for a funeral director to perform their jobs.
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Organ and Tissue Donation
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Serious Threats to Health or Safety
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Military - If you are a member of the U.S. or foreign military forces (including veterans) and if required by the appropriate authorities.
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National Security
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Inmates – Our practice may disclose your health information to correctional institutions or law enforcement officials if you are an inmate or under the custody of a law enforcement official. Disclosure would be necessary for the institution to provide health care services to you, for the safety and security of the institution, and/or to protect your health and safety or the health and safety of others.
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Worker’s Compensation
Disclosures of your health information or its use for any purpose other than those listed above require your specific written authorization. If you change your mind after authorizing a use or disclosure of your information, you may submit a written revocation of the authorization. However, your decision to revoke the authorization will not affect or undo any use or disclosure of information that occurred before your notified us of your decision to revoke your authorization.
We will retain your information only for the time it is required for the purposes we describe and once your personal information is no longer required, it will be destroyed. However, due to our ongoing exposure to potential claims, some information is kept for a longer period.
6. Accuracy
We endeavor to ensure that all decisions involving your personal information are based upon accurate and timely information. While we will do our best to base our decisions on accurate information, we rely on you to disclose all material information and to inform us of any relevant changes.
7. Safeguards: Protecting Your Information
We protect your information with appropriate safeguards and security measures. The Practice maintains personal information in a combination of paper and electronic files. Recent paper records concerning individuals’ personal information are stored in files kept onsite at our office. Older records may be stored securely offsite.
Access to personal information will be authorized only for the healthcare providers and employees associated with the At Home Primary Care, and other agents who require access in the performance of their duties, and to those otherwise authorized by law.
We provide information to health care providers acting on your behalf, on the understanding that they are also bound by law and ethics to safeguard your privacy. Other organizations and agents must agree to abide by our Privacy Policy and may be asked to sign contracts to that effect. We will give them only the information necessary to perform the services for which they are engaged, and will require that they not store, use or disclose the information for purposes other than to carry out those services.
Our computer systems are password-secured and constructed in such a way that only authorized individuals can access secure systems and databases.
If you send us an e-mail message that includes personal information, such as your name included in the "address", we will use that information to respond to your inquiry. Please remember that e-mail is not necessarily secure against interception. If your communication is very sensitive, you should not send it electronically unless the e-mail is encrypted or your browser indicates that the access is secure.
8. Openness: Keeping You Informed
At Home Primary Care has prepared this plain-language Privacy Policy to keep you informed. If you have any additional questions or concerns about privacy, we invite you to contact us by phone and we will address your concerns to the best of our ability.
9. Access and Correction
You have certain rights under the federal privacy standards. These include:
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The right to request restrictions on the use and disclosure of your protected health information for treatment, payment, or health care operations. You have the right to restrict our disclosure to only certain individuals involved in your care or the payment for your care, such as family members and friends. We are not required to agree to your request; however, if we do not agree, we are bound by our agreement except when otherwise required by law, in emergencies, or when the information is necessary to treat you. You must make your request in writing to the attention of the Privacy Officer. Your request must be described in a clear and concise fashion: a) the information you wish restricted; b) whether you are requesting to limit our practice’s use, disclosure, or both; c) to whom you want the limits to apply.
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The right to receive confidential communications concerning your medical condition and treatment
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The right to inspect and copy your protected health information. We will provide a copy or summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee. Our practice may deny your request to inspect and/or copy in certain limited circumstances; however, you may request a review of the denial.
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The right to amend or submit corrections to your protected health information. This request must be made in writing and submitted to Privacy Officer with reasons to support your request. We may deny your request if you ask us to amend information that is in our opinion: a) accurate and complete; b) not part of the health information kept by or for the practice; c) not part of the health information which you are permitted to inspect and copy; or d) not created by our practice, unless the individual or entity that created is not available to amend the information. We will provide a written explanation for any denial in 60 days.
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The right to receive an accounting of how and to whom your protected health information has been disclosed. We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any that you asked us to make). We will provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.
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The right to receive a printed copy of this notice, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically.
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You may generally inspect or copy the protected health information that we maintain. As permitted by federal regulation, we require that requests to inspect or copy protected health information be submitted in writing. Your request will be reviewed and will generally be approved unless there are legal or medical reasons to deny the request.
10. Challenging Compliance
We encourage you to contact us in writing with any questions or concerns you might have about your privacy or our Privacy Policy. We will investigate and respond to your concerns about any aspect of our handling of your information.
At Home Primary Care Duties
We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information and to provide you with this notice of privacy practices. We also are required to abide by the privacy policies and practices that are outlined in this notice.
Right to Revise Privacy Practices
As permitted by law, we reserve the right to amend or modify our privacy policies and practices. These changes in our policies and practices may be required by changes in federal and state laws and regulations. Upon request, we will provide you with the most recently revised notice on any office visit. The revised policies and practices will be applied to all protected health information we maintain.
Complaints
If you would like to submit a comment or complaint about our privacy practices, you can do so by sending a letter outlining your concerns to:
At Home Primary Care Attn: Privacy Officer
Healthstarts@homprimarycare.com
17801 NW 2ND Ave, Suite 260 Miami Gardens, FL 33169
If you believe that your privacy rights have been violated, you should call the matter to our attention by sending a letter describing the cause of your concern to the same address. You will not be penalized or otherwise retaliated against for filing a complaint.
This notice is effective on or after 1/2021
Revised 1/2022