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THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION
ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS
INFORMATION. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY.
NOTICE OF PRIVACY POLICY
Effective April 13, 2003
The following is the privacy policy ("Privacy Policy")
of Dr. Joy A. Lockner ("Covered "Entity") as described in the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and regulations promulgated
thereunder, commonly known as HIPAA. HIPAA requires Covered Entity by law
to maintain the privacy of your personal health information and to provide
you with notice of Covered Entity’s legal duties and privacy policies with
respect to your personal health information. We are required by law to
abide by the terms of this Privacy Notice.
Your Personal Health Information
We collect personal health information from you through
treatment, payment and related healthcare operations, the application and
enrollment process, and/or healthcare providers or health plans, or through
other means, as applicable. Your personal health information that is protected
by law broadly includes any information, oral, written or recorded, that
is created or received by certain health care entities, including health
care providers, such as physicians and hospitals, as well as, health insurance
companies or plans. The law specifically protects health information that
contains data, such as your name, address, social security number, and
others, that could be used to identify you as the individual patient who
is associated with that health information.
Uses or Disclosures of Your Personal Health Information
Generally, we may not use or disclose your personal health
information without your permission. Further, once your permission has
been obtained, we must use or disclose your personal health information
in accordance with the specific terms that permission. The following are
the circumstances under which we are permitted by law to use or disclose
your personal health information.
Without Your Consent
Without your consent, we may use or disclose your
personal health information in order to provide you with services and the
treatment you require or request, or to collect payment for those services,
and to conduct other related health care operations otherwise permitted
or required by law. Also, we are permitted to disclose your personal health
information within and among our workforce in order to accomplish these
same purposes. However, even with your permission, we are still required
to limit such uses or disclosures to the minimal amount of personal health
information that is reasonably required to provide those services or complete
those activities.
Examples of treatment activities include: (a) the
provision, coordination, or management of health care and related services
by health care providers; (b) consultation between health care providers
relating to a patient; or (c) the referral of a patient for health care
from one health care provider to another.
Examples of payment activities include: (a) billing
and collection activities and related data processing; (b) actions by a
health plan or insurer to obtain premiums or to determine or fulfill its
responsibilities for coverage and provision of benefits under its health
plan or insurance agreement, determinations of eligibility or coverage,
adjudication or subrogation of health benefit claims; (c) medical necessity
and appropriateness of care reviews, utilization review activities; and
(d) disclosure to consumer reporting agencies of information relating to
collection of premiums or reimbursement.
Examples of health care operations include: (a)
development of clinical guidelines; (b) contacting patients with information
about treatment alternatives or communications in connection with case
management or care coordination; (c) reviewing the qualifications of and
training health care professionals; (d) underwriting and premium rating;
(e) medical review, legal services, and auditing functions; and (f) general
administrative activities such as customer service and data analysis.
As Required By Law
We may use or disclose your personal health information
to the extent that such use or disclosure is required by law and the use
or disclosure complies with and is limited to the relevant requirements
of such law. Examples of instances in which we are required to disclose
your personal health information include: (a) public health activities
including, preventing or controlling disease or other injury, public health
surveillance or investigations, reporting adverse events with respect to
food or dietary supplements or product defects or problems to the Food
and Drug Administration, medical surveillance of the workplace or to evaluate
whether the individual has a work-related illness or injury in order to
comply with Federal or state law; (b) disclosures regarding victims of
abuse, neglect, or domestic violence including, reporting to social service
or protective services agencies; (c) health oversight activities including,
audits, civil, administrative, or criminal investigations, inspections,
licensure or disciplinary actions, or civil, administrative, or criminal
proceedings or actions, or other activities necessary for appropriate oversight
of government benefit programs; (d) judicial and administrative proceedings
in response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal, a warrant,
subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process; (e) law enforcement
purposes for the purpose of identifying or locating a suspect, fugitive,
material witness, or missing person, or reporting crimes in emergencies,
or reporting a death; (f) disclosures about decedents for purposes of cadaveric
donation of organs, eyes or tissue; (g) for research purposes under certain
conditions; (h) to avert a serious threat to health or safety; (i) military
and veterans activities; (j) national security and intelligence activities,
protective services of the President and others; (k) medical suitability
determinations by entities that are components of the Department of State;
(l) correctional institutions and other law enforcement custodial situations;
(m) covered entities that are government programs providing public benefits,
and for workers’ compensation.
All Other Situations, With Your Specific Authorization
Except as otherwise permitted or required, as described
above, we may not use or disclose your personal health information without
your written authorization. Further, we are required to use or disclose
your personal health information consistent with the terms of your authorization.
You may revoke your authorization to use or disclose any personal health
information at any time, except to the extent that we have taken action
in reliance on such authorization, or, if you provided the authorization
as a condition of obtaining insurance coverage, other law provides the
insurer with the right to contest a claim under the policy.
Miscellaneous Activities, Notice
We may contact you to provide appointment reminders or
information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits
and services that may be of interest to you. We may contact you to raise
funds for Covered Entity. If we are a group health plan or health insurance
issuer or HMO with respect to a group health plan, we may disclose your
personal health information to be sponsor of the plan.
Your Rights With Respect to Your Personal Health Information
Under HIPAA, you have certain rights with respect to your
personal health information. The following is a brief overview of your
rights and our duties with respect to enforcing those rights.
Right To Request Restrictions On Use Or Disclosure
You have the right to request restrictions on certain
uses and disclosures of your personal health information about yourself.
You
may request restrictions on the following uses or disclosures: to carry
out treatment, payment, or healthcare operations; (b) disclosures to family
members, relatives, or close personal friends of personal health information
directly relevant to your care or payment related to your health care,
or your location, general condition, or death; (c) instances in which you
are not present or your permission cannot practicably be obtained due to
your incapacity or an emergency circumstance; (d) permitting other persons
to act on your behalf to pick up filled prescriptions, medical supplies,
X-rays, or other similar forms of personal health information; or (e) disclosure
to a public or private entity authorized by law or by its charter to assist
in disaster relief efforts.
While we are not required to agree to any requested restriction,
if we agree to a restriction, we are bound not to use or disclose your
personal healthcare information in violation of such restriction, except
in certain emergency situations. We will not accept a request to restrict
uses or disclosures that are otherwise required by law.
Right To Receive Confidential Communications
You have the right to receive confidential communications
of your personal health information. We may require written requests. We
may condition the provision of confidential communications on you providing
us with information as to how payment will be handled and specification
of an alternative address or other method of contact. We may require that
a request contain a statement that disclosure of all or a part of the information
to which the request pertains could endanger you. We may not require you
to provide an explanation of the basis for your request as a condition
of providing communications to you on a confidential basis. We must permit
you to request and must accommodate reasonable requests by you to receive
communications of personal health information from us by alternative means
or at alternative locations. If we are a health care plan, we must permit
you to request and must accommodate reasonable requests by you to receive
communications of personal health information from us by alternative means
or at alternative locations if you clearly state that the disclosure of
all or part of that information could endanger you.
Right To Inspect And Copy Your Personal Health Information
Your designated record set is a group of records we maintain
that includes Medical records and billing records about you, or enrollment,
payment, claims adjudication, and case or medical management records systems,
as applicable. You have the right of access in order to inspect and obtain
a copy your personal health information contained in your designated record
set, except for (a) psychotherapy notes, (b) information complied
in reasonable anticipation of, or for use in, a civil, criminal, or administrative
action or proceeding, and (c) health information maintained by us to the
extent to which the provision of access to you would be prohibited by law.
We may require written requests. We must provide you with access to your
personal health information in the form or format requested by you, if
it is readily producible in such form or format, or, if not, in a readable
hard copy form or such other form or format. We may provide you with a
summary of the personal health information requested, in lieu of providing
access to the personal health information or may provide an explanation
of the personal health information to which access has been provided, if
you agree in advance to such a summary or explanation and agree to the
fees imposed for such summary or explanation. We will provide you with
access as requested in a timely manner, including arranging with you a
convenient time and place to inspect or obtain copies of your personal
health information or mailing a copy to you at your request. We will discuss
the scope, format, and other aspects of your request for access as necessary
to facilitate timely access. If you request a copy of your personal health
information or agree to a summary or explanation of such information, we
may charge a reasonable cost-based fee for copying, postage, if you request
a mailing, and the costs of preparing an explanation or summary as agreed
upon in advance. We reserve the right to deny you access to and copies
of certain personal health information as permitted or required by law.
We will reasonably attempt to accommodate any request for personal health
information by, to the extent possible, giving you access to other personal
health information after excluding the information as to which we have
a ground to deny access. Upon denial of a request for access or request
for information, we will provide you with a written denial specifying the
legal basis for denial, a statement of your rights, and a description of
how you may file a complaint with us. If we do not maintain the
information that is the subject of your request for access but we know
where the requested information is maintained, we will inform you of where
to direct your request for access.
Right To Amend Your Personal Health Information
You have the right to request that we amend your personal
health information or a record about you contained in your designated record
set, for as long as the designated record set is maintained by us. We have
the right to deny your request for amendment, if: (a) we determine that
the information or record that is the subject of the request was not created
by us, unless you provide a reasonable basis to believe that the originator
of the information is no longer available to act on the requested amendment,
(b) the information is not part of your designated record set maintained
by us, (c) the information is prohibited from inspection by law, or (d)
the information is accurate and complete. We may require that you submit
written requests and provide a reason to support the requested amendment.
If we deny your request, we will provide you with a written denial stating
the basis of the denial, your right to submit a written statement disagreeing
with the denial, and a description of how you may file a complaint with
us or the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
("DHHS"). This denial will also include a notice that if you do not submit
a statement of disagreement, you may request that we include your request
for amendment and the denial with any future disclosures of your personal
health information that is the subject of the requested amendment. Copies
of all requests, denials, and statements of disagreement will be included
in your designated record set. If we accept your request for amendment,
we will make reasonable efforts to inform and provide the amendment within
a reasonable time to persons identified by you as having received personal
health information of yours prior to amendment and persons that we know
have the personal health information that is the subject of the amendment
and that may have relied, or could foreseeably rely, on such information
to your detriment. All requests for amendment shall be sent to Dr. Joy
A. Lockner, 1305 Remington Rd., Suite T, Schaumburg, IL 60173.
Right To Receive An Accounting Of Disclosures Of Your
Personal Health Information
Beginning April 14, 2003, you have the right to
receive a written accounting of all disclosures of your personal health
information that we have made within the six (6) year period immediately
preceding the date on which the accounting is requested. You may request
an accounting of disclosures for a period of time less than six (6) years
from the date of the request. Such disclosures will include the date of
each disclosure, the name and, if known, the address of the entity or person
who received the information, a brief description of the information disclosed,
and a brief statement of the purpose and basis of the disclosure or, in
lieu of such statement, a copy of your written authorization or written
request for disclosure pertaining to such information. We are not required
to provide accountings of disclosures for the following purposes: (a)
treatment, payment, and healthcare operations, (b) disclosures pursuant
to your authorization, (c) disclosures to you, (d) for a facility directory
or to persons involved in your care, (e) for national security or intelligence
purposes, (f) to correctional institutions, and (g) with respect to disclosures
occurring prior to 4/14/03. We reserve our right to temporarily suspend
your right to receive an accounting of disclosures to health oversight
agencies or law enforcement officials, as required by law. We will provide
the first accounting to you in any twelve (12) month period without charge,
but will impose a reasonable cost-based fee for responding to each subsequent
request for accounting within that same twelve (12) month period. All requests
for an accounting shall be sent to Dr. Joy A. Lockner, 1305 Remington
Rd., Suite T, Schaumburg, IL 60173.
Complaints
You may file a complaint with us and with the Secretary
of DHHS if you believe that your privacy rights have been violated. You
may submit your complaint in writing by mail to our privacy officer, Dr.
Joy A. Lockner, at 1305 Remington Rd., Suite T, Schaumburg, IL 60173.
A complaint must name the entity that is the subject of the complaint and
describe the acts or omissions believed to be in violation of the applicable
requirements of HIPAA or this Privacy Policy. A complaint must be received
by us or filed with the Secretary of DHHS within 180 days of when
you knew or should have known that the act or omission complained of occurred.
You will not be retaliated against for filing any complaint.
Amendments to this Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to revise or amend this Privacy Policy
at any time. These revisions or amendments may be made effective for all
personal health information we maintain even if created or received prior
to the effective date of the revision or amendment. We will provide you
with notice of any revisions or amendments to this Privacy Policy, or changes
in the law affecting this Privacy Notice, by mail or electronically within
60 days of the effective date of such revision, amendment, or change.
On-going Access to Privacy Policy
We will provide you with a copy of the most recent version
of this Privacy Policy at any time upon your written request sent to:
Dr. Joy A. Lockner, 1305 Remington Rd., Suite T, Schaumburg,
IL 60173 or at the following website address: DrJoyLockner.com.
For any other requests or for further information regarding the privacy
of your personal health information, and for information regarding the
filing of a complaint with us, please contact our privacy officer, Dr.
Joy A. Lockner, at the address listed above or by telephone at (847)
686-0023.
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