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 of Privacy Practices applies to the Health Care Components of HER CHOICE WOMEN’S CLINIC.
HER CHOICE WOMEN’S CLINIC is required by law to maintain the privacy of your health information. In fact, we are committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of your healthcare information in accordance with the Privacy and Security Rules of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). We maintain policies and procedures to protect your health information, and our employees receive training on how to protect your health information.
HER CHOICE WOMEN’S CLINIC is required to provide you with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your health information. This Notice of Privacy Practices describes our legal duties and how HER CHOICE WOMEN’S CLINIC may use or disclose your protected health information (PHI) in order to provide clinical services to you, to facilitate payment of the clinical services provided to you, and to support the healthcare operations of our clinical diagnostic laboratories. We also describe your rights and certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of your PHI. We must follow the terms of this Notice currently in effect. We must also notify you following a breach of unsecured PHI as described in more detail below.
Protected Health Information (PHI)
Protected Health Information or “PHI” includes your demographic information such as name, address, telephone number, social security number, birth date and gender. PHI also includes information regarding your health, illnesses and injuries, and information about the medical services provided to you. HER CHOICE WOMEN’S CLINIC obtains your PHI from you and your physician, health plan, and other sources when you order clinical diagnostic tests or receive other healthcare services from HER CHOICE WOMEN’S CLINIC.
HER CHOICE WOMEN’S CLINIC is committed to protecting the confidentiality of every individual’s laboratory test results and other patient PHI. To ensure protection of PHI, HER CHOICE WOMEN’S CLINIC has implemented policies and procedures to:
- comply with federal, state and local laws and regulations regarding the use and disclosure of such PHI
- protect confidentiality and integrity of PHI we collect, create or exchange as part of our diagnostic testing services
- prevent inappropriate access to or disclosure of such information
Uses and disclosure of PHI
HER CHOICE WOMEN’S CLINIC may use or disclose PHI for treatment, payment or healthcare operation purposes and for other purposes permitted or required by law.
Note regarding state law
For all of the above purposes, when state law is more restrictive than federal law, we are required to follow the more restrictive state law.
Uses and disclosures of PHI that require written authorization
Uses and disclosures of PHI other than those listed above will be made only with your written authorization, unless otherwise permitted or required by law. For example, we must receive your authorization for any use or disclosure of your PHI that constitutes a sale of PHI. You may revoke your written authorization, at any time in writing, except to the extent we have already taken action in reliance on the authorization.
You have the following rights with respect to your PHI:
Right to access and receive copies of your PHI:
Subject to certain exceptions, you have the right to request and receive a copy of your healthcare records we maintain. You have the right to receive a copy of your PHI in electronic format, if we maintain your PHI in an electronic format and we can readily produce a readable electronic copy. We may ask you to make your request for a copy of your records in writing and to provide us with the specific information we need to fulfill your request. We reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee for the cost of producing and mailing the copies of such information.
Right to amend your PHI:
If you believe that your medical information is incorrect or incomplete, you have the right to ask us to amend your PHI. All requests for amendment must be in writing. In certain cases, we may deny your request. For example, we may deny a request if we did not create the information, or if we believe the current information is correct. All denials will be made in writing.
Right to request confidential communications:
You have the right to request, and we must accommodate reasonable requests by you, to receive “confidential communications” of PHI. This means that you can request that we send your PHI to you by alternative means or at alternative locations. All requests for confidential communications must be in writing.
Right to request restrictions on uses and disclosures of your PHI:
You have the right to request a restriction on the way we use or disclose your PHI for treatment, payment or healthcare operations. In most cases, we are not required to agree to a requested restriction. If we do agree to a restriction, we may not use or disclose your PHI in violation of the restriction, unless otherwise required by law or an emergency when the information is necessary to treat you. If you request that we not provide PHI to your health insurer for purposes of carrying out payment or healthcare operations, we are required to agree to that restriction if you have paid in full for the service provided. All requests for reasonable restrictions must be in writing.
Right to receive Notice of Privacy Practices:
You have a right to receive a paper copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices upon request at any time by contacting our Privacy Officer.
Right to breach notification:
You have the right to receive notice of any breach of your unsecured PHI. Generally, a breach occurs if an unauthorized acquisition, access, use or disclosure of PHI compromises the security or privacy of the PHI.
How to obtain information about this Notice or complain about our privacy practices
To request a copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices at any time, or obtain additional information about this notice, you may contact:
Her Choice Women’s Clinic
1155 W. Central Ave, Suite 214
Santa Ana, CA 92707