Our patient’s privacy is of the utmost importance to us. The Gwinnett Sleep team abides by strict privacy regulations in order to ensure all of our patients feel secure.This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Our commitment to your privacy: Your information is important and confidential. Our ethics and policies require that your information be held in strict confidence.
Gwinnett Pulmonary Group
Notice of Privacy Practices
Effective April 14, 2003
Each time you visit Gwinnett Sleep, a record of your visit is created. Typically, this record contains your symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment and plan for your future care or treatment. This information, often referred to as your health or medical record, serves as a basis for planning your care and treatment; means of communication among health professionals who contribute to your care; legal documents that describe the care you receive; means by which you or a third-party payer can verify that services billed were provided; tools in educating health professionals; source of data for medical research; source of information for public health officials; charges to improve the health and state of the nation; source of data for our planning and marketing and tool by which we can assess and continually work to improve the care and outcomes we render.
Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to:
Ensure its accuracy
Better understand who, what, when, where, and why others may access your health information
Make more informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to others.
Although your health record is the physical property of Gwinnett Sleep/Gwinnett Pulmonary Group, the information belongs to you. You have the right to:
Obtain a paper copy of this notice of privacy policies upon request
Inspect and obtain a copy of your health record as provided by 45 CFR 164.524
(reasonable copies of fees in accordance with state laws)
Amend your health record as provided by 45 CFR 164.522(b)
Request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your information as provided by 45 CFR 164.522(a)
(We are not required by law to agree to a requested restriction)
Maintain the privacy of your health information
Provide this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to information we collect and maintain about you
Abide by the terms of this notice
Notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction
Accommodate reasonable requests about your health information
We reserve the right to change our practices and make new provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain. We will keep a posted copy of the most current notices in our facility containing the effective date in the top, right-hand corner. In addition, each time you visit our facility for treatment, you may obtain a copy of the current notice in effect, upon request. We will not use or disclose your health information in a manner other than described in the section regarding Examples Of Disclosures For Treatment, Payment, And Health Operations, without your written authorization — which you may revoke — as provided by 45 CFR 164.508(b)(5), except to the extent that action has already been taken.
If you have questions or would like additional information, you may contact our Practice Privacy Officer, Nicole Boyles, at (770) 995-0630. If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with Nicole Boyles or the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OCR). There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint.
U.S. Department of Health
& Human Services
Atlanta Federal Center, Suite 3B70 61 Forsyth Street, SW Atlanta, GA 30303-8909
We will use your health information for treatment. We may provide medical information about you to health care providers, our Practice personnel, or third parties who are involved in the provision, management, or coordination of your care. For example, information obtained by a nurse, physician, or other member of your health care team will be documented in your record and utilized to determine the course of treatment that should work best for you. Your medical information will be shared among healthcare professionals involved in your care. We will also provide your other physician(s) or subsequent health care provider(s) (when applicable) copies of various reports that should assist them in treating you.
We will use your health information for payment. We may disclose your information so that we can collect or make payment for the Healthcare services you receive. For example, if you participate in a health insurance plan, we will disclose necessary information to that plan to obtain payment for your care.
We will use your health information for regular operations. We may disclose your health information for our routine operations. These uses are necessary for certain administrative, financial, legal, and quality improvement activities that are necessary to run our practice and support the core functions. For example: Members of the quality improvement team may use information in your health record to assess the care and outcomes in your case and others like it. This information will then be used in an effort to continually improve the quality and effectiveness of healthcare and services we provide reduce healthcare costs.
We may disclose medical information to provide appointment reminders (e.g., contact you at the phone number, email address, etc. you provided our office and leave a messages as an appointment reminder).
Consistent with applicable law, we may disclose health information to a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director.
We may disclose health information to the extent authorized by and necessary to comply with laws relating to workers compensation or other similar programs established by law.
As required by law, we may disclose your health information to public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability.
We may disclose information to researchers when their research has been approved and the researcher has obtained a required waiver from the Institutional Review Board/Privacy Board, who has reviewed the research proposal.
Consistent with applicable law, we may disclose health information to organ procurement organizations or other entities engaged in the procurement, banking, or transplantation of organs for the purpose of donation and transplant.
We may disclose health information as required by law. This may include reporting a crime, responding to a court order, grand jury subpoena, warrant, discovery request, or other legal process, or complying with health oversight activities, such as audits, investigations, and inspections, necessary to ensure compliance with government regulations and civil rights laws.
We may disclose health information for military and veterans affairs or national security and intelligence activities.
There are some services provided in our organization through contacts with business associates. Some examples are billing or transcription services we may use. Due to the nature of business associates’ services, they must receive your health information in order to perform the jobs we’ve asked them to do. To protect your health information, however, when these services are contracted, we require the business associate to appropriately safeguard your information.
We may contact you to provide information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you (for example, to notify you of any new tests or services we may be offering).
We may disclose to the FDA health information relative to adverse events with respect to food, supplements, product and product defects, or post marketing surveillance information to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacement.
We may disclose information to your representative (person legally responsible for your care and authorized to act on your behalf in making decisions related to your healthcare).
We may disclose your information when we believe in good faith that this is necessary to prevent a serious threat to your safety or that of another person. This may include cases of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.
Unless you object, health professionals, using their best judgment, may disclose to a family member or close personal friend health information relevant to that person’s involvement in your care. We may notify these individuals of your location and general condition.
Unless you object, we may disclose health information about you to an organization assisting in a disaster relief effort.
For all non-routine operations, we will obtain your written authorization before disclosing your personal information. In addition, we take great care to safeguard your information in every way that we can to minimize any incidental disclosures.
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