privacy notice

American Hyperbaric Center                                                                                             

2710 Wesleyan Drive, Suite 201

Anchorage, Alaska 99508                                                                 Effective Date: April 14, 2003

NOTICE OF PRIVACY INFORMATION PRACTICES 

American Hyperbaric Center, a division of American Marine Services Group, has always been committed

To protecting your privacy, but state and federal laws and regulations require us to formally adopt policies and notify you of them.  Our policies cover all of your health information that we create or maintain, and any information we receive from other health care providers or facilities. 

We will abide by the policies described in this Notice, but we may make changes as required by law.  If we do make changes, those changes will apply to all information currently in our possession, and any that we may create or receive in the future.  We will post a copy of the current Notice in our patient waiting area.  These policies and this Notice cover any health care professional authorized to enter information into your medical record maintained at our clinic, including all employees, students, residents, and other service providers who have access to your health information at our office. 

1.       Treatment,  Payment and Health Care Operations.  

We will only disclose your health information for treatment payment and health care operations purposes. The following are examples. 

a.         Treatment.   To provide you with health care.  We may disclose your health information to doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, medication aides, technicians, medical and nursing students, rehabilitation specialists, or other people involved in your health care.  For example, if you need physical therapy services, we will talk with the physical therapist to coordinate services, or, if we were to refer you to another health care provider, we would share information to coordinate your care. 

b.         Payment.   We will use or disclose your health information to bill and receive payment from you, an insurance company, or another third party.  We may disclose health

            information to your health plan to obtain prior approval for services or coverage, including referring you to a specialist, or to perform a diagnostic test.

c.         Health Care Operations.   We will use or disclose your health information for administrative, educational, quality assurance or business practice purposes.  For example, we may use your health information to evaluate our staff’s level of care, or to evaluate whether certain treatment is effective.  We may disclose your health information to physicians, nurse, technicians, or health profession students for educational purposes.

We may use or disclose your health information in certain special situations, including those described in Section D of this Notice.

 1.         Appointment Reminders.  To remind you of an appointment with us.

 2.         Treatment Alternatives and Health-Related Products and Services.  To inform you of treatment, products or services of interest to you. For example, if you are diagnosed with a diabetic condition, we may inform you of diabetic instructional classes.

 3.         Facility Directory.  We may use or disclose certain limited health information about you to a facility (like a Hospital) that maintains a directory of patients.  This information may include your name, your religious affiliation, and a general description of your condition.

 4.         Family Members and Friends.  We may disclose certain health information about you to family members and friends involved in or paying for your care when: (a) we have your verbal consent, (b) we make such disclosures and you do not object; or (c) we can infer from the circumstances that you would not object.  For example, if your spouse accompanies you into the exam room, we will assume you agree to disclosure with your spouse present.

 We also may disclose information to family members or friends when you are unable to agree or object to such disclosure, but only if, in our professional medical judgment, the disclosure is in your best interest with regard to your care.  For example, if you are in recovery from anesthesia, we may share information with the person who accompanied you to surgery; or we may share information with a family member or friend who calls us to request a prescription to fill for you. 

We may be required or permitted by law to use or disclose your health information without your permission.  Examples include:

 1.         As Required by Federal, State, or Local Law.   The Federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can require us to disclose your information to determine whether we are adequately protecting your privacy!

 2.         Public Health Activities.   We are required by law to disclose private health information to public health authorities for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability; to report births, deaths, suspected abuse or neglect; reactions to medications, or to facilitate product recalls.

3.         Health Oversight Activities.   We may be required to disclose your health information to a health oversight agency for oversight activities, including audits, investigations, inspections, or licensure and certification surveys.

4.         Judicial or Administrative Proceedings.   We may disclose your health information to courts or administrative agencies that hear and resolve lawsuits or disputes.  These disclosures may follow a court order, a subpoena, a discovery request, or other lawful process issued by a judge or other person involved in the dispute, but in those instances, we will make efforts to (i) notify you of the request for disclosure or (ii) try to obtain an order protecting your health information.

 5.         Worker’s Compensation.   We may be required to disclose your health information to a worker’s compensation program if your health condition may arise from a work-related illness or injury.

 6.         Law Enforcement Official.   We may be required to disclose your health information in response to a request by a law enforcement official; to report criminal activity; or to respond to a subpoena, court order, warrant, summons, or similar process.

 7.         Coroners, Medical Examiners, or Funeral Directors.   We must disclose some of your health information to a coroner or medical examiner for the purpose of identifying a deceased individual or to determine the cause of death.  We also may be required to disclose your health information to a funeral director for the purpose of carrying out his/her necessary activities.

 8.         Organ Procurement Organizations or Tissue Banks.   If you are an organ donor, we may disclose your health information to organizations that handle organ procurement, transplant, or tissue banking for the purpose of facilitating organ or tissue donation or transplant.

 9.         Research.   We may use or disclose your health information for research purposes under certain limited circumstances.  All research projects are subject to a special approval process, and we will not disclose your information until this special approval process has been completed.  We may use or disclose your health information to individuals preparing to conduct the research project but only to assist them in identifying patients who may qualify to participate in the project.  Those disclosures will only be made onsite at our facility and we will first ask your specific permission before the researcher has access to your name, address or other identifying information.

 10.       To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety.   We may use or disclose your health information when necessary to prevent a serious threat to the health or safety of you or other individuals.

 11.       Military and Veterans.   If you are a member of the armed forces, we may disclose your health information as required by military authorities.

 12.       National Security and Intelligence Activities.   We may use or disclose your health information to authorized federal officials for purposes of intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities.

 13.       Inmates.   If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or under custody of a law enforcement official, we may use or disclose your health information to the correctional institution or to the law enforcement official as may be necessary (i) for the institution to provide you with health care; (ii) to protect the health or safety of you or another person; or (iii) for the safety and security of the correctional institution. 

Except for the purposes identified above in Sections B through D, we will not use or disclose your health information unless we have your specific written authorization.  You have the right to revoke your authorization in writing at any time.  If you revoke your authorization, we will no longer use or disclose your health information for the purposes identified in the original authorization. 

 You have the following rights regarding your health information.  You may exercise each of these rights, in writing, by providing us with a completed form that you can obtain from Jim Thompson, our HIPAA Privacy Officer.  He can also tell you if there are cost(s) associated with providing you with the requested information.

 1.         Right to Inspect and Copy.   You have the right to inspect and copy health information that may be used to make decisions about your care.  If we deny your request, you may request that the denial be reviewed.

2.         Right to Amend.   You have the right to request an amendment to your health information that we

maintain.  We may deny your request if it is not properly made or if the information: (a) was not created by us (unless the person or entity that created the information is no longer available to make the amendment); (b) is not part of the information that we keep; (c) is not part of the information which you are permitted to inspect and copy; or (d) is not accurate and complete.

 3.         Right to an Accounting of Disclosures.   You have the right to an accounting of disclosures we make, but this accounting will not include disclosures of health information that we made for purposes of treatment, payment or health care operations, or as a result of a written authorization that you have signed. 

4.         Right to Request Restrictions.   You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the health information we use or disclose about you for the treatment, payment, or health care operations.  You also have the right to request a limit on the health information we disclose about you to someone, such as a family member or friend, who is involved in your care or in the payment of your care.  For example, you could ask that we not use or disclose information regarding a particular treatment that you received.  We are not required to agree to your request.  If we do agree, our agreement must be writing and signed by you and us. 

5.         Right to Request Confidential Communications.   You have the right to request that we communicate with you about your health care in a certain way or at a certain location.  For example, you can ask that we only contact you at work or by mail. 

6.         Right to a Paper Copy of this Notice.   You have the right to receive a paper copy of this Notice. You may ask us to give you a copy of this Notice at any time.

If you have any questions regarding this Notice or want more information about our privacy practices, please contact Jim Thompson.  If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us, or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Our address is 6251 Tuttle Place, Suite 101, Anchorage, Alaska 99518.  All complaints must be submitted in writing.  You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.