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Keil’s
Pharmacy, Inc.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
Updated July 20, 2007
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.
Understanding Your Health Record/
Information
Each time you
visit our Pharmacy and purchase a product, or one of your physician’s contacts
us concerning your prescription needs or history, a record is made of this
encounter. Typically, this record contains medical information from your
referring physician, a prescription history, as well as other information you
provide to us. In this “Notice of Health Information Practices,” we shall refer
to the information contained in your record as your “health information,” which
term shall have the same meaning as “protected health information,” defined in
the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended (“HIPAA”).
Your Health Information Rights
Within the
limits provided by federal and state law, you have the right to:
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Request restrictions on certain uses and
disclosures of your health information;
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Receive confidential communications of
your health information. You may request that we communicate with you about
your health information by alternative means or at an alternative location;
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Inspect and obtain a copy of your health
information, except with regard to psychotherapy notes or information
compiled in reasonable anticipation of certain civil, criminal or
administrative proceedings;
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Request an amendment to your health
information that we have created, except with regard to those portions of
your health information that you are precluded from inspecting and copying
as set forth above;
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Obtain an accounting of certain
disclosures of your health information; and
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Receive a paper copy of this Notice in
addition to any electronic copy you may receive.
You may
exercise any of the above rights by submitting a written signed letter,
detailing your request and mailing or delivering the letter to our Pharmacy.
However, we encourage you to call first so that we can help you be as specific
as possible with your request. We will promptly provide you with any forms that
need to be completed to process your request.
Our Responsibilities
This Pharmacy is
required by law to:
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Maintain the privacy of your health
information;
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Provide you with this Notice of our legal
duties and privacy practices with respect to health information we collect
and maintain about you;
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Abide by the terms of this Notice,
currently in effect, and as amended from time to time;
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Notify you if we are unable to honor your
request to restrict a use or disclosure of, or to amend, your health
information; and
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Accommodate reasonable requests you may
have to communicate your health information by alternative means or at
alternative locations.
We reserve the
right to change our privacy practices and to make the new provisions effective
for all of your health information we already have, as well as any health
information we receive or create in the future. Should our privacy practices
change, we will post a copy of the revised Notice in our Pharmacy, which
indicates the effective date of the amended Notice. You may request and obtain a
copy of our Notice of Privacy Practices anytime you visit our office. If a use
or disclosure of your health information is not permitted under law without a
written authorization, we will not use or disclose your health information
without that written authorization. You may at any time revoke a written
authorization in writing, except to the extent that we have already taken action
in reliance of your authorization.
For More Information or to Report a
Problem
If you have
questions and would like additional information concerning this Notice, please
speak with the Privacy Security Officer for this location, Stuart Keil at call
973-744-2113.
If you believe
that we have violated any of your privacy rights, you may file a written
complaint with our owner Stuart Keil, Keil’s Pharmacy, Inc. 732 Valley Rd.
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043. The complaint should be filed in writing and should
include the name of the entity that is subject of the complaint, specific acts
or omissions you believe to be violations of your privacy rights or protections,
the date(s) or timeframe in which the violations occurred, and the person(s)
whose privacy rights or protections were violated. You must file complaints no
later than 90 days after the alleged privacy violation occurred. You may also
file your complaint with the Secretary of Health and Human Services. There will
be no penalty or retaliation for filing a complaint.
Examples of Uses and Disclosures for
Treatment, Payment and Health Operations
The following
are examples of uses and disclosures of your health information which are
permitted by law:
We will use
your health information for treatment.
Health information obtained by our staff from you or one of your health care
providers may be recorded in our medical records. We may use this information
for many treatment reasons, including, but not limited to, verifying the
accuracy of prescriptions being filled, and to help you avoid known drug
allergies and adverse drug interactions. Any of your prescriptions filled in our
Pharmacy, or purchases made at our Pharmacy, will be recorded. We may also
provide your health information to other health care providers involved in your
care to assist them on providing services to you.
We will use
your health information for payment.
Your health plan or health insurer may require certain information about your
condition and/or the prescriptions you fill with us, before payment will be
made, or for pre-authorization purposes. Accordingly, for billing purposes, we
may disclose your health information to your health plan or health insurer.
We will use
your health information for regular health care operations.
Members of our staff may review health information in your record in order 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 our services.
Additional Uses and Disclosures
Business
Associates: Certain of our business
operations may be performed by other businesses. We refer to these companies as
“business associates.” In order for these business associates to perform the
required service (billing, accounting services, etc.), we may need to disclose
your health information to them so that they can perform the job we’ve asked
them to do. To protect you, we require our business associates to appropriately
safeguard your health information.
Communication
with Persons Involved in Your Care:
We may disclose your health information that is directly relevant to your care
to individuals you wish to receive such information, including family members,
relatives, close personal friends, or other persons you identify. Before we do
so, we will ask you, and follow your instructions, as to whether or not to make
such disclosures. If you are incapacitated, or involved in an emergency, we may
use or make disclosures of your health information that we believe in our
professional judgment are in your best interests, but only to the extent that
such health information is directly relevant to the recipients’ involvement in
your care.
Required by
Law: We may use or disclose your
health information to the extent such use or disclosure is required by law and
is limited to the relevant requirements of such law.
Public
Health, Health Oversight and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA):
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 also be required by law to disclose your health information
to health oversight agencies responsible for regulating the health care system,
government benefit programs, and civil rights laws so that they may conduct,
among other things, audits, investigations, and inspections. For the purpose of
activities relating to the quality, safety or effectiveness of a FDA-regulated
product or activity, we may disclose to the FDA your health information relating
to adverse events with drugs, supplements, and other products, as well as
information needed to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacements.
Victims of
Abuse, Neglect or Domestic Violence:
If we reasonably believe that you are the victim of abuse, neglect or domestic
violence, we may disclose your health information to a governmental authority
responsible for receiving these types of reports, to the extent the disclosure
is required by law, or you agree to the disclosure. If the disclosure is
authorized by law, but not required, we may disclose your information if we
determine that disclosure is necessary to prevent serious harm to you or others.
Judicial and
Administrative Proceedings: If you
are involved in a judicial or administrative proceeding, we may, in response to
an order of a court or administrative tribunal, or in response to a subpoena,
discovery request, or other lawful process, disclose the specific portions of
your health information that are requested. If the subpoena, discovery request
or other lawful process is not accompanied by a court or administrative tribunal
order, we may disclose your health information only after we are assured that
reasonable efforts have been made to notify you of the request, and the time for
you to raise objections to the request has expired, or reasonable efforts have
been made by the requestor to seek a protective order concerning the requested
health information.
Law
Enforcement: We may disclose your
health information to a law enforcement official for law enforcement purposes as
required by law, a court ordered subpoena or summons, a grand jury subpoena or
summons, or an administrative subpoena or summons, under certain circumstances.
In specific
situations, the law also permits us to disclose limited pieces of your health
information, when the information is needed by law enforcement officials to: 1)
identify a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person; 2) identify a
victim of a crime; 3) alert law enforcement officials concerning your death; 4)
notify law enforcement officials when a crime has been committed on our
premises; or 5) in an emergency, when necessary to alert law enforcement
officials about a crime, its location, or the identity of a perpetrator.
Coroners,
Medical Examiners and Funeral Directors: We may disclose your health information to a coroner or medical
examiner for the purpose of identifying you upon your passing, or to determine a
cause of death. We may also disclose your health information to your funeral
director if needed to complete his or her authorized duties.
Organ, Eye or
Tissue Donation: If you are an
organ, eye or tissue donor, we may release your health information to
organizations that procure, bank or transplant organs for the purpose of
facilitating organ, eye or tissue donation and transplantation.
Research:
We may disclose your health information to researchers when their research has
been approved by an institutional review board or privacy board that has
reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy
of your health information, thereby meeting the requirements under HIPAA. We
may also disclose your health information for the purposes of research, public
health or health care operations pursuant to a Data Use Agreement protecting
that information as specified by HIPAA.
Avert a
Serious Threat to Health or Safety:
Consistent with applicable law and standards of ethical conduct, we may, in
limited circumstances, use or disclose your health information if we, in good
faith, believe such use or disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a
serious and imminent threat to health or safety of a person or the public.
Military
Personnel: If you are a member of
the United States Armed Services, we may disclose your health information to the
appropriate military command authority when such information is deemed necessary
to assure the proper execution of the military mission. [Note – Additional
disclosures are required if you are a part of the Departments of Defense,
Transportation, Veterans Affairs, or State.]
National
Security and Presidential Protective Services:
We may disclose your health information to authorized federal officials for the
conduct of lawful intelligence and national security activities, as well as the
provision of protective services to the President and other protected
individuals.
Inmates and
Individuals in Custody: If you are
an inmate or otherwise in custody, we may disclose your health information to
the correctional facility or law enforcement official having lawful custody of
you.
Workers’
Compensation: We may disclose your
health information to the extent authorized and necessary to comply with laws
relating to workers’ compensation or other similar programs established by law.
Appointment
Reminders and Information on Treatment Alternatives:
We may contact you to provide appointment reminders or information about
prescription alternatives or other health-related benefits, alternatives and
services that may be of interest to you.
Fund Raising:
We may conduct fund raising efforts for our office, a business associate or an
intuitional related foundation. We may use your contact and demographic
information, as well as dates of service, for this purpose. Use of any other
protected Healthcare Information (PHI) requires you to “opt in” via a special
authorization.
Our Pledge:
We will endeavor to protect the privacy of your health information. If you have
any questions, comments, or concerns regarding the policies set forth above,
please do not hesitate to discuss such matters with one of our Pharmacists.
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