Please review it carefully.
Uses and disclosures to carry out treatment, payment, and health care operations
Treatment
This practice may use or disclose your protected health information in consultation between health care providers relating to your treatment or for your referral to another health care provider for your treatment.
Payment
This practice may use or disclose your protected health information for billing, claims management, collection activities, or obtaining payment.
Health care Operation
This practice may use or disclose your protected health information for reviewing the competence or qualifications of health care professionals, or for conducting training programs in which students, trainees, or practitioners participate.
This practice may use or disclose your protected health information for accreditation, certification, licensing, or credentialing activities.
This practice may use or disclosure your protected health information to our business associates who participate in our healthcare operations. These disclosures will only be made after we have satisfactory assurances in the form of a Business Associates Agreement from the business associate. These assurances will include their agreement to comply with the HIPAA rules and the compliance of any subcontractor with which they do business.
This practice may contact you for our own fundraising activities. If you do not want to receive fundraising communication, you may opt-out at any time. If you opt-out you will receive no further fundraising communications.
Authorized Uses or Disclosures: The following uses or disclosures require a valid authorization as defined by the HIPAA standards.
Uses or Disclosures for Psychotherapy Notes
Not applicable to this practice
Uses or Disclosures for Marketing Purposes
Not applicable to this practice
Disclosures for a Sale of Protected Health Information
This practice will require an authorization for any disclosures that would constitute a sale of protected health information.
For any other use or disclosure you wish us to make, you can give us a written, valid authorization. Your authorization must have specific instructions for the use and disclosure you want us to make. You will have the right to revoke the authorization in writing at any time before the information is used or disclosed.
Uses or disclosures requiring an opportunity for the individual to agree or object
Uses and disclosures for which an authorization or opportunity to agree or object is not required
The following uses or disclosures do not require an authorization or the opportunity for you to agree or object.
Uses and disclosures required by law
This practice may use or disclose protected health information to the extent required by law. The use or disclosure will comply with and be limited to the relevant requirements of such law.
Uses and disclosures for public health activities
This practice may use or disclose protected health information for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability, including, but not limited to, the reporting of disease, injury, and vital events such as birth or death.
Disclosures about victims of abuse, neglect or domestic violence
This practice may disclose protected health information about an individual whom this practice reasonably believes to be a victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.
Uses and disclosures for health oversight activities
This practice may disclose protected health information to a health oversight agency for oversight activities authorized by law, including audits, civil, administrative, or criminal investigations, inspections, licensure, or disciplinary actions.
Disclosures for judicial and administrative proceedings
This practice may, in response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal, provide only the protected health information expressly authorized by such order or a subpoena.
Disclosures for law enforcement purposes
This practice may disclose protected health information as required by law including laws that require the reporting of certain types of wounds or other physical injuries.
Uses and disclosures about decedents
This practice may disclose protected health information to a coroner or medical examiner for the purpose of identifying a deceased person, determining a cause of death, or other duties as authorized by law. We may disclose protected health information to a funeral director, as authorized by law, to carry out their duties. This disclosure will be made in reasonable anticipation of death.
Uses and disclosures for cadaveric organ, eye or tissue donation purposes
This practice may use or disclose protected health information to organ procurement organizations or other entities engaged in the procurement, banking, or transplantation of cadaveric organs, eyes, or tissue for the purpose of facilitating organ, eye or tissue donation and transplantation.
Uses and disclosures for research purposes
This practice may use or disclose protected health information for research, when the research has been approved by an institutional review board or privacy board, to protect your protected health information.
Uses and disclosures to avert a serious threat to health or safety
This practice may, consistent with applicable law and standards of ethical conduct, use or disclose protected health information, in good faith, if we believe the use or disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public.
Uses and disclosures for specialized government
This practice may use and disclose the protected health information of individuals who are Armed Forces personnel for activities deemed necessary by appropriate military command authorities to assure the proper execution of the military mission, if the appropriate military authority has published by notice in the Federal Register.
Disclosures for workers’ compensation
This practice may disclose protected health information as authorized by and to the extent necessary, to comply with laws relating to workers’ compensation or other similar programs, established by law, that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness without regard to fault.
Patient rights under HIPAA
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.
We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of your medical information. This Notice describes how we may use and disclose your Protected Health Information (PHI) and your rights regarding that information.
OUR LEGAL DUTY
We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your Protected Health Information and provide you with this Notice describing our legal duties and privacy practices. We are required to follow the terms of the Notice currently in effect.
HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION
1. Treatment
We may use or disclose your health information to provide, coordinate, or manage your physical therapy care.
Examples include:
- Sharing information with physicians or other healthcare providers involved in your care
- Documenting therapy visits and clinical progress
- Coordinating care with other medical providers
AI-Assisted Clinical Documentation
Our practice may use AI-assisted ambient listening technology to assist clinicians in documenting patient encounters.
This technology may:
- Listen to conversations during therapy sessions
- Convert speech to text
- Generate draft clinical documentation for therapist review
Important safeguards include:
- The therapist reviews and approves all documentation.
- The technology is used only to assist documentation.
- Audio may be temporarily processed to generate notes.
- The AI vendor is required to comply with HIPAA and maintain a Business Associate Agreement (BAA).
Your information processed by this technology is protected under HIPAA and handled using industry-standard security safeguards.
2. Payment
We may use and disclose your PHI to obtain payment for services provided.
Examples include:
- Billing your insurance company
- Determining eligibility or coverage
- Obtaining prior authorization for therapy services
3. Healthcare Operations
We may use your information to operate our practice, including quality improvement activities, staff training, education, compliance and auditing, and practice management.
OTHER PERMITTED OR REQUIRED USES AND DISCLOSURES
- Public health activities
- Health oversight activities
- Law enforcement requests
- Judicial or administrative proceedings
- Specialized government
- Workers’ compensation claims
- To avert serious threats to health or safety
- Victims of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
- Decedents (deceased individuals)
BUSINESS ASSOCIATES
We may share your information with third-party service providers who perform services on our behalf (called Business Associates), such as electronic health record providers, billing companies, AI documentation technology vendors, and IT or cloud storage providers. These providers are required to protect your information under HIPAA and contractual agreements.
YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION
This practice requires that all requests for the various rights be made in writing and we will provide our decision on your request in writing. You should be aware that there may be some situations when there could be limitations placed on your rights. We are required to permit you to request these rights, but we are not required to agree to your request.
- Access Your Records – Request a copy of your medical records.
- Others’ Access to Your Records – Permit access or object to disclosure to others.
- Request Amendments – Ask us to correct information you believe is incorrect.
- Request Restrictions – Request limits on certain uses or disclosures.
- Request Confidential Communications – Ask us to contact you in a specific way.
- Receive an Accounting of Disclosures – Request a list of certain disclosures.
- Receive a Paper Copy of This Notice – You may request a paper copy at any time.
BREACH NOTIFICATION
If a breach of your unsecured protected health information occurs, we will notify you as required by law.
CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE
We reserve the right to change this Notice and make the new provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain. The current version will be available in our office and on our website if applicable.
COMPLAINTS
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
CONTACT INFORMATION
HIPAA Privacy Officer: Kelly Mest
983A East Lancaster Avenue
Downingtown, PA 19335-3184
Phone: (610) 594-2060
Copy of this notice
You have a right to a copy of this notice. Even if you agreed to receive an electronic copy, you may request and receive a paper copy or you can CLICK HERE to download a copy of this notice.
Our Duties
This practice is required to abide by the terms of the notice currently in effect.
This practice is required to notify you of any change in a privacy practice that is described in the notice to protected health information that we created or received prior to issuing a revised notice. We reserve the right to change the terms of our notice and to make the new notice provisions effective for all protected health information that we maintain. Revised Notices will be available and posted at our offices(s) and posted on our web site, if applicable.
Complaints
If at any time you feel we have violated your HIPAA rights, please contact our Privacy Officer or the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This practice will not retaliate against any individual for filing a complaint.
You have the right to file a complaint with our Privacy Officer at the address and phone number below, or with the Office of Civil Rights, US Department of Health and Human Services, and 61 Forsyth St., SW, Suite 3B70, Atlanta, GA 30323.
Precision Rehabilitation HIPAA Privacy Officer:
Kelly Mest
337-993-2766
3524 Kaliste Saloom Road, Suite 205
Lafayette, LA 70508-7638
Effective Date of the Notice is July 12, 2019