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. If you have any questions about this notice or matters covered by this notice, please contact our Privacy Compliance Officer at 1.877.902.9726 ext. 62016
About This Notice
Byram Healthcare Centers, Inc., is required by law maintain the privacy of your health information, to provide you with a notice of its legal duties and privacy practices, and to follow the information practices that are described in this notice. This notice explains how your health information may be used and disclosed and your rights related to your health information. You have a right to re- quest and receive a paper copy of this notice. Byram Healthcare Centers, Inc. will not use or disclose your health information except as described in this notice and as permitted under the law. This notice applies to all the health information about you that is obtained by or on behalf of Byram Healthcare Centers, Inc. Health information is information that relates to your past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition, the provision of health care products and services to you or payment for such services. We will notify you of any breach involving your health information in accordance with applicable law.
Understanding Your Health Record and Personal Health Information
Each time you, or someone else on your behalf, orders supplies from us and we submit a claim for payment, a medical record is made. Typically, this record contains a list of your supplies, a prescription for your supplies, and your name, address, phone number, date of birth, social security number, insurance information, evaluations, test results, diagnoses, and prognoses.
This information, often referred to as your health or medical record, serves as a:
Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used, helps you to:
Examples of Disclosures for Treatment, Payment and Health Operations
The following categories describe the ways we may use and disclose your health information, except where prohibited by federal or state laws that require special privacy protections.
Treatment
We may use health information about you to provide you with medical treatment or services. We may disclose health information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, office staff, or other personnel who are involved in your care or health care decisions.
For example: Information provided by your physician or other member of your health care team will be recorded in your record and used to determine the supplies or services that should work best for you. We may provide your physician or a subsequent health care provider with copies of health information that should assist him or her in making decisions regarding your care. We routinely make out-bound calls to coordinate the health care services we provide to you. We may contact you to verify your order, to inform you of any issues relating to your order or services requested, confirm receipt & delivery of supplies, to remind you of the need to re-order supplies, and communicate potential product recalls.
Payment
We may use and disclose health information about you so that the treatment and services we provide to you may be billed to and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company or a third party.
For example: A bill may be sent to you or a third party payer. The bill may include information that identifies you, your diagnosis, procedures, and supplies used.
We may also disclose your health information to other health care providers or HIPAA covered entities who may need it for their payment activities.
Health care operations We may also disclose your health information to other HIPAA covered entities that have provided services to you so that they can improve the quality and effectiveness of the health care services that they provide. We may use your health information to create de-identified data, which is stripped of your identifiable data and no longer identifies you.
Other Uses and Disclosures
We also may use and disclose your health information without your prior authorization for the following purposes:
Special Authorizations
There are federal and state laws that provide special protection for certain kinds of personal health information, such as information about sexually transmitted and other communicable diseases, drug and alcohol abuse, and certain mental health services. These laws may further restrict us from making uses and disclosures of those categories of health information and we will abide by those more protective laws to the extent they are applicable.
Your Rights
You have individual rights over the use and disclosure of your personal health information, including the rights listed below. You may exercise any of these rights by submitting your request in writing. Please contact your Customer Service Center (for the address and phone number of the Center nearest you please call 1-877-902- 9726) to obtain the applicable request form. We will evaluate each request and communicate to you in writing whether or not we can honor the request. We may also charge a reasonable fee for costs associated with your request to the extent permitted by law. We will notify in advance of the cost, and you may withdraw your request before you incur any cost.
Restrict use
You may request, in writing, restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your information. We will consider but are not legally required to accept most requests. After careful review of your request, we will notify you of our determination in writing. We must accept your request only if the restricted disclosure is to a health plan for the purpose of carrying out payment or health care operations, disclosure of such information is not required by law, and the restricted information pertains to an item or service for which you paid in full out-of-pocket.
Receive confidential communications
You have the right to receive confidential communications by alternative means or at alternative locations. This includes an alternative mailing address, e-mail ad- dress, or telephone number, including via text message. Certain types of alternate communications, such as over the Internet, via email, or text message, are generally not encrypted and are inherently insecure. There are no assurances of confidentiality of health information when you elect to receive communication in this matter. There are certain types of sensitive health information we may choose to not send you via email or text, even if we agree to communicate with you via email or text message.
Inspect and copy
With a few exceptions, you have the right to access and obtain a copy of the health information that we maintain about you. If we maintain an electronic health record containing your health information, you have the right to obtain the health information in an electronic format. You may ask us to send a copy of your health information to other individuals or entities that you designate. We may deny your request to inspect and copy in certain limited circumstances. If you are denied access to your health information, you may request that the denial be reviewed in most cases.
Receive Notice of a Breach
You have the right to be notified upon a breach of any of your unsecured PHI.
Request amendments
You have the right to request in writing that we correct information in your record that you believe is incorrect or add information that you believe is missing.
Know about disclosures
You have the right to an accounting of instances where we have disclosed your health information for certain purposes other than for treatment, payment, health care operations, or other exceptions. Your request must be made in writing and may be for disclosures made up to 6 years before the date of your request.
File complaints
If you are concerned that we have violated your privacy or disagree with a decision we made about access to your record, you may file a written complaint with our Privacy Officer at the address below:
Byram Healthcare
Attn: Privacy Compliance Officer 120 Bloomingdale Rd Ste 301 White Plains, NY 10605
For more information on how to file a written complaint, call our Privacy Compliance Officer at 1-877-902-9726 ext. 62016 or e-mail: jgiandur@byramhealthcare.com.
You also may file a written complaint to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. See www.hhs.gov/hipaa/index.html for information on how to file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights. You will not be penalized nor retaliated against if you file a complain.
Changes to this Notice
This notice is effective as of October 6, 2017. We may change the terms of our notice at any time. The new notice will be effective for all personal health information that we maintain. The revised notice will be posted at our places of service and on our Web site at www.byramhealthcare.com. You may request a copy of the current notice at any time by calling our Privacy Officer at 877-902-9726 ext. 62016