Effective Date: April 21, 2024
This Notice of Privacy Practices (“Notice”) describes how shrinkMD, including any of its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively “shrinkMD”, “we”, “our”, or “us”), may use and disclose your protected health information (PHI) to carry out treatment, payment, healthcare operations, and for other purposes that are permitted or required by law. This Notice also outlines your rights regarding your PHI.
How We May Use and Disclose Your Protected Health Information:
For Treatment:
We may use and disclose your PHI to provide, coordinate, or manage your healthcare and any related services. This includes sharing information with other professionals who are treating you or involved in your healthcare. For example, your PHI could be provided to a doctor to whom you have been referred to ensure continuity of care.
For Payment:
Your PHI may be used to seek payment for your healthcare services. This can include billing and collection activities, eligibility determination, and disclosure to an insurance company for their payment or processing of insurance claims.
For Payment Disputes:
We may disclose your Protected Health Information to third parties, such as credit card companies or collections agencies, as necessary to manage payment disputes. This includes providing necessary documentation of services rendered, such as dates of treatment and the nature of the services provided, to substantiate charges billed to your account. This disclosure is crucial to resolve disputes related to billing and payments and is performed in compliance with applicable laws to protect your privacy rights.
For Healthcare Operations:
We may use and disclose PHI in connection with our healthcare operations. These operations include quality assessment and improvement activities, reviewing the competence or qualifications of healthcare professionals, evaluating practitioner and provider performance, and conducting training programs.
Other Uses and Disclosures That Do Not Require Your Authorization:
Public Health and Safety Issues:
Reporting information about diseases or injuries, preventing disease, helping with product recalls, reporting adverse reactions to medications, reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, and preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety.
Judicial and Administrative Proceedings:
Disclosing PHI in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding in response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal, legal processes, or as otherwise required by law. Law Enforcement and As Required by Law: Disclosing PHI to a law enforcement official in response to a lawful request or other legal obligations.
Uses and Disclosures Requiring Your Authorization:
- Marketing purposes.
- Sale of your PHI.
- Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes.
Your Rights:
- Right to Inspect and Copy: You have the right to inspect and copy PHI that may be used to make decisions about your care.
- Right to Amend: If you feel that the PHI we have is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information.
- Right to an Accounting of Disclosures: You have the right to request an accounting of certain disclosures we have made of your PHI.
- Right to Request Restrictions: You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the PHI we use or disclose for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations.
- Right to Request Confidential Communications: You have the right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way or at a certain location.
Changes to this Notice:
We reserve the right to change this notice and make the new notice apply to PHI we already have as well as any information we receive in the future. We will post a current copy of the privacy notice on our website and in our office.
Complaints:
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a formal grievance with the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services. To submit a complaint, you can send a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, call 1-877- 696-6775, or visit their website at www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/. shrinkMD ensures that no retaliation will occur against anyone for filing a complaint.
shrinkMD is committed to adhering to the privacy practices outlined in this Notice, ensuring the confidentiality of your protected health information, and providing notifications to affected individuals in the event of any breach involving unsecured health information. Should you have any inquiries regarding our privacy practices, please contact us via the designated email address provided on our website.
This information fulfills the requirements for 45 CFR 164.520(b).
