Privacy

A. Treatment, Payment, Health Care Operations: You should be aware that during the course of our relationship with you we will likely use and disclose health information about you for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. Examples of these activities are as follows:

Treatment: We may use or disclose your health information to a physician or other healthcare provider providing treatment to you.

Payment: We may use and disclose your health information to obtain payment for services we provide to you.

Healthcare Operations: We may use and disclose your health information in connection with our healthcare operations. Healthcare operations include quality assessment and improvement activities, reviewing the competence or qualifications of healthcare professionals, evaluating practitioner and provider performance, and other business operations.

B. Authorizations: You may specifically authorize us to use your health information for any purpose or to disclose your health information to anyone, by submitting such an authorization in writing. Upon receiving an authorization from you in writing we may use or disclose your health information in accordance with that authorization. You may revoke an authorization at any time by notifying us in writing. Your revocation will not affect any use or disclosures permitted by your authorization while it was in effect. Unless you give us a written authorization, we cannot use or disclose your health information for any reason except those permitted by this Notice.

C. Disclosures to Family and Personal Representatives: We must disclose your health information to you, as described in the Patient Rights section of this Notice. Such disclosures will be made to any of your personal representatives appropriately authorized to have access and control of your health information. We may disclose your health information to a family member, friend or other person to the extent necessary to help with your healthcare or with payment for your healthcare only if authorized to do so. In the event of your incapacity or in emergency circumstances, we will disclose health information based on a determination using our professional judgment disclosing only health information that is directly relevant to the person’s involvement in your healthcare.

D. Marketing: We will not use your health information for marketing communications without your written authorization.

E. Uses or Disclosures Required by Law: We may use or disclose your health information when we are required to do so by law, including for public health reasons (e.g., disease reporting). In some instances, and in accordance with applicable law, we may be required to disclose your health information to appropriate authorities if we reasonably believe that you are a possible victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence or the possible victim of other crimes.

F. Patient and Third-Party Protection: Only as permitted by law, we may disclose your health information to the extent necessary to avert a serious threat to your health or safety or the health or safety of others.

G. Law Enforcement/National Security: Under certain circumstances we may disclose health information relating to members of the Armed Forces to military authorities. Under certain circumstances we may also disclose health information relating to inmates or patients to correctional institutions or law enforcement personnel having lawful custody of those individuals. We may disclose health information in response to judicial proceedings and law enforcement inquiries as permitted by law and to authorized federal officials health information required for lawful intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities.

H. Appointment Reminders: We may use or disclose your health information to provide you with appointment reminders (such as voicemail messages, postcards, or letters).