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
This notice describes the practice of Bristol Anesthesia Services, P.C. and that of:
• Any physician or health care professional > Participants
in affiliated health care education authorized to enter or access information
in programs your medical record > All employees and associated health care
• All departments and units of this facility personnel.
• Any member of a volunteer group we allow to > Any affiliate engaged
in the provision of health help you while you are receiving our services care
services on behalf of this facility
(In addition, these parties may share medical information with each other
for health care services, payment or health care operations purposes described
in this notice.)
OUR PLEDGE REGARDING MEDICAL INFORMATION:
We understand that medical information about you and your health is personal. We are committed to protecting medical information about you. To provide you with quality care and to comply with certain legal requirements, we create a record of the care and services you receive. This notice applies to all of the medical records of your care generated at or received by our facility.
WE ARE REQUIRED BY LAW TO:
• Make sure that medical information that identifies you
is kept private.
• Give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with
respect to medical information about you; and
• Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.
HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU:
The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose medical information. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed.
For Health care services. We may use medical information about you to provide you with medical health care services. We may disclose medical information about you to physicians, nurses, social workers, technicians, medical students, and/or students participating in health care education, or other health care personnel who are involved in taking care of you during your need for health care services. Our different departments also may share medical information about you in order to coordinate the different things you need, such as prescriptions, lab work and x-rays. In order to coordinate and continue your care we may also disclose medical information about you to external entities who may be involved in your medical care after you leave our facility. Services you receive from us may be billed to and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company or a third party. We may also tell your health plan about health care services you are going to receive to obtain prior approval or to differentiate whether your plan will cover the health care services.
• For Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose medical information about you for health care operations. For example, we may use medical information to review our health care services and to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you. We may use and disclose medical information to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for health care services or medical care.
• Business Associates. Some services, such as interpreting radiology or other tests, are contracted through external business associates. When this is necessary, we will require them to appropriately safeguard any information disclosed to them during the performance of their service.
• Health-Related Benefits and Services. We may use and disclose medical information to tell you about possible health care services, health-related benefits, or services that may be of interest to you.
• Notification & Communication with Family. Using professional judgment, we may contact or assist in contacting a family member, personal representative or other person responsible for your care to advise them of your location and general condition. Depending on that person's involvement in your care or payment related to your care, additional information may be disclosed as deemed necessary.
• Research. Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose medical information about you for research purposes. All research projects, however, are subject to a special approval process. This process evaluates a proposed research project and its use of medical information, trying to balance the research needs with patients' need for privacy of their medical information.
• As Required By Law. We will disclose medical information about you when required to do so by federal, state or local law or in response to a valid subpoena.
To Avert a Serious Threat to Health, or Safety. We may use and disclose medical information about you when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person. Any disclosure, however, would only be to someone able to help prevent the threat.
SPECIAL SITUATIONS:
• Organ and Tissue Donation. If you are an organ donor, we may release medical information to organizations to handle organ procurement or organ, eye or tissue transplantation or to an organ donation bank, as necessary to facilitate organ or tissue donation and transplantation.
• News Media. Sometimes, the circumstances that brought you to the facility are of interest to the media. All facilities use the terms: good, fair, serious, or critical, to indicate a patient's condition without sharing specific medical information.
• Military and Veterans. If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release medical information about you as required by military command authorities. We may also release medical information about foreign military authority.• Workers' Compensation. We may release medical information about you for workers' compensation or similar programs. These programs provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness.
• Public Health Risks. We may disclose medical information about you for public health activities. These activities generally include the following:
