Notice of Privacy Practices
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND SHARED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY
I. Who We Are
This Notice describes the privacy practices of LaboratoryAssist and Assist Health Group Inc.
We will share your health information among ourselves to facilitate your treatment, payment, and health care operations.
II. Our Privacy Obligations
The law requires us to maintain the privacy of certain health information called “Protected Health Information” (“PHI”). Protected Health Information is the information that you provide us or that we create or receive about your health care. The law also requires us to provide you with this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices. When we use or disclose (share) your Protected Health Information, we are required to follow the terms of this Notice or other notice in effect at the time we use or share the PHI. Finally, the law provides you with certain rights described in this Notice.
III. Ways We Can Use and Share Your PHI Without Your Written Permission (Authorization)
In many situations, we can use and share your PHI for activities that are common in many hospitals and clinics. In certain other situations, which we will describe in Section IV below, we must have your written permission (authorization) to use and/or share your PHI. We do not need any type of permission from you for the following uses and disclosures:
A. Uses and Disclosures for Treatment, Payment and Health Care Operations. We may use and share your PHI to provide “Treatment,” obtain “Payment” for your Treatment, and perform our “Health Care Operations.” These three terms are defined as:
- Treatment. We use and share your PHI to provide care and other services to you—for example, to diagnose and treat your illness. In addition, we may contact you to provide appointment reminders or information about treatment options. We may tell you about other health-related benefits and services that might interest you. We may also share PHI with other doctors, nurses, and others involved in your care.
- Payment. We may use and share your PHI to receive payment for services that we provide to you. For example, we may share your PHI to request payment and receive payment from Medicare, Medicaid, your health insurer, HMO, or other company or program that arranges or pays the cost of some or all of your health care (“Your Payor”) and to confirm that Your Payor will pay for health care. As another example, we may share your PHI with the person who you told us is primarily responsible for paying for your Treatment, such as your spouse or parent.
- Health Care Operations. We may use and share your PHI for our health care operations, which include management, planning, and activities that improve the quality and lower the cost of the care that we deliver. For example, we may use PHI to review the quality and skill of our physicians, nurses, and other health care providers. As another example, we may share PHI with a Patient Relations Coordinator to resolve any complaints you may have and make sure that you have a comfortable experience with us.
In addition, we may share PHI with certain others who help us with our activities, including those we hire to perform services.
B. Your Other Health Care Providers. We may also share PHI with your doctor and other health care providers when they need it to provide Treatment to you, to obtain Payment for the care they give to you, to perform certain Health Care Operations, such as reviewing the quality and skill of health care professionals, or to review their actions in following the law.
C. Marketing. We may share PHI to marketing partners to send or show you marketing materials or products or services related to your Treatment, case management, or care coordination, or alternative treatments, therapies, health care providers, or care settings.
D. Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. We may share your PHI in the course of a judicial or administrative proceeding in response to a legal order or other lawful process.
E. Law Enforcement Purposes. We may share your PHI with the police or other law enforcement officials as required or permitted by law or in compliance with a court order or a subpoena.
F. Decedents. We may share PHI with a coroner or medical examiner as authorized by law.
G. As required by law. We may use and share your PHI when required to do so by any other law not already referred to above.
IV. Uses and Disclosures Requiring Your Written Permission (Authorization)
A. Use or Disclosure with Your Permission (Authorization). For any purpose other than the ones described above in Section III, we may only use or share your PHI when you grant us your written permission (authorization).
B. Uses and Disclosures of Your Highly Confidential Information.Federal and state law requires special privacy protections for certain highly confidential information about you (“Highly Confidential Information”), including any portion of your PHI that is: (1) kept in
psychotherapy notes; (2) about mental health and developmental disabilities services; (3) about alcohol and drug abuse prevention, Treatment and referral; (4) about HIV/AIDS testing, diagnosis or Treatment; (5) about venereal disease(s); (6) about genetic testing; (7) about child abuse and neglect; (8) about domestic abuse of an adult with a disability; (9) about sexual assault; or (10) Invitro Fertilization (IVF). Before we share your Highly Confidential Information for a purpose other than those permitted by law, we must obtain your written permission.
V. Your Rights Regarding Your Protected Health Information
A. For Further Information; Complaints. If you want more information about your privacy rights, are concerned that we have violated your privacy rights, or disagree with a decision that we made about access to your PHI, you may contact our office. You may also file written complaints with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. When you ask, we will provide you with the correct address for the OCR. We will not and can not take any action against you if you file a complaint with us or with the OCR.
B. Right to Receive Confidential Communications. You may ask us to send papers that contain your PHI to a different location than the address that you gave us, or in a special way. You will need to ask us in writing. We will try to grant your request if we feel it is reasonable. For example, you may ask us to send a copy of your medical records to a different address than your home address.
C. Right to Revoke Your Written Permission (Authorization). You may change your mind about your authorization or any written permission regarding your Highly Confidential Information by giving or sending a written “revocation statement” to our office. The revocation will not apply to the extent that we have already taken action where we relied on your permission.
D. Right to Inspect and Copy Your Health Information. You may request access to your medical record file, billing records, and other records used to make decisions about your Treatment and payment for your Treatment. You can review these records and/or ask for copies. Under limited circumstances, we may deny you access to a portion of your records.
E. Right to Amend Your Records. You have the right to request that we amend PHI maintained in medical record files, billing records, and other records used to make decisions about your Treatment and payment for your Treatment.
VI. Effective Date and Duration of This Notice
A. Effective Date. This Notice is effective as of July 1st, 2017. This notice was updated on 08/18/2023.
B. Right to Change Terms of this Notice. We may change the terms of this Notice at any time. If we change this Notice, we may make the new notice terms effective for all Protected Health Information that we maintain, including any information created or received prior to issuing the new notice. If we change this Notice, we will post the new notice on this internet site page. You also may obtain any new notice by contacting us.
Exclusions and Limitations
Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages. Accordingly, some of the above limitations and disclaimers may not apply to you. To the extent COMPANY may not, as a matter of applicable law, disclaim any implied warranty or limit its liabilities, the scope and duration of such warranty and the extent of COMPANY’s liability shall be the minimum permitted under such applicable law.
Indemnity
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless COMPANY, its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, consultants, and agents from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, expenses, fees (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs) that such parties may incur as a result of or arising from (a) any information or content you (or anyone using your account) submit, post, or transmit on or through the Site; (b) your (or anyone using your account’s) use of the Site; (c) your (or anyone using your account’s) violation of these Terms of Use; or (d) your (or anyone using your account’s) violation of any rights of any other person or entity, including, without limitation, any copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, other intellectual property, or proprietary rights of any person or entity. COMPANY reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will cooperate with COMPANY in asserting any available defenses.
Modification to the Site
COMPANY reserves the right to modify or discontinue the Site with or without notice to you. COMPANY shall not be liable to you or any third party should COMPANY exercise its right to modify or discontinue the Site.
Jurisdiction
You expressly agree that exclusive jurisdiction for any dispute with or in any way relating to your use of the COMPANY site, resides in the Courts of State of Texas, and further agree and expressly consent to the exercise of personal jurisdiction in the Courts of the State of Texas in connection with any dispute including any claim involving COMPANY or its affiliates, subsidiaries, employees, contractors, officers, directors, telecommunication providers, and content providers.
These Terms of Use are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without respect to its conflicts of law principles. If any provisions of these Terms of Use are found to be invalid by any court having competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of these Terms of Use, which shall remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any of these Terms of Use shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or any other term or condition.
Terms of User Changes
COMPANY may, in its sole and absolute discretion, change these Terms of Use from time to time. COMPANY will post a copy of the Terms of Use as changed on the Site. Your continued use of the Site constitutes your agreement to abide by the Terms of Use as changed. If you object to any such changes, your sole recourse shall be to cease using the Site.
We may change these Terms at any time, and all such changes are effective immediately upon notice, which we may give by any means, including, but not limited to, by posting a revised version of these Terms or other notice on the Site. You should view these Terms often to stay informed of changes that may affect you. Your use of the Site constitutes your continuing agreement to be bound by these Terms, as they are amended from time to time. We expressly reserve the right to make any changes that we deem appropriate from time to time to the Site or to any information, text, data, databases, graphics, images, sound recordings, audio and visual clips, logos, software, opportunities, features, services and other materials within the Site
COMMUNICATION VIA EMAIL
- RISK OF USING E-MAIL
COMPANY offers patients the opportunity to communicate by e-mail. Transmitting patient information by e-mail, however, has a number of risks that patients should consider before using e-mail.These include, but are not limited to, the following risks:- E-mail can be circulated, forwarded, and stored in numerous paper an electronic files.
- E-mail can be immediately broadcast worldwide and be received by many intended and unintended recipients.
- E-mail senders can easily misaddress an email.
- E-mail is easier to falsify than handwritten or signed
- Backup copies of e-mail may exist even after the sender or the recipient has deleted his or her copy.
- Employers and on-line services have a right to archive and inspect e-mails transmitted through their systems.
- E-mail can be intercepted, altered, forwarded, or used
without authorization or detection. - E-mail can be used to introduce viruses into computer
- E-mail can be used as evidence in court.
- CONDITIONS FOR THE USE OF E-MAIL
Because of the risks outlined above, COMPANY cannot guarantee the security and confidentiality of e-mail communication, and will not be liable for improper disclosure of confidential information. Thus, any user, visitor, client, patient and/or patients representative (collectively known as “patient”) must consent to the use of e-mail for patient information. Consent to the use of e-mail includes agreement with the following conditions:- All e-mails to or from the patient concerning diagnosis or treatment can be printed out and made part of the patient’s medical record. Because they are part of the medical record, other individuals authorized to access the medical record, such as staff and billing personnel, will have access to those e-mails.
- COMPANY may forward e-mails internally within the organization and externally to your Provider’s staff or agent necessary for diagnosis, treatment, reimbursement, and other handling. COMPANY will not, however, forward emails to independent third parties without the patient’s prior written consent, except as authorized or required by law.
- Although COMPANY will endeavor to read and respond promptly to an e-mail from the patient, COMPANY cannot guarantee that any particular e-mail will be read and responded to within any particular period of time. Thus, the patient shall not use e-mail for medical emergencies or other time sensitive matters.
- If the patient’s e-mail requires or invites a response from COMPANY, and the patient has not received a response within a reasonable time period, it is the patient’s responsibility to follow up to determine whether the intended recipient received the e-mail and when the recipient will respond.
- The patient should not use e-mail for communication regarding sensitive medical information, such as information regarding sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS/HIV, mental health, developmental disability, or substance abuse.
- The patient is responsible for informing COMPANY of any types of information the patient does not want to be sent by e-mail.
- The patient is responsible for protecting his/her password or other means of access to e-mail. COMPANY is not liable for breaches of confidentiality caused by the patient or any third party.
- It is the patient’s responsibility to follow up and/or schedule an appointment if warranted.
- INSTRUCTIONS
To communicate by e-mail, the patient shall:- Limit or avoid use of his/her employer’s computer.
- Inform COMPANY of changes in his/her email address.
- Put the patient’s name in the body of the e-mail.
- Include the category of the communication in the e-mail’s subject line, for routing purposes (e.g., billing question).
- Review the e-mail to make sure it is clear and that all
relevant information if provided before sending to COMPANY . - All emails sent by COMPANY to patient are considered received and read. COMPANY will not wait for acknowledgement from patient.
- Take precautions to preserve the confidentiality of e-mail, such as using screen savers and safeguarding his/her computer password.
- Withdraw consent only by e-mail or written communication to Provider.
- PATIENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND AGREEMENT
Patient acknowledges that they fully understand and accept this agreement. Patient understands the risks associated with the communication of e-mail between COMPANY and themselves, and consents to the conditions herein. In addition, patient agrees to the instructions outlined herein, as well as any other instructions that COMPANY may impose to communicate with patients by e-mail.
SMS POLICY (TEXT MESSAGES)
You specifically agree to receive text messages from COMPANY via an automatic text messaging system. You are authorizing COMPANY to send text messages to any phone number provided to COMPANY via any method (including but not limited to website form, on the phone or via email). You understand that text messaging rates will apply to any messages received from COMPANY. You also understand that you may revoke this permission in writing at any time by calling or responding “STOP” to any text message received by COMPANY. You agree not to hold COMPANY liable for any electronic messaging charges or fees generated by this service. You further agree that in the event your contact/cell phone number changes that you will inform COMPANY or be liable for any fees or charges incurred.
Revocation of Agreement. You have the right to withdraw your consent to receive/obtain text message communication from COMPANY at any time. If you wish to withdraw your consent, you may opt-out by replying STOP via a text message to any message received.
Laboratory Fees
