Notice of Privacy Practices for Protected Health Information
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.
Medical Resources, Inc (MdR) is permitted by federal privacy laws to make uses and disclosures of your health information for purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations. Protected health information is the information we create and obtain by providing our services to you. Such information may include documenting your symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment, and applying for future care or treatment. It also includes billing documents for those services.
Example of uses of your health information for treatment purposes are:
During the course of providing services, our respiratory therapist feels it is necessary to reach out to your referring physician to clarify, provide symptoms or status updates, etc. We will share the information with your referring physician.
Example of use of your health information for payment purposes:
We submit requests for payment to your health insurance company. The health insurance company or business associate helping us obtain payment requests information from us regarding your medical care given. We will provide information to them about you and the care given.
Example of Use of Your Information for Health Care Operations:
We may obtain services from business associates such as quality assessment, quality improvement, outcome evaluation, protocol and clinical guidelines development, training programs, credentialing, medical review, legal services, and insurance. We will share information about you with such business associates as necessary to obtain these services.
Your Health Information Rights
The health and billing records we maintain are the physical property of MdR. You have the following rights with respect to your Protected Health Information
A List of Your Rights
Request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your health information by delivering the request in writing to our office—we are not required to grant the request, but we will comply with any request granted;
Obtain a paper copy of the Notice of Privacy Practices for Protected Health Information ("Notice") by making a request at our office;
Right to inspect and copy your health record and billing record—you may exercise this right by delivering the request in writing to our office using the form we provide to you upon request; appeal a denial of access to your protected health information except in certain circumstances;
Right to request that your health care record be amended to correct incomplete or incorrect information by delivering a written request to our office using the form we provide to you upon request. (MdR is not required to make such amendments); you may file a statement of disagreement if your amendment is denied, and require that the request for amendment and any denial be attached in all future disclosures of your protected health information;
Right to receive an accounting of disclosures of your health information as required to be maintained by law by delivering a written request to our office using the form we provide to you upon request. An accounting will not include internal uses of information for treatment, payment, or operations, disclosures made to you or made at your request, or disclosures made to family members or friends in the course of providing care;
Right to confidential communication by requesting that communication of your health information be made by alternative means or at an alternative location by delivering the request in writing to our office using the form we give you upon request; and,
To Exercise Your Rights
If you want to exercise any of the above rights, please contact Mdr’s Privacy Officer in person or in writing, during normal hours. He will provide you with assistance with the steps to take to exercise your rights.
MdR’s Responsibilities
MdR is required to:
Maintain the privacy of your health information as required by law;
Provide you with a notice as to our duties and privacy practices as to the information we collect and maintain about you;
Abide by the terms of this Notice;
Notify you if we cannot accommodate a requested restriction or request; and
Accommodate your reasonable requests regarding methods to communicate health information with you.
Accommodate your request for an accounting of disclosures.
Notify you in the event there is a breach of unsecured protected health information.
We Reserve The Right To:
We reserve the right to amend, change, or eliminate provisions in our privacy practices and access practices and to enact new provisions regarding the protected health information we maintain. If our information practices change, we will amend our Notice. You are entitled to receive a revised copy of the Notice by calling and requesting a copy of our "Notice" or by visiting our office and picking up a copy.
To Request Information or File a Complaint
If you have questions, would like additional information, or want to report a problem regarding the handling of your information, you may contact:
Privacy Officer
1516 5th Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35233
205-521-7337
wecare@mdr.net
Additionally, if you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a written complaint at our office by delivering the written complaint to the Privacy Officer. Our company has a complaint policy & procedure; please contact us at (205-521-7337) if you experience any problems. In the event your complaint remains unresolved you may file a complaint with our Accreditor, The Compliance Team Inc., via their website www.thecomplianceteam.org or phone, 888-291-5353. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint about our privacy practices. You may file a complaint with us, with our accrediting organization, or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Filing a complaint will not affect the care, services, or benefits you receive from us, and we will not take any adverse action against you for exercising your privacy rights.
Following is a list of other uses and disclosures allowed by the Privacy Rule:
Patient Contact
We may contact you to provide you with appointment reminders, with information about treatment alternatives, or with information about other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you. We may contact you as part of a fund-raising effort.
Notification - Opportunity to Agree or Object
Unless you object we may use or disclose your protected health information to notify, or assist in notifying, a family member, personal representative, or other person responsible for your care, about your location, and about your general condition, or your death.
Communication with Family
Using our best judgment, we may disclose to a family member, other relative, close personal friend, or any other person you identify, health information relevant to that person's involvement in your care or in payment for such care if you do not object or in an emergency.
We may use and disclose your protected health information to assist in disaster relief efforts.
Opportunity to Agree or Object Not Required
Public Health Activities
Controlling Disease - As required by law, we may disclose your protected health information to public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability.
Child Abuse & Neglect - We may disclose protected health information to public authorities as allowed by law to report child abuse or neglect.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - We may disclose to the FDA your protected health information relating to adverse events with respect to food, supplements, products and product defects, or post-marketing surveillance information to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacements.
VICTIMS OF ABUSE, NEGLECT, OR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
We can disclose protected health information to governmental authorities to the extent the disclosure is authorized by statute or regulation and in the exercise of professional judgment the doctor believes the disclosure is necessary to prevent serious harm to the individual or other potential victim.
OVERSIGHT AGENCIES
Federal law allows us to release your protected health information to appropriate health oversight agencies or for health oversight activities to include audits, civil, administrative or criminal investigations: inspections; licensures or disciplinary actions, and for similar reasons related to the administration of healthcare.
JUDICIAL/ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDINGS
We may disclose your protected health information in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding as allowed or required by law, with your consent, or as directed by a proper court order or administrative tribunal, provided that only the protected health information released is expressly authorized by such order, or in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
We may disclose your protected health information for law enforcement purposes as required by law, such as when required by court order, including laws that require reporting of certain types of wounds or other physical injury.
CORONERS, MEDICAL EXAMINERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS
We may disclose your protected health information to funeral directors or coroners consistent with applicable law to allow them to carry out their duties.
RESEARCH
We may disclose information to researchers when their research has been approved by an institutional review board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your protected health information.
THREAT TO HEALTH AND SAFETY
To avert a serious threat to health or safety, we may disclose your protected health information consistent with applicable law to prevent or lessen a serious, imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public.
PHI OF DECEASED INDIVIDUALS
We will protect the protected health information of deceased individuals as required by law. HIPAA requires that a decedent’s protected health information remain confidential for 50 years after the date of death. We may disclose protected health information of a deceased individual to family members, personal representatives, or others involved in the individual’s care or payment for care prior to death, unless doing so is inconsistent with any known prior expressed preference of the individual. We may also disclose protected health information of a deceased individual for purposes permitted by law, including to coroners, medical examiners, funeral directors, and for public health or safety activities.
SMS Texting Terms & Conditions
This texting terms and conditions applies when you give prior express consent to get text messages from MdR. Text messaging may include one-time or recurring texts related to one or more of the following programs:
Healthcare Reminders
Messages may include reminders such as supply ordering, oxygen monitoring logs, primary/pulmonary/referring physician appointment follow-ups, etc.
Claims, Billing, & Payment
Messages may include notifications that a claim has been processed, or payment is due.
The only way to end text messages for a specific texting program is to reply STOP. You understand and approve that replying STOP to one texting program will not opt you out of all programs that you are enrolled in. You must reply STOP to each texting program for which you no longer want to participate.
After you send STOP to us, we may send you a message to make sure that you no longer want to get text messages from that particular program. After this, you will no longer get text messages from us from that texting program. If you want to join again, just sign up as you did the first time, and we will start sending text messages to you from the programs you requested. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply.
No mobile opt-in or text message consent will be shared with third parties for marketing purposes.
Other Uses and Disclosures
Other uses and disclosures besides those identified in this Notice will be made only as otherwise authorized by law or with your written authorization which you may revoke except to the extent information or action has already been taken.
Any use or disclosure of your protected health information not described in this Notice will be made only with your written authorization
You may revoke your authorization at any time in writing, except to the extent we have already relied on it.
Website
If we maintain a website that provides information about our entity, this Notice will be on the website. Please go to www.mdr.net.
USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRING YOUR AUTHORIZATION
Marketing- authorization must be obtained except if the communication is in the form of a face-to-face communication or in the form of a promotional gift by your healthcare provider.
Sale- authorization must be obtained prior to any disclosure for the sale of protected health information.