Privacy Policy

Family Planning Center of Ocean County, Inc.
Notice of Privacy Practices
HIPAA

This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please read it carefully.

If you have any questions about this notice please contact: Tay Walker-Valery, Privacy Officer, Family Planning Center of Ocean County, Inc. 732-364-9696 Ext. 107

This Notice of Privacy Practices describes how we may use and disclose your protected health information to carry out treatment, payment, or health care operations; and for other purposes that are permitted or required by law. It also describes your rights to access and control your protected health information. "Protected health information" is information about you, including demographic information, that may identify you and that relates to your past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition, and related health care services.

We are required to abide by the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices. We may change the terms of our notice at any time. The new notice will be effective for all protected health information that we maintain at that time. Upon your request, we will provide you with any revised Notice of Privacy Practices if you call the agency and request that a revised copy be sent to you in the mail or if you ask for one at the time of your next appointment.

1. Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information

Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information Based Upon Your Written Consent
You will be asked to sign a consent form. Once you have consented to use and disclosure of your protected health information for treatment, payment, and health care operations by signing the consent form, your clinician/physician will use or disclose your protected health information as described in this Section 1. Your protected health information may be used and disclosed by your clinician/physician, our office staff, and others outside of our office that are involved in your care and treatment for the purpose of providing health care services to you. Your protected health information may also be used and disclosed to pay your health care bills and to support the operation of the Family Planning Center of Ocean County, Inc.

Following are examples of the types of uses and disclosures of your protected health care information that the Family Planning Center of Ocean County, Inc. is permitted to make once you have signed our consent form. These examples are not meant to be exhaustive, but to describe the types of uses and disclosures that may be made by our office once you have provided consent.

Treatment: We will use and disclose your protected health information to provide, coordinate, or manage your health care and any related services. This includes the coordination or management of your health care with a third party that already has obtained your permission to have access to your protected health information. We will disclose protected health information to other physicians who may be treating you when we have the necessary permission from you to disclose your protected health information. For example, your protected health information may be provided to a physician to whom you have been referred to ensure that the physician has the necessary information to diagnose or treat you.

In addition, we may disclose your protected health information from time to time to another physician or health care provider (e.g., a specialist or a laboratory) who, at the request of your clinician/physician becomes involved in your care by providing assistance with your health care diagnosis or treatment to your clinician/physician.

Payment: Your protected health information will be used as needed to obtain payment for your health care services. This may include certain activities that your health insurance plan may undertake before it approves or pays for the health care services we recommend for you, such as making a determination of eligibility or coverage for insurances benefits, reviewing services provided to you for medical necessity, and undertaking utilization review activities. For example, obtaining approval for certain procedures may require that your relevant protected health information be disclosed to the health plan.

Health Care Operations: We may use or disclose, as needed, your protected health information in order to support the business activities of the Family Planning Center of Ocean County, Inc. These activities include, but are not limited to, quality assessment activities, employee review activities, training of students, licensing, marketing, and fund-raising activities, and conducting or arranging for other business activities.

For example, we may disclose your protected health information to school students that see/observe patients at our office. In addition, we may use a sign-in sheet at the registration desk. We may also call your name in the waiting room when we are ready to see you. We may use or disclose your protected health information, as necessary, to contact you to remind you of your appointment.

We will share your protected health information with third party "business associates" that perform various activities (e.g., billing) for the agency. Whenever an arrangement between our office and a business associate involves the use or disclosure of your protected health information, we will have a written contract that contains terms that will protect the privacy of your protected health information.

We may use or disclose your protected health information, as necessary, to provide you with information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you. We may also use and disclose your protected health information for other marketing activities. For example, your name and address may be used to send you information about the services we offer. You may contact our Privacy Contact to request that these materials not be sent to you.

Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information Based upon Your Written Authorization
Other uses and disclosures of your protected health information will be made only with your written authorization, unless otherwise permitted or required by law as described below. You may revoke this authorization at any time in writing except to the extent that the Family Planning Center of Ocean County, Inc. has taken an action in reliance on the use or disclosure indicated in the authorization.

Other Permitted and Required Uses and Disclosures That May Be Made with Your Consent, Authorization, or Opportunity to Object

We may use and disclose your protected health information in the following instances. You have the opportunity to agree or object to the use or disclosure of all or part of your protected health information. If you are not present or able to agree or object to the use or disclosure of the protected health information, then the Family Planning Center of Ocean County. Inc. may, using professional judgment, determine whether the disclosure is in your best interest. In this case, only the protected health information that is relevant to your health care will be disclosed.
Emergencies: We may use and disclose your protected health information in an emergency situation.

Communication Barriers: We may use and disclose your protected health information if your clinician/physician attempts to obtain consent from you but is unable to do so because of substantial communication barriers, and the clinician/physician determines, using professional judgment, that you intend to consent to use or disclosure under the circumstances.

Other Permitted and Required Uses and Disclosures That May Be Made without Your Consent, Authorization, or Opportunity to Object

We may use or disclose your protected health information in the following situations without your consent or authorization. These situations include:

Required By Law: We may use or disclose your protected health information to the extent that the use or disclosure is required by law. The use or disclosure will be made in compliance with the law and will be limited to the relevant requirements of the law.

Public Health: We may disclose your protected health information for public health activities and purposes to a public health authority that is permitted by law to collect or receive the information. The disclosure will be made for the purpose of controlling disease, injury, or disability. We may also disclose your protected health information, if directed by the public health authority, to a foreign government agency that is collaborating with the public health authority.

Communicable Diseases: We may disclose your protected health information, if authorized by law, to a person who may have been exposed to a communicable disease or may otherwise be at risk of contracting or spreading the disease or condition.

Health Oversight: We may disclose your protected health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations, and inspections. Oversight agencies seeking this information include government agencies that oversee health-care systems, government benefit programs, other government regulatory programs, and civil rights laws.

Abuse or Neglect: We may disclose your protected health information to a public health authority that is authorized by law to receive reports of child abuse or neglect. In addition, we may disclose your protected health information if we believe that you have been a victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence to the governmental entity or agency authorized to receive such information. In this case, the disclosure will be made consistent with the requirements of applicable federal and state laws.

Food and Drug Administration: We may disclose your protected health information to a person or company required by the Food and Drug Administration to report adverse events, product defects, or problems, to make recalls.

Legal Proceedings: We may disclose protected health information in the course of any judicial or administrative proceedings in response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal (to the extent such disclosure is expressly authorized), in certain conditions in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process.

Law Enforcement: We may also disclose protected health information, so long as applicable legal requirements are met, for law enforcement purposes. These law enforcement purposes include (1) legal processes and otherwise required by law, (2) limited information requests for identification and location purposes, (3) pertaining to victims of a crime, (4) suspicion that death has occurred as a result of criminal conduct, (5) in the event that a crime occurs on the premises of the agency, and (6) medical emergency (not on the agency premises) and it is likely that a crime has occurred.

Coroners, Funeral Directors, and Organ Donations: We may disclose protected health information to a coroner or health examiner. This may be necessary to identify a deceased person or determine the cause of death. We may also release protected health information about patients to funeral directors as necessary to carry out their duties.

Criminal Activity: Consistent with applicable federal and state laws, we may disclose protected health information if we believe that the use or disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public. We may also disclose protected health information if it is necessary for law enforcement authorities to identify or apprehend an individual.

Military Activity and National Security: When the appropriate conditions apply, we may use or disclose protected health information of individuals who are Armed Forces personnel (1) for activities deemed necessary by appropriate military command authorities; (2) for the purpose of a determination by the Department of Veterans Affairs of your eligibility for benefits, or (3) to foreign military authority if you are a member of that foreign military services. We may also disclose your protected health information to authorized federal officials for conducting national security and intelligence activities, including for the provision of protective services to the President or others legally authorized.

Workers' Compensation: Your protected health information may be disclosed by us as authorized to comply with workers' compensation laws and other similar legally established programs.

Inmates: We may use or disclose your protected health information if you are an inmate of a correctional facility and your clinician/physician created or received your protected health information in the course of providing care to you.
Required Uses and Disclosures: Under the law, we must make disclosures to you and when required by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate or determine our compliance with the requirements of Section 164.500, et seq.

2. Your Rights

Following is a statement of your rights with respect to your protected health information and a brief description of how you may exercise these rights.

You have the right to inspect and copy your protected health information. This means you may inspect and obtain a copy of protected health information about you that is contained in a designated record set for as long as we maintain the protected health information. A "designated record set" contains medical and billing records and any other records that the Family Planning Center of Ocean County, Inc. uses for making decisions about you.

Under federal law, however, you may not inspect or copy the following records: psychotherapy notes; information compiled in reasonable anticipation of, or use in, a civil, criminal, or administrative action or proceeding; and protected health information that is subject to law that prohibits access to protected health information. Depending on the circumstances, a decision to deny access may be reviewable. In some circumstances, you may have a right to have this decision reviewed. Please contact our Privacy Contact if you have questions about access to your medical record.

You have the right to request a restriction of your protected health information. This means you may ask us not to use or disclose any part of your protected health information for the purpose of treatment, payment, or health care operations. Your request must state the specific restriction requested and to whom you want the restriction to apply.

The Family Planning Center of Ocean County, Inc. is not required to agree to a restriction that you may request. If the agency believes it is in your best interest to permit use and disclosure of your protected health information, your protected health information will not be restricted. If the Family Planning Center of Ocean County, Inc. does agree to the requested restriction, we may not use or disclose your protected health information in violation of restriction unless it is needed to provide emergency treatment. With this in mind, please discuss any restriction you wish to request with the agency.

You have the right to request to receive confidential communications from us by alternative means or at alternative locations. You have the right to request that we communicate with you about health matters in a certain manner or at a certain location. For example, you can ask that we only contact you at work or by mail to a post office box. During our intake process, we will ask you how you wish to receive communication about your health care or any other instructions notifying you about your health information. We will accommodate reasonable requests.

You may have the right to have Family Planning Center of Ocean County, Inc. amend your protected health information. This means you may request an amendment of protected health information about you in a designated record set for as long as we maintain this information. In certain cases, we may deny your request for an amendment. If we deny your request for amendment, you have the right to file a statement of disagreement with us. We may prepare a rebuttal to your statement, and we will provide you with a copy of any such rebuttal. Please contact our Privacy Contact to determine if you have questions about amending your medical record.

You have the right to receive an accounting of certain disclosures we have made, if any, of your protected health information. You have the right to request a listing of any disclosures of your protected health information we have made, except for uses and disclosures for treatment, payment, and health care operations as previously described, or pursuant to an authorization you have provided. The right to receive this information is subject to certain exceptions, restrictions, and limitations.

You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this notice from us, upon request.

3. Complaints

You may complain to us or to the Secretary of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy rights have been violated by us. You may file a complaint with us by notifying our privacy contact of your complaint. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

You may contact our Privacy Officer, Tay Walker-Valery, at 732-364-9696 Ext. 107
This notice was published and became effective on April 14, 2003.