Patients

GREAT FALLS OBGYN ASSOCIATES

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

Our promise to you, our patients, your information is important and confidential. Our ethics and policies require that your information be held in strict confidence.

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.

INTRODUCTION

We maintain protocols to ensure the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We have physical security in our building, passwords to protect databases, compliance audits, and virus/intrusion detection software. Within our practice, access to your information is limited to those who need to perform their jobs.

At the offices of Great Falls OBGYN Associates, we are committed to treating and using protected health information about you responsibly. This Notice of Privacy Policies describes the personal information we collect, and how and when we use or disclose that information. It also describes your rights as they relate to your protected health information. This Notice is effective 6/1/09, and applies to all protected health information as described by federal regulations.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR HEALTH RECORD

Each time you visit Great Falls OBGYN Associates, a record of your visit is made. Typically, this record contains your symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment, and a plan for future care or treatment. This information, often referred to as your health or medical record, serves as a:

*Basis for planning your care and treatment,

*Means of communication among the many health professionals who contribute to your care.

*Legal document describing the care you received,

*Means by which you or a third-party payer can identify that services billed were actually provided,

*Tool in educating health professionals,

*Source of information for public health officials charged to improve the health of the state and nation,

*Source of data for our planning and marketing, and

*Tool by which we can assess and continually work to improve the care we render and outcomes we achieve.

Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to: ensure its accuracy; better understand who, what, when, and why others may access your health information; and make more informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to others.

YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION RIGHTS

Although your health record is the physical property of Great Falls OBGYN Associates, the information belongs to you. You have the right to:

*Obtain a paper copy of this notice of privacy policies upon request,

*Inspect and obtain a copy of your health record as provided by 45 CFR 164.524 (reasonable copy fees apply in accordance with state law),

*Amend your health record as provided by 45 CFR 164.526,

*Obtain an accounting of disclosures of your health information as provided by 45 CFR 164.528,

*Request confidential communications of your health information as provided by 45 CFR 164.522(b), and

*Request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your information as provided by 45 CFR 164.522 (a) (however, we are not required by law to agree to a requested restriction).

OUR RESPONSIBLITIES

Our practice is required to:

*Maintain the privacy of your health information,

*Provide you with this notice as to our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to information we collect and maintain about you,

*Abide by the terms of this notice,

*Notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction,

*Accommodate reasonable requests you may have to communicate your health information.

We reserve the right to change our practices and to make the new provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain. We will keep a posted copy of this most current notice in our facility containing the effective date in the top, right-handed corner. In addition, each time you visit our facility for treatment, you may obtain a copy of the current notice in effect upon request.

We will not use or disclose your health information in a manner other than described in the section regarding Examples of Disclosures For Treatment, Payment, and Health Operations, without your written authorization, which you may revoke as provided by 45 CFR 164.508(b)(5), except to the extent that action has already been taken.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REPORT A PROBLEM

If you have any questions and would like additional information, you may contact our practice’s Privacy Officer, Debbie Johnson, at (406) 761-7924.

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you can either file a complaint with Debbie Johnson, or with the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OCR). There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint with either our practice or OCR. The address for the OCR regional office for Montana is as follows:

Office for Civil Rights

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

1961 Stout Street-Room 1185 FOB

Denver, CO 80294

EXAMPLES OF DISCLOSURES FOR TREATMENT

We will use your health information for treatment.

We may provide medical information about you to health care providers, our practice personnel, or third parties who are involved in the provision, management, or coordination of care.

For example:

Information obtained by a nurse, physician, or other members of your health care team will be recorded in your record and used to determine the course of treatment that should work best for you. Your medical information will be shared among health care professionals involved in your care.

We will also provide your other physician(s) or subsequent health care provider(s) (when applicable) with copies of various reports that should assist them in treating you.

*Business Associates

To protect your health service information, however, when these services are contracted we require business associates to appropriately safeguard your information.

*Practice Marketing

We may contact you to provide information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you (for example, to notify you of any new tests or services we may be offering).

*Food And Drug Administration (FDA)