The Privacy Rule is a Federal law that gives you rights over your health information and sets rules and limits on who can look at and receive your health information. Advance Health Group takes your privacy seriously; the practices of our healthcare employees, staff, and office personnel to safeguard your information is detailed below.
YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION
This notice applies to the information and records we have about your health, health status, and the health care and services you receive from this office. It details the ways in which we may use and disclose health information about you and describes your rights and our obligations regarding the use and disclosure of that information.
HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU
For Treatment
We may use your health information to provide you with treatment or services. We may disclose health information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, office staff or other personnel who are involved in taking care of you and your health.
Different personnel in our office may share information about you and disclose information to people who do not work in our office in order to coordinate your care, such as coordinating home care services, scheduling transportation or appointments. Family members and other health care providers may be part of your medical care outside this office and may require information about you that we have.
For Payment
We may use and disclose health information about you so that the treatment and services you receive at this office may be billed to and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company or a third party. For example, we may need to give your health plan information about a service you received here so your health plan will pay us. We may also tell your health plan about a treatment you are going to receive to obtain prior approval, or to determine whether your plan will cover the treatment.
For Health Care Operations
We may use and disclose health information about you in order to run the office and make sure that you and our other patients receive quality care. For example, we may use your health information to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you. We may also use health information about all or many of our patients to help us decide what additional services we should offer, how we can become more efficient, or whether certain new treatments are effective.
Appointment Reminders
We may contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for treatment or care.
Health Related Products and Services
We may tell you about health related products or services that may be of interest to you.
Please notify us if you do not wish to be contacted for appointment reminders. If you advise us in writing (at the address listed at the top of this Notice) that you do not wish to receive such communications, we will not use or disclose your information for these purposes.
SPECIAL SITUATIONS
We may use or disclose health information about you without your permission for the following purposes, subject to all applicable legal requirements and limitations:
To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety
We may use and disclose your health information when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person.
Required By Law
We will disclose your health information when required to do so by federal, state or local law.
Military, Veterans, National Security and Intelligence
If you are or were a member of the armed forces, or part of the national security or intelligence communities, we may be required by military command or other government authorities to release your health information. We may also release information about foreign military personnel to the appropriate foreign military authority.
Workers’ Compensation
We may release your health information for workers’ compensation or similar programs. These programs provide benefits for work related injuries or illness.
Public Health Risks
We may disclose health information about you for public health reasons in order to prevent or control disease, injury or disability; or report births, deaths, suspected abuse or neglect, non accidental physical injuries, reactions to medications or problems with products.
Health Oversight Activities
We may disclose health information to a health oversight agency for audits, investigations, inspections, or licensing purposes. These disclosures may be necessary for certain state and federal agencies to monitor the health care system, government programs, and compliance with civil rights laws.
Lawsuits and Disputes
If you are involved in a lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose health information about you in response to a court or administrative order. Subject to all applicable legal requirements, we may also disclose health information about you in response to a subpoena.
Law Enforcement
We may release health information if asked to do so by a law enforcement official in response to a court order, subpoena, warrant, summons or similar process, subject to all applicable legal requirements.
Information Not Personally Identifiable
We may use or disclose health information about you in a way that does not personally identify you or reveal who you are.
Family and Friends
We may disclose your health information to your family members or friends if we obtain your verbal agreement to do so or if we give you an opportunity to object to such a disclosure and you do not raise an objection. We may also disclose your health information to your family if we can infer from the circumstances, based on our professional judgment that you would not object.
OTHER USES AND DISCLOSURES OF HEALTH INFORMATION
We will not use or disclose your health information for any purpose other than those identified in the previous sections without your specific, written Authorization. If you give us Authorization to use or disclose your health information, you may revoke that Authorization, in writing, at any time. If you revoke your Authorization, we will no longer use or disclose information about you for the reasons covered by your written Authorization, but we cannot take back any uses or disclosures already made with your permission.
YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION
You have the following rights regarding health information we maintain about you:
Right to Inspect and Copy
You have the right to inspect and copy your health information, such as medical and billing records, that we use to make decisions about your care. You must submit a written request to ADVANCED SENIORS HEALTH GROUP at 13001 Capital Street, Oak Park, MI 48237 in order to inspect and/or copy your health information. If you request a copy of the information, we may charge a fee for the costs of copying, mailing or other associated supplies. We may deny your request to inspect and/or copy in certain limited circumstances. If you are denied access to your health information, you may ask that the denial be reviewed. If such a review is required by law, we will select a licensed health care professional to review your request and our denial. The person conducting the review will not be the person who denied your request, and we will comply with the outcome of the review.
Right to Amend
If you believe health information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may request to amend the information. You have the right to request an amendment as long as the information is kept by this office.
We may deny your request for an amendment if it is not in writing or does not include a reason to support the request. In addition, we may deny your request if you ask us to amend information that:
a) We did not create, unless the person or entity that created the information is no longer available to make the amendment.
b) Is not part of the health information that we keep.
c) You would not be permitted to inspect and copy.
d) Is accurate and complete.
Right to an Accounting of Disclosures
You have the right to request an “accounting of disclosures.” This is a list of the disclosures we made of medical information about you for purposes other than treatment, payment and health care operations. To obtain this list, you must submit your request in writing to ADVANCED SENIORS HEALTH GROUP. It must state a time period, which may not be longer than six years and may not include dates before January 1, 2007. Your request should indicate in what form you want the list (for example, on paper, electronically). We may charge you for the costs of providing the list. We will notify you of the cost involved and you may choose to withdraw or modify your request at that time before any costs are incurred.
Right to Request Restrictions
You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the health information we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment or health care operations. You also have the right to request a limit on the health information we disclose about you to someone who is involved in your care or the payment for it, like a family member or friend. For example, you could ask that we not use or disclose information about a surgery you had.
We are Not Required to Agree to Your Request
If we do agree, we will comply with your request unless the information is needed to provide you emergency treatment.
To request restrictions, you may complete and submit a Request for Restricting Uses and Disclosures and Confidential Communications Form Information to our office.
Right to Request Confidential Communications
You have the right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way or at a certain location. For example, you can ask that we only contact you at work or by mail.
To request confidential communications, you may complete and submit the Requests For Restricting Uses and Disclosures and Confidential Communications to our office. We will not ask you the reason for your request and will accommodate all reasonable requests. Your request must specify how or where you wish to be contacted.
Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice
You have the right to a paper copy of this notice. You may ask us to give you a copy of this notice at any time. To obtain such a copy, contact our office in writing to 13001 Capital Street, Oak Park, MI 48237.
CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE
We reserve the right to change this notice, and to make the revised or changed notice effective for health information we already have about you as well as any information we receive in the future. We will post a summary of the current notice in the office with its effective date. You are entitled to a copy of the notice currently in effect.
COMPLAINTS
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with our office at 248-213-6067. You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.
Updated January 2023
