NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

Effective date of notice: 4/14/2003

Thomas Turtle Opticians
444 Payne Ave, North Tonawanda, NY 14120 693-1280 Fax: 693-1383
3718 Delaware Ave, Kenmore, NY 14217 874-2345 Fax: 874-7373
9346 Transit Road, E. Amherst, NY 14051 688-3944 Fax: 688-3946
5430 Broadway, Lancaster, NY 14086 685-4050 Fax: 685-2873
Contact Person: Dr. David Turtle

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.
We respect our legal obligation to keep health information that identifies you private. We are obligated by law to give you notice of our privacy practices. This notice describes how we protect your health information and what rights you have regarding it.

TREATMENT, PAYMENT, AND HEALTH CARE OPERATIONS
The most common reason why we use or disclose your health information is for treatment, payment or health care operations. Examples of how we use or disclose information for treatment purposes are: setting up an appointment for you; testing or examining your eyes; prescribing glasses, contact lenses, or eye medications and faxing them to be filled; showing you low vision aids; referring you to another doctor or clinic for eye care or low vision aids or services; or getting copies of your health information from another professional that you may have seen before us. Examples of how we use or disclose your health information for payment purposes are: asking you about your health or vision care plans, or other sources of payment; preparing and sending bills or claims; and collecting unpaid amounts (either ourselves or through a collection agency or attorney). “Health care operations” mean those administrative and managerial functions that we have to do in order to run our office. Examples of how we use or disclose your health information for health care operations are: financial or billing audits; internal quality assurance; personnel decisions; participation in managed care plans; defense of legal matters; business planning; and outside storage of our records.

We routinely use your health information inside our office for these purposes without any special permission. If we need to disclose your health information outside of our office for these reasons, we will ask you for special written permission.

We will ask for special written permission in the following situations:

Release of medical records to outside health care professionals.

USES AND DISCLOSURES FOR OTHER REASONS WITHOUT PERMISSION
In some limited situations, the law allows or requires us to use or disclose your health information without your permission. Not all of these situations will apply to us; some may never come up at our office at all. Such uses or disclosures are:

  • when a state of federal law mandate that certain health information be reported for a specific purpose;

  • for public health purposes, such as contagious disease reporting, investigation or surveillance; and notices to and from the federal Food and Drug Administration regarding drugs or medical devices;

  • disclosures to governmental authorities about victims of suspected abuse, neglect or domestic violence;

  • uses and disclosures for health oversight activities, such as for the licensing of doctors; for audits by Medicare or Medicaid; or for investigation of possible violations of health care laws;

  • disclosures for judicial and administrative proceedings, such as in response to subpoenas or orders of courts or administrative agencies;

  • disclosures for law enforcement purposes, such as to provide information about someone who is or is suspected to be a victim of a crime; to provide information about a crime at our office; or to report a crime that happened somewhere else;

  • disclosure to a medical examiner to identify a dead person or to determine the cause of death; or to funeral directors to aid in burial; or to organizations that handle organ or tissue donations;

  • uses or disclosures for health related research;

  • uses and disclosures to prevent a serious threat to health or safety;

  • uses or disclosures for specialized government functions, such as for the protection of the president or high ranking government officials; for lawful national intelligence activities; for military purposes; or for the evaluation and health of members of the foreign service;

  • disclosures of de-identified information;

  • disclosures of relating to worker’s compensation programs;

  • disclosures of a “limited data set” for research, public health, or health care operations;

  • incidental disclosures that are an unavoidable by-product of permitted uses or disclosures;

  • disclosures to “business associates” who perform health care operations for us and who commit to respect the privacy of your health information;

    Unless you object, we will also share relevant information about your care with your family or friends who are helping you with your eye care.

    • APPOINTMENT REMINDERS
    We may call or write to remind you of scheduled appointments, or that it is time to make a routine appointment. We may also call or write to notify you of other treatments or services available at our office that might help you. Unless you tell us otherwise, we will mail you an appointment reminder on a post card, and/or leave you a reminder message on your home answering machine or with someone who answers your phone if you are not home.

    OTHER USES AND DISCLOSURES
    We will not make any other uses of disclosures of your health information unless you sign a written “authorization form”. The content of an “authorized form” is determined by federal law. Sometimes, we may initiate the authorization process if the use or disclosure is our idea. Sometimes, you may initiate the process if it’s your idea for us to send your information to someone else. Typically, in this situation you will give us a properly completed authorization form, or you can use one of ours.

    If we initiate the process and ask you to sign an authorization form, you do not have to sign it. If you do not sign the authorization, we cannot make the use of disclosure. If you do sign one, you may revoke it at any time unless we have already acted in reliance upon it. Revocations must be in writing. Send them to the office contact person named at the beginning of this Notice.

    YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION
    The law gives you many rights regarding your health information. You can:

  • ask us to restrict our uses and disclosures for purposes of treatment (except emergency treatment), payment or health care operations. We do not have to agree to do this, but if we agree, we must honor the restrictions that you want. To ask for a restriction, send a written request to the office contact person at the address, fax or Emanil shown at the beginning of the Notice.

  • ask us to communicate with you in a confidential way, such as phoning you at work rather than at home, by mailing health information to a different address, or by using Email to your personal Email address. We will accommodate these requests if they are reasonable, and if you pay us for any extra cost. If you want to ask for confidential communications, send a written request to the office contact person at the address, fax, or Email shown at the beginning of this Notice.

  • ask to see or to get photocopies of your health information. By law, there are a few limited situations in which we can refuse to permit access or copying. For the most part, however, you will be able to review or have a copy of your health information within 30 days of asking us (or sixty days if the information is stored off-site). You may have to pay for photocopies in advance. If we deny your request, we will send you a written explanation, and instructions about how to get an impartial review of our denial if one is legally available. By law, we can have one 30 day extension of the time for us to give you access or photocopies if we send you a written notice of the extension. If you want to review or get photocopies of your health information, send a written request to the office contact person at the address, fax, or Email shown at the beginning of this Notice.






    • OUR NOTICES OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
    By law, we must abide by the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices until we choose to change it. We reserve the right to change this notice at any time as allowed by law. If we change this Notice, the new privacy practices will apply to your health information that we already have as well as to such information that we may generate in the future. If we change our Notice of Privacy Practices, we will post the new notice in our office, have copies available in our office, and post it on our Web site.

    COMPLAINTS
    If you think that we have not properly respected the privacy of your health information, you are free to compain to us or U.S. Departartment of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. We will not retaliate against you if you make a complaint. If you want to complain to us, send a written complaint to the office contact person at the address, fax or Email shown at the beginning of this Notice. If you perfer, you can discuss your complaint in person or by phone.

    FOR MORE INFORMATION
    If you want more information about our privacy practices, call or visit the office at the address or phone number shown at the beginning of this Notice.