Privacy Practices - Crux Rehabilitation - Pinnacle of Quality Care
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Privacy Practices

Crux Rehabilitation 

Jagdeep Garcha P.T /CEO 

Effective Date: March 1st, 2025

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 understand the importance of privacy and are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of your medical information. We make a record of the medical care we provide and may receive such records from others. We use these records to provide or enable other health care providers to provide quality medical care, to obtain payment for services provided to you as allowed by your health plan and to enable  us to meet our professional and legal obligations to operate this medical practice properly. We are  required by law to maintain the privacy of protected health information, to provide individuals with notice  of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to protected health information, and to notify  affected individuals following a breach of unsecured protected health information. This notice describes  how we may use and disclose your medical information. It also describes your rights and our legal obligations with respect to your medical information. If you have any questions about this Notice, please  contact our Privacy Officer listed above.  

TABLE OF CONTENTS  

A. How This Medical Practice May Use or Disclose Your Health Information …………………………. 

B.When This Medical Practice May Not Use or Disclose Your Health Information ………………….

C. Your health information right…………………………………………………………………………………………

    1. Right to Request Special Privacy Protections  
    2. Right to Request Confidential Communications  
    3. Right to Inspect and Copy  
    4. Right to Amend or Supplement  
    5. Right to an Accounting of Disclosures  
    6. Right to a Paper or Electronic Copy of this Notice  

D.Changes to this Notice of Privacy Practices ……………………………………………………………………… 

E. Complaints……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

A. How This Medical Practice May Use or Disclose Your Health Information  

This medical practice collects health information about you and stores it in a chart [and on a computer][and in an electronic health record/personal health record]. This is your medical record. The  medical record is the property of this medical practice, but the information in the medical record belongs  to you. The law permits us to use or disclose your health information for the following purposes: 

  1. Treatment. We use medical information about you to provide your medical care. We disclose  medical information to our employees and others who are involved in providing the care you  need. For example, we may share your medical information with other physicians or other health care providers who will provide services that we do not provide. Or we may share this  information with a pharmacist who needs it to dispense a prescription to you, or a laboratory that  performs a test. We may also disclose medical information to members of your family or others  who can help you when you are sick or injured, or after you die.
  2. Payment. We use and disclose medical information about you to obtain payment for the services  we provide. For example, we give your health plan the information it requires before it will pay  us. We may also disclose information to other health care providers to assist them in obtaining  payment for services they have provided to you.  
  3. Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose medical information about you to operate this  medical practice. For example, we may use and disclose this information to review and improve  the quality of care we provide, or the competence and qualifications of our professional staff. Or  we may use and disclose this information to get your health plan to authorize services or referrals.  We may also use and disclose this information as necessary for medical reviews, legal services  and audits, including fraud and abuse detection and compliance programs and business planning  and management. We may also share your medical information with our “business associates,”  such as our billing service, that perform administrative services for us. We have a written contract  with each of these business associates that contains terms requiring them and their subcontractors  to protect the confidentiality and security of your protected health information. We may also  share your information with other health care providers, health care clearinghouses or health  plans that have a relationship with you, when they request this information to help them with their  quality assessment and improvement activities, their patient-safety activities, their population based efforts to improve health or reduce health care costs, their protocol development, case management or care-coordination activities, their review of competence, qualifications and performance of health care professionals, their training programs, their accreditation, certification or licensing activities, or their health care fraud and abuse detection and compliance efforts. We may also share medical  information about you with the other health care providers, health care clearinghouses and health  plans that participate with us in “organized health care arrangements” (OHCAs) for any of the  OHCAs’ health care operations. OHCAs include hospitals, physician organizations, health plans,  and other entities collectively providing health care services. A listing of the OHCAs we  participate in is available from the Privacy Official.
  4. Appointment Reminders. We may use and disclose medical information to contact and remind  you about appointments. If you are not home, we may leave this information on your answering machine or in a message left with the person answering the phone. 
  5. Sign In Sheet. We may use and disclose medical information about you by having you sign in  when you arrive at our office. We may also call out your name when we are ready to see you.  
  6. Notification and Communication With Family. We may disclose your health information to  notify or assist in notifying a family member, your personal representative or another person  responsible for your care about your location, your general condition or, unless you had instructed  us otherwise, in the event of your death. In the event of a disaster, we may disclose information to  a relief organization so that they may coordinate these notification efforts. We may also disclose  information to someone who is involved with your care or helps pay for your care. If you are able  and available to agree or object, we will give you the opportunity to object prior to making these  disclosures, although we may disclose this information in a disaster even over your objection if  we believe it is necessary to respond to the emergency circumstances. If you are unable or  unavailable to agree or object, our health professionals will use their best judgment in  communication with your family and others.  
  7. Marketing. Provided we do not receive any payment for making these communications, we may  contact you to give you information about products or services related to your treatment, case  management or care coordination, or to direct or recommend other treatments, therapies, health care providers or settings of care that may be of interest to you. We may similarly describe  products or services provided by this practice and tell you which health plans this practice  participates in. We may also encourage you to maintain a healthy lifestyle and get recommended  tests, participate in a disease management program, provide you with small gifts, tell you about  government sponsored health programs or encourage you to purchase a product or service when  we see you, for which we may be paid. Finally, we may receive compensation which covers our  cost of reminding you to take and refill your medication, or otherwise communicate about a drug  or biologic that is currently prescribed for you. We will not otherwise use or disclose your  medical information for marketing purposes or accept any payment for other marketing  communications without your prior written authorization. The authorization will disclose whether  we receive any compensation for any marketing activity you authorize, and we will stop any  future marketing activity to the extent you revoke that authorization.
  1. Sale of Health Information. We will not sell your health information without your prior written  authorization. The authorization will disclose that we will receive compensation for your health  information if you authorize us to sell it, and we will stop any future sales of your information to  the extent that you revoke that authorization.  
  2. Required by Law. As required by law, we will use and disclose your health information, but we  will limit our use or disclosure to the relevant requirements of the law. When the law requires us  to report abuse, neglect or domestic violence, or respond to judicial or administrative  proceedings, or to law enforcement officials, we will further comply with the requirement set  forth below concerning those activities.  
  3. Public Health. We may, and are sometimes required by law, to disclose your health information  to public health authorities for purposes related to: preventing or controlling disease, injury or  disability; reporting child, elder or dependent adult abuse or neglect; reporting domestic violence;  reporting to the Food and Drug Administration problems with products and reactions to  medications; and reporting disease or infection exposure. When we report suspected elder or  dependent adult abuse or domestic violence, we will inform you or your personal representative  promptly unless in our best professional judgment, we believe the notification would place you at  risk of serious harm or would require informing a personal representative we believe is  responsible for the abuse or harm.  
  4. Health Oversight Activities. We may, and are sometimes required by law, to disclose your health  information to health oversight agencies during the course of audits, investigations, inspections,  licensure and other proceedings, subject to the limitations imposed by law.  
  5. Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. We may, and are sometimes required by law, to disclose  your health information in the course of any administrative or judicial proceeding to the extent  expressly authorized by a court or administrative order. We may also disclose information about  you in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process if reasonable efforts  have been made to notify you of the request and you have not objected, or if your objections have  been resolved by a court or administrative order.  
  6. Law Enforcement. We may, and are sometimes required by law, to disclose your health  information to a law enforcement official for purposes such as identifying or locating a suspect,  fugitive, material witness or missing person, complying with a court order, warrant, grand jury  subpoena and other law enforcement purposes.  
  7. Coroners. We may, and are often required by law, to disclose your health information to coroners  in connection with their investigations of deaths.  
  8. Organ or Tissue Donation. We may disclose your health information to organizations involved in  procuring, banking or transplanting organs and tissues.  
  9. Public Safety. We may, and are sometimes required by law, to disclose your health information to  appropriate persons in order to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or  safety of a particular person or the general public. 
  10. Proof of Immunization. We will disclose proof of immunization to a school that is required to  have it before admitting a student where you have agreed to the disclosure on behalf of yourself  or your dependent.  
  11. Specialized Government Functions. We may disclose your health information for military or  national security purposes or to correctional institutions or law enforcement officers that have you  in their lawful custody.  
  12. Workers’ Compensation. We may disclose your health information as necessary to comply with  workers’ compensation laws. For example, to the extent your care is covered by workers’  compensation, we will make periodic reports to your employer about your condition. We are also  required by law to report cases of occupational injury or occupational illness to the employer or  workers’ compensation insurer.  
  13. Change of Ownership. In the event that this medical practice is sold or merged with another  organization, your health information/record will become the property of the new owner,  although you will maintain the right to request that copies of your health information be  transferred to another physician or medical group.  
  14. Breach Notification. In the case of a breach of unsecured protected health information, we will  notify you as required by law. If you have provided us with a current e-mail address, we may use  e-mail to communicate information related to the breach. In some circumstances our business  associate may provide the notification. We may also provide notification by other methods as  appropriate.

B. When This Medical Practice May Not Use or Disclose Your Health Information

Except as described in this Notice of Privacy Practices, this medical practice will, consistent with its legal  obligations, not use or disclose health information which identifies you without your written  authorization. If you do authorize this medical practice to use or disclose your health information for  another purpose, you may revoke your authorization in writing at any time. 

C. Your Health Information Rights

  1. Right to Request Special Privacy Protections. You have the right to request restrictions on certain  uses and disclosures of your health information by a written request specifying what information  you want to limit, and what limitations on our use or disclosure of that information you wish to  have imposed. If you tell us not to disclose information to your commercial health plan  concerning health care items or services for which you paid for in full out-of-pocket, we will  abide by your request, unless we must disclose the information for treatment or legal reasons. We  reserve the right to accept or reject any other request, and will notify you of our decision.  
  2. Right to Request Confidential Communications. You have the right to request that you receive  your health information in a specific way or at a specific location. For example, you may ask that  we send information to a particular e-mail account or to your work address. We will comply with  all reasonable requests submitted in writing which specify how or where you wish to receive  these communications.  
  3. Right to Inspect and Copy. You have the right to inspect and copy your health information, with  limited exceptions. To access your medical information, you must submit a written request  detailing what information you want access to, whether you want to inspect it or get a copy of it,  and if you want a copy, your preferred form and format. We will provide copies in your requested form and format if it is readily producible, or we will provide you with an alternative format you  find acceptable, or if we can’t agree and we maintain the record in an electronic format, your  choice of a readable electronic or hardcopy format. We will also send a copy to any other person  you designate in writing. We will charge a reasonable fee which covers our costs for labor,  supplies, postage, and if requested and agreed to in advance, the cost of preparing an explanation  or summary. We may deny your request under limited circumstances. If we deny your request to  access your child’s records or the records of an incapacitated adult you are representing because  we believe allowing access would be reasonably likely to cause substantial harm to the patient,  you will have a right to appeal our decision. If we deny your request to access your  psychotherapy notes, you will have the right to have them transferred to another mental health  professional.
  1. Right to Amend or Supplement. You have a right to request that we amend your health  information that you believe is incorrect or incomplete. You must make a request to amend in  writing, and include the reasons you believe the information is inaccurate or incomplete. We are  not required to change your health information, and will provide you with information about this  medical practice’s denial and how you can disagree with the denial. We may deny your request if  we do not have the information, if we did not create the information (unless the person or entity  that created the information is no longer available to make the amendment), if you would not be  permitted to inspect or copy the information at issue, or if the information is accurate and  complete as is. If we deny your request, you may submit a written statement of your disagreement  with that decision, and we may, in turn, prepare a written rebuttal. All information related to any  request to amend will be maintained and disclosed in conjunction with any subsequent disclosure  of the disputed information.  
  2. Right to an Accounting of Disclosures. You have a right to receive an accounting of disclosures  of your health information made by this medical practice, except that this medical practice does  not have to account for the disclosures provided to you or pursuant to your written authorization,  or as described in paragraphs 1 (treatment), 2 (payment), 3 (health care operations), 6  (notification and communication with family) and 18 (specialized government functions) of  Section A of this Notice of Privacy Practices or disclosures for purposes of research or public health which exclude direct patient identifiers, or which are incident to a use or disclosure otherwise permitted or authorized by law, or the disclosures to a health oversight agency or law enforcement official to the extent this medical practice has received notice from that agency or official that providing this accounting would be reasonably likely to impede their activities.  
  3. Right to a Paper or Electronic Copy of this Notice. You have a right to notice of our legal duties  and privacy practices with respect to your health information, including a right to a paper copy of  this Notice of Privacy Practices, even if you have previously requested its receipt by e-mail.  

If you would like to have a more detailed explanation of these rights or if you would like to exercise one or more of these rights, contact our Privacy Officer listed at the top of this Notice of Privacy  Practices. 

D. Changes to this Notice of Privacy Practices

We reserve the right to amend this Notice of Privacy Practices at any time in the future. Until such amendment is made, we are required by law to comply with the terms of this Notice that are currently in effect.  After an amendment is made, the revised Notice of Privacy Protections will apply to all protected health information that we maintain, regardless of when it was created or received. We will keep a copy of the 

current notice posted in our reception area, and a copy will be available at each appointment. We will also post the current notice on our website.

E. Complaints

Complaints about this Notice of Privacy Practices or how this medical practice handles your health information should be directed to our Privacy Officer listed at the top of this Notice of Privacy Practices.  

If you are not satisfied with the manner in which this office handles a complaint, you may submit a formal  complaint to:  

[the local DHHS Office of Civil Rights]  

OCRMail@hhs.gov  

The complaint form may be found at www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/hipcomplaint.pdf. You will not be penalized in any way for filing a complaint.