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Privacy Policy

If you have any questions about this notice, please contact the Privacy Contact for the practice:
info@mcnemarcosmeticsurgery.com
This notice was published and becomes effective on April 14, 2003.

Our Pledge Regarding Medical Information

We understand that medical information about you and your health is personal and we are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of your medical information. We create and maintain a record of the care and services that you receive at our practice. We need this record to treat you and to comply with certain legal requirements. This notice applies to all of the records of your care generated by our practice, whether made by your personal doctor or by other personnel within our practice.

This notice advises you about the ways in which we may use and disclose medical information about you. It also describes your rights to access and control your medical information. Medical 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. This notice also describes your rights and explains certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of medical information.

We are required by law to:
Make sure that medical information that identifies you is kept private.

Provide you with this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to medical information about you. Follow the terms described in this notice.

We may change the terms of this 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 by calling our office and requesting that a revised copy be sent to you in the mail, by asking for one at the time of your next office visit, or by accessing our website.

How We May Use and Disclose Medical Information About You

The following categories describe different ways that we may use and disclose medical information. For each category of uses or disclosures, we will explain what we mean and provide examples. Not every use or disclosure in a category will necessarily be listed below. However, all of the ways which we are permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories.

Treatment – We may use medical information about you to provide you with medical treatment or services. We may disclose medical information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, or other practice personnel who are involved in your medical care and treatment. For example, a doctor treating you for a broken leg may need to know if you have diabetes because diabetes may slow the healing process. In addition, the doctor may need to inform the dietitian if you have diabetes so that we can arrange for you to receive information regarding appropriate meals. Different areas of the practice also may share medical information about you in order to coordinate the different things you need, such as prescriptions, lab work and x-rays. We also may disclose medical information about you to people outside the practice who may be involved in your medical care after you leave our office, such as family members, clergy or others we may rely upon or ask to assist us in caring for you.

Payment – We may use and disclose medical information about you so that the treatment and services which we provide to you at our practice, or at a hospital, ambulatory surgery center, nursing home or other site may be billed to and payment may be collected from you and/or your insurance company or other responsible third party. For example, we may need to provide to your health insurance plan information about the services which we provided to you at our practice, hospital or ambulatory surgery center, so that your health plan will pay us or reimburse you for the services. We may also advise your health insurance plan about a treatment you are going to receive in order to obtain prior approval or to determine whether your plan will cover the treatment.

Health Care Operations – We may use and disclose medical information about you for our practice operations. These uses and disclosures are necessary to operate our practice and make sure that all of our patients receive quality care. For example, we may use medical information to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you. We may also combine medical information about many practice patients to decide what additional services the practice should offer, what services are not needed, and whether certain new treatments are effective. We may also disclose information to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, and other practice personnel for review and learning purposes. We may also combine the medical information we have with medical information from other practices to compare how we are doing and see where we can make improvements in the care and services that we offer. We may remove information that identifies you from this set of medical information so others may use it to study health care and health care delivery without learning who the specific patients are.

Appointment Reminders – We may use and disclose medical information in connection with our efforts to remind you that you have an appointment.

Treatment Alternatives – We may use and disclose medical information to tell you about or recommend possible treatment options or alternatives that may be of interest to you. For example, we may use your information to determine whether you qualify for a nutritional counseling program.

Health-Related Benefits and Services – We may use and disclose medical information to tell you about health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.

Fundraising Activities – We may use or disclose your demographic information and the dates that you received treatment from your doctor, as necessary, in order to contact you for fundraising activities supported by our practice. If you do not want to receive these materials, please contact our Privacy Contact and request that these fundraising materials not be sent to you.

Ambulatory Surgery Center Registry – If your care or services are performed at an ambulatory surgery center that is part of our practice, we may include certain limited information about you in the ambulatory surgery registry while you are a patient at the ambulatory surgery center. This information may include your name, location within the ambulatory surgery center, the facility directory, your general condition (e.g., fair, stable, etc.) and your religious affiliation. The registry information, except for your religious affiliation, may also be released to people who ask for you by name. Your religious affiliation may be given to a member of the clergy, even if they don.t ask for you by name. This is so your family, friends and clergy can visit you in the ambulatory surgery center and generally be advised of how you are doing.

Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care – We may release medical information about you to a friend or family member who is involved in your medical care. We may also give information to someone who helps pay for your care. For example, a babysitter responsible for the care of a child may be provided with certain information about the treatment which we provided to the child. We may also advise your family or friends about your condition and that you are in a hospital, ambulatory surgery center or at our office. In addition, we may disclose medical information about you to an entity assisting in a disaster relief effort so that your family can be notified about your condition, status and location.

Research – Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose medical information about you for research purposes. For example, a research project may involve comparing the health and recovery of all patients who received one medication to those who received another, for the same condition. All research projects, however, are subject to a special approval process. This process evaluates a proposed research project and its use of medical information, trying to balance the research needs with patients. need for privacy of their medical information. Before we use or disclose medical information for research, the project will have been approved through this research approval process. We may, however, disclose medical information about you to people preparing to conduct a research project, for example, to help them look for patients with specific medical needs, so long as the medical information they review does not leave the practice. We will almost always ask for your specific permission if the researcher will have access to your name, address or other information that reveals who you are, or will be involved in your care at the practice.

SPECIAL SITUATIONS – Other Permitted and Required Uses and Disclosures That May Be Made Without Your Consent, Authorization or Opportunity to Object:

Health Oversight – We may disclose protected health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations and inspections. Health oversight agencies include government agencies that oversee health plan administration, state insurance regulatory authorities and certain other government regulatory programs.

Public Health Risks – We may disclose medical information about you for public health activities. These activities may include (1) the prevention or control of disease, injury or disability and (2) notifying people of recalls of products they may be using.

Lawsuits and Disputes – If you are involved in a lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose medical information about you in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose medical information about you in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request (which may include written notice to you) or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.

Law Enforcement – We may release medical information if asked to do so by a law enforcement official: (1) in response to a court order, subpoena, warrant, summons or similar process; (2) to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness or missing person; (3) about the victim of a crime if, under certain limited circumstances, we are unable to obtain the person’s agreement; (4) about a death we believe may be the result of criminal conduct; or (5) in emergency circumstances to report a crime, the location of the crime or victims, or the identity, description or location of the person who committed the crime.

For Specific Government Functions – We may disclose your medical information for the following specific government functions: (1) health information of military personnel, as required by military authorities; (2) health information of inmates, to a correctional institution or law enforcement official; and (3) for national security reasons.

Workers’ Compensation – We may disclose your protected health information as authorized to comply with workers’ compensation laws and other similar legally established programs.

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