Kingfisher Physical Therapy, P.C.- Notice of Privacy Practices Effective Date: 2.1.2025 THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. If you have any questions about this notice, please contact our privacy officer: Jodi Sawicki Roberts, PT – 3513 Thomas Drive, Ste 4, Lakeville, NY 14480. Ph # 585-447-2672
1. Summary of Rights and Obligations Concerning Health Information. Kingfisher Physical Therapy, P.C. is committed to preserving the privacy and confidentiality of your health information, which is required both by federal and state law. We are required by law to provide you with this notice of our legal duties, your rights, and our privacy practices, with respect to using and disclosing your health information that is created or retained by Kingfisher Physical Therapy, P.C. Each time you visit us, we make a record of your visit. Typically, this record contains your symptoms, examination and test results, our assessment of your condition, a record of your treatment interventions, and a plan for future care or treatment. We have an ethical and legal obligation to protect the privacy of your health information, and we will only use or disclose this information in limited circumstances. In general, we may use and disclose your health information to: plan your care and treatment, provide treatment by us or others, communicate with other providers such as referring physicians, receive payment from you, your health plan, or your health insurer, make quality assessments and work to improve the care we render and the outcomes we achieve( known as health care operations), make you aware of services and treatments that may be of interest to you and comply with state and federal laws that require us to disclose your health information. We may also use or disclose your health information where you have authorized us to do so. Although your health record belongs to Kingfisher Physical Therapy, P.C the information in your record belongs to you. You have the right to: ensure the accuracy of your health record, request confidential communication between you and your physician and request limits on the use and disclosure of your health information, and request an accounting of certain uses and disclosures of health information we have made about you. We are required to: maintain the privacy of your health information, provide you with notice, such as this Notice of Privacy Practices, as to our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to information we collect and maintain about you, abide by the terms of our most current Notice of Privacy Practices, notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction, and accommodate reasonable requests you may have to communicate health information by alternative means or at alternative locations.
We reserve the right to change our practices and to make the new provisions effective for all your health information that we maintain. Should our information practices change, a revised Notice of Privacy Practices will be available upon request. If there is a material change, a revised Notice of Privacy Practices will be distributed to the extent required by law. We will not use or disclose your health information without your authorization, except as described in our most current Notice of Privacy Practices. In the following pages, we explain our privacy practices and your rights to your health information in more detail.
2. We may use or disclose your medical information in the following ways:
Treatment- We may use and disclose your protected health information to provide, coordinate and manage your rehab care. That may include consulting with other health care providers about your health care or referring you to another health care provider for treatment including physicians, nurses, and other health care providers involved in your care. For example, we may release your protected health information to a specialist to whom you have been referred to ensure that the specialist has the necessary information he or she needs to diagnose and/or treat you.
Payment- We may use and disclose your health information so that we may bill and collect payment for the services that we provided to you. For example, we may contact your health insurer to verify your eligibility for benefits and may need to disclose to it some details of your medical condition or expected course of treatment. We may use or disclose your information so that a bill may be sent to you, your health insurer, or a family member. The information on or accompanying the bill may include information that identifies you and your diagnosis, as well as services rendered, any procedures performed, and supplies used. If, however, you pay cash at the time of service, we will not disclose your protected health information to your health plan or any other responsible payer unless you sign an authorization for us to do so. If we agree to await payment from your health plan or put you on a payment plan, we may provide health information to a collection agency, small claims court or other court of competent jurisdiction in the event your claims for our services are not paid within 90 days and you have not made alternative payment arrangements with us.
Health Care Operations-We may use and disclose your health information to assist in the operation of our practice. For example, we may use information in your health record to assess the care and outcomes in your case and others like it as part of a continuous effort to improve the quality and effectiveness of the healthcare and services we provide. We may use and disclose your health information to conduct cost-management and business planning activities for our practice.
Students and volunteers- Students in rehabilitation or health service-related programs and/or volunteers work in our facility from time to time to meet their educational requirements, to get health care experience or to assist with classes. These students/volunteers may observe or participate in your treatment or use your health information to assist in their training. You have the right to refuse to be examined, observed, or treated by any student. If you do not want a student or volunteer to observe or participate in your care, please notify your provider.
Business Associates- Kingfisher Physical Therapy, P.C sometimes contracts with third-party business associates for services. We may disclose your health information to our business associates so that they can perform the job we have asked them to do. To protect your health information, however, we require our business associates to appropriately safeguard your information.
Participation in Health Information Exchanges – We may participate in one or more health information exchanges (HIEs) and may electronically share your medical information for treatment, payment, and permitted health care operations purposes with other participants in the HIE. Depending on state law requirements, you may be asked to “opt-in” in order to share your information with HIEs, or you may be provided the opportunity to “opt-out” of HIE participation. HIEs allow your health care providers to efficiently access your medical information that is necessary for treating you and other lawful purposes.
Appointment Reminders- We may use and disclose Information in your medical record to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment.
Treatment Options- We may use and disclose your health information in order to inform you of alternative treatments.
Individuals involved in your care or payment for your care – We may release health information about you to a family member, guardian, or friend who is involved in your medical care. We also may give information about you to someone who helps pay for your care. We may disclose the health information of minor children to their parents or guardians unless such disclosure is otherwise prohibited by law. However, please note that state law may prohibit us from disclosing medical information to a parent or guardian at the child’s request if the child is of a certain age. . If you have any objection to sharing your medical information in this way, please contact the Privacy Officer, whose contact information is listed at the end of this Notice.
Health-Related Benefits and Services- We may use and disclose health information to tell you about health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.
Newsletters and Other Communications- We may use your personal information in order to communicate to you via newsletters (including electronic newsletters – subject to applicable anti-spam laws), mailings, or other means regarding treatment options, health related information, disease management programs, wellness programs, or other community based initiatives or activities in which our practice is participating.
Disaster Relief- We may disclose your health information in disaster relief situations where disaster relief organizations seek your health information to coordinate your care or notify family and friends of your location and condition. We will provide you with an opportunity to agree or object to such a disclosure whenever we can practicably do so.
Marketing- We must obtain your authorization before we use or disclose your health information for marketing purposes, unless that marketing relates to certain treatments you are already undergoing (or available alternatives), the marketing is conducted face-to-face, or the marketing involves a promotional gift of nominal value. If we receive any payment for the use of your information for marketing purposes, we will tell you so in the authorization that we ask you to sign.
Fundraising- We may use certain information (name only, address, telephone number, date of service, age, and gender) to contact you as part of fundraising efforts our practice participates in. If you do not wish to be contacted about our fundraising activities, please notify us or our privacy officer.
Public Health Activities- We may use or disclose health information about you for public health activities, such as assisting public health authorities or other legal authorities to prevent or control disease, injury, or disability; reporting deaths; and reporting reactions to medications or problems with products.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)- We may disclose to the FDA and other regulatory agencies of the federal and state government health information relating to adverse events with respect to food, supplements, products and product defects, or post-marketing monitoring information to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacement.
Health and Safety – We may use or disclose health information about you to avert a serious threat to the health or safety of you, the public, or any other person pursuant to applicable law.
Protective Services for the President and Others – Your medical information may be disclosed to authorized federal officials so they may provide protection to the President, other authorized persons, or foreign heads of state, or to conduct special investigations.
National Security and Intelligence Activities – We may disclose your medical information to authorized federal officials for national security and intelligence activities authorized by law.
Military and Veterans – If you are a member of the armed forces, your medical information may be released as required by military command authorities. Medical Examiners and Others – We may use or disclose health information about you to medical examiners, coroners, or funeral directors to allow them to perform their lawful duties.
Organ and Tissue Donation – If you are an organ or tissue donor, we may use or disclose health information about you to organizations that help with organ, eye, and tissue donation and transplantation, or to an organ donation bank.
Inmates-If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or under the custody of a law enforcement official, we may release medical information about you to the correctional institution or law enforcement official.
Research- We may disclose your health information to researchers when the information does not directly identify you as the source of the information or when a waiver has been issued by an institutional review board or a privacy board that has reviewed the research proposal and protocols for compliance with standards to ensure the privacy of your health information.
Workers Compensation- We may disclose your health information to the extent authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with laws relating to workers’ compensation or other similar programs established by law.
Law Enforcement- We may use and disclose health information about you as required by federal, state, or local law
De-identified Information- We may use your health information to create "de-identified" information, or we may disclose your information to a business associate so that the business associate can create de-identified information on our behalf. When we "de-identify" health information, we remove information that identifies you as the source of the information. Health information is considered "de-identified" only if there is no reasonable basis to believe that the health information could be used to identify you.
Personal Representative- If you have a personal representative, such as a legal guardian, we will treat that person as if that person is you with respect to disclosures of your health information. If you become deceased, we may disclose health information to an executor or administrator of your estate to the extent that the person is acting as your personal representative.
Limited Data Set- We may use and disclose a limited data set that does not contain specific readily identifiable information about you for research, public health, and health care operations. We may not disseminate the limited data set unless we enter into a data use agreement with the recipient in which the recipient agrees to limit the use of that data set to the purposes for which it was provided, ensure the security of the data, and not identify the information or use it to contact any individual.
3. Authorization for Other Uses of Medical Information-Uses of medical information not covered by our most current Notice of Privacy Practices or the laws that apply to us will be made only with your written authorization. You should be aware that we are not responsible for any further disclosures made by the party you authorize us to release information to. If you provide us with authorization to use or disclose medical information about you, you may revoke that authorization, in writing, at any time. If you revoke your authorization, we will no longer use or disclose medical information about you for the reasons covered by your written authorization, except to the extent that we have already taken action in reliance on your authorization or, if the authorization was obtained as a condition of obtaining insurance coverage and the insurer has the right to contest a claim or the insurance coverage itself. We are unable to take back any disclosures we have already made with your authorization, and we are required to retain our records of the care that we provided to you.
4. Your Health Information Rights-You have the following rights regarding medical information we gather about you:
A. Right to Obtain a Paper Copy of This Notice- You have the right to a paper copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices at any time. Even if you have agreed to receive this notice electronically, you are still entitled to a paper copy.
B. Right to Inspect and Copy- You have the right to inspect and copy medical information that may be used to make decisions about your care. This includes medical and billing records. To inspect and copy medical information, you must submit a written request to our privacy officer. We will supply you with a form for such a request. If you request a copy of your medical information, we may charge a reasonable fee for the costs of labor, postage, and supplies associated with your request. We may not charge you a fee if you require your medical information for a claim for benefits under the Social Security Act (such as claims for Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, and any other state or federal needs-based benefit program. If your medical information is maintained in an electronic health record, you also have the right to request that an electronic copy of your record be sent to you or to another individual or entity. We may charge you a reasonable cost-based fee limited to the labor costs associated with transmitting the electronic health record.
C. Right to Amend- If you feel that medical information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information. You have the right to request an amendment for as long as we retain the information. To request an amendment, your request must be made in writing and submitted to our privacy officer. In addition, you must provide a reason that supports your request. 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: • was not created by us, unless the person or entity that created the information is no longer available to make the amendment; • is not part of the medical information kept by or for [name of provider]; • is not part of the information which you would be permitted to inspect and copy; or • is accurate and complete. If we deny your request for amendment, you may submit a statement of disagreement. We may reasonably limit the length of this statement. Your letter of disagreement will be included in your medical record, but we may also include a rebuttal statement.
D. Right to an Accounting of Disclosures-You have the right to request an accounting of disclosures of your health information made by us. In your accounting, we are not required to list certain disclosures, including: • disclosures made for treatment, payment, and health care operations purposes or disclosures made incidental to treatment, payment, and health care operations, however, if the disclosures were made through an electronic health record, you have the right to request an accounting for such disclosures that were made during the previous 3 years; • disclosures made pursuant to your authorization; • disclosures made to create a limited data set; • disclosures made directly to you. To request an accounting of disclosures, you must submit your request in writing to our privacy officer. Your request must state a time period which may not be longer than six years and may not include dates before April 14, 2003. Your request should indicate in what form you would like the accounting of disclosures (for example, on paper or electronically by e-mail). The first accounting of disclosures you request within any 12-month period will be free. For additional requests within the same period, we may charge you for the reasonable costs of providing the accounting of disclosures. We will notify you of the costs involved and you may choose to withdraw or modify your request at that time before any costs are incurred. Under limited circumstances mandated by federal and state law, we may temporarily deny your request for an accounting of disclosures.
E. Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the medical information we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment, or health care operations. If you paid out-of-pocket for a specific item or service, you have the right to request that medical information with respect to that item or service not be disclosed to a health plan for purposes of payment or health care operations, and we are required to honor that request. You also have the right to request a limit on the medical information we communicate about you to someone who is involved in your care or the payment for your care. Except as noted above, we are not required to agree to your request. If we do agree, we will comply with your request unless the restricted information is needed to provide you with emergency treatment. To request restrictions, you must make your request in writing to our privacy officer. In your request, you must tell us: • what information you want to limit; • whether you want to limit our use, disclosure, or both; and • to whom you want the limits to apply.
F. 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 e-mail. To request confidential communications, you must make your request in writing to your provider or our privacy officer. We will not ask you the reason for your request. We will accommodate all reasonable requests. Your request must specify how or where you wish to be contacted.
G. Right to Receive Notice of a Breach-We are required to notify you by first class mail or by e-mail (if you have indicated a preference to receive information by e-mail), of any breaches of Unsecured Protected Health Information as soon as possible, but in any event, no later than 60 days following the discovery of the breach. “Unsecured Protected Health Information” is information that is not secured through the use of a technology or methodology identified by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to render the Protected Health Information unusable, unreadable, and undecipherable to unauthorized users. The notice is required to include the following information: • a brief description of the breach, including the date of the breach and the date of its discovery, if known; • a description of the type of Unsecured Protected Health Information involved in the breach; • steps you should take to protect yourself from potential harm resulting from the breach; • a brief description of actions we are taking to investigate the breach, mitigate losses, and protect against further breaches; • contact information, including a toll-free telephone number, e-mail address, Web site or postal address to permit you to ask questions or obtain additional information. In the event the breach involves 10 or more patients whose contact information is out of date we will post a notice of the breach on the home page of our Web site or in a major print or broadcast media. If the breach involves more than 500 patients in the state or jurisdiction, we will send notices to prominent media outlets. If the breach involves more than 500 patients, we are required to immediately notify the Secretary. We also are required to submit an annual report to the Secretary of a breach that involved less than 500 patients during the year and will maintain a written log of breaches involving less than 500 patients.
5. Complaints- If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with our privacy officer, noted at the top of this policy, or with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Ave, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201. To file a complaint with us, contact our privacy officer at the address listed above. All complaints must be submitted in writing and should be submitted within 180 days of when you knew or should have known that the alleged violation occurred. See the Office for Civil Rights website, www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/ for more information. You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.