Privacy Notice

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 your legal obligation to keep health information that identifies you private. This Notice describes how we protect your helath information and what rights you have regarding it.

TREATMENT, PAYMENT, AND HELATH 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 examing 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 professionalthat 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 payments, preparing and sending bills or claims, and collecting unpaid amounts. Examples of how we use or disclose your health information for health care operations are: financial or billing audits, internal quality assurance, personnel decision, participation in managed care plans, defense of legal matters, and business planing.

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 usually will not ask you for special written permission.

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 disclosure are:

when a state or federal law mandates that certian health information be reported for a specific purpose.
for public health purposes.
governmental authorities about victims of suspected abuse.
uses and disclosures for health oversight activites, such as for the liscensing of doctors, for audits by medicare, or for investigation of possible violations of health care laws.
judicial and administrative proceedings.
law enforcement purposes.
medical examiner to identify a dead person or to determine the cause of death.
health realted research.
specilized government functions.
de-identified information.
worker's compensation programs.
limited data set for research, public health.
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 you 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 avaiable at our office that might help you. Unless you tell us otherwise, we will mail you an appoinment reminder and/or leave you a reminder message on you home answering machine or with someone who answers your phone if you are not at home.

OTHER USES AND DISCLOSURES

We will not make any other uses or disclosures of your health information unless you sign a written authorization form. The content of an authorization form is determined by federal law.

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION

The law gives you many rights regarding your health information:

YOU CAN:

ask us to restirct our uses and disclosures for purposes of treatment (except emergency care), payment, or health care operations. We do not have to agree to do this, but if we agree, we must honor the restictions that you want. To ask for a restriciton, send a written request to the office contact person.

ask us to communicate with you in a confidential way.

ask to see or to get photocopies of your health information.

ask us to amend your health information if you think that it is incorrect or incomplete. If we agree, we will amend the information within 60 days from when you ask.If we do not agree, you ca write a statement of your position, and we will include it with your health information along with any rebuttal statement that we may write.

BY LAW WE MUST ABIDE BYT THE TERMS OF THIS NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES UNTIL WE CHOOSE TO CHANGE IT. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THIS NOTICE AY ANY TIME AS ALLOWED BY LAW.IF WE CHANGE OUR NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES, WE WILL POST THE NEW NOTICE IN OUR OFFICE, HAVE COPIES AVAIABLE IN OUR OFFICE, AND POST IT ON OUR WEB SITE.