Privacy Policies

NOTE: THE FOLLOWING IS FEDERALLY REQUIRED LANGUAGE FOR ALL MEDICAL PRACTICES. PLEASE TAKE THE TERM “YOU” TO MEAN “YOUR CHILD” IF THAT SO APPLIES.

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

As Required by the Privacy Regulations Created as a Result of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and Revised Omnibus HIPAA Regulations Effective September 23, 2013.

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU (AS A PATIENT OF THIS PRACTICE) MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO YOUR INDIVIDUALLY IDENTIFIABLE HEALTH INFORMATION.

A. OUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR PRIVACY

Our practice is dedicated to maintaining the privacy of your individually identifiable health information (IIHI). Note that some practices refer to IIHI as PHI, or personally identifiable information. In conducting our business, we will create records regarding you and the treatment and services we provide to you. We are required by law to maintain the confidentiality of health information that identifies you. We also are required by law to provide you with this notice of our legal duties and the privacy practices that we maintain in our practice concerning your IIHI. By federal and state law, we must follow the terms of the notice of privacy practices that we have in effect at the time.

We realize that these laws are complicated, but we must provide you with the following important information:

How We May Use and Disclose Your IIHI
Your Privacy Rights in Your IIHI
Our Obligations Concerning the Use and Disclosure of Your IIHI

The terms of this notice apply to all records containing your IIHI that are created or retained by our practice. We reserve the right to revise or amend this Notice of Privacy Practices. Any revision or amendment to this notice will be effective for all of your records that our practice has created or maintained in the past and for any of your records that we may create or maintain in the future. Our practice will post a copy of our current notice in our offices in a visible location at all times and on our website, and you may request a copy of our most current notice at any time.

B. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS NOTICE, PLEASE CONTACT:

Atlantic Pediatrics RI
1145 Reservoir Avenue, Suite 124
Cranston, RI 02920
Phone: (401) 943-7337

C. WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE YOUR INDIVIDUALLY IDENTIFIABLE HEALTH INFORMATION (IIHI) IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS

The following categories describe the different ways in which we may use and disclose your IIHI.

1. Treatment

Our practice may use your IIHI to treat you. For example, we may ask you to have laboratory tests (such as blood or urine tests), and we may use the results to help us reach a diagnosis. We might use your IIHI in order to write a prescription for you, or we might disclose your IIHI to a pharmacy when we order a prescription for you. Many of the people who work for our practice—including, but not limited to, our doctors and staff—may use or disclose your IIHI in order to treat you or to assist others in your treatment. We may access external sources on your child’s health, such as vaccine history or medication history. Additionally, we may disclose your IIHI to others who may assist in your care, such as parents of a minor child, or to anyone they assigned to bring a child into the office for medical care, such as a grandparent or a babysitter. Finally, we may also disclose your IIHI to other health care providers, including school nurses, for purposes related to your treatment.

2. Payment

Our practice may use and disclose your IIHI in order to bill and collect payment for the services and items you may receive from us. For example, we may contact your health insurer to certify that you are eligible for benefits (and for what range of benefits), and we may provide your insurer with details regarding your treatment to determine if your insurer will cover, or pay for, your treatment. We also may use and disclose your IIHI to obtain payment from third parties that may be responsible for such costs, such as family members. Also, we may use your IIHI to bill you directly for services and items. We may disclose your IIHI to other health care providers and entities to assist in their billing and collection efforts.

3. Health Care Operations

Our practice may use and disclose your IIHI to operate our business. As examples of the ways in which we may use and disclose your information for our operations, our practice may use your IIHI to evaluate the quality of care you received from us or to conduct cost-management and business planning activities for our practice. We may disclose your IIHI to other health care providers and entities to assist in their health care operations.

4. Release of Information to Family or Friends

Our practice may release your IIHI to a friend or family member that is involved in your care or who assists in taking care of you. For example, a parent or guardian may ask that a babysitter or grandparent take their child to the pediatrician’s office for treatment of a cold. In this example, the babysitter may have access to this child’s medical information.

5. Release of Information to Schools, Camps, Day Care, or Employer

Upon your verbal or written request, we will share information on your child’s health as necessary to support medical care or educational planning at school, daycare, or camp or to give the parent or patient a written excuse from work, school, or sports.

6. Disclosures Required By Law

Our practice will use and disclose your IIHI when we are required to do so by federal, state, or local law.

7. Voice Mail and Answering Machines

We may leave information that we feel is nonsensitive in the matter on your voice mail or answering machine, either on your cell phone or home phone, or to a family member that answers your phone. Such information may be left to remind you of upcoming appointments, to ask you to call for lab results or to leave results, if normal, on routine, nonsensitive lab tests, etc.

8. Website and Email Privacy Issues

Our websites are not interactive, do not accept any communication with us, and we do not collect any personal information whatsoever from visitors, including names, email addresses, or personal medical information. Our websites do not issue their own cookies, but certain web browsers may issue one to retain the website in its memory. Our websites do not host any form of advertisement and are funded solely by Atlantic Pediatrics RI. Friendly links to other websites, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, may contain advertisement material over which we have no control and do not necessarily endorse.

As a general office policy, we will NOT communicate with patients or parents via email or via a website such as Facebook. We strongly feel that communication with parents or patients via email is mostly unsecured but definitely inappropriate in the pediatric setting. Quite simply, we cannot discern the level of concern in a parent’s voice in an email, whereas by telephone, such concerns become more obvious. Since the webmaster of our site may or may not be a medical professional, we will not answer emails sent to that address due to the above policy. Contact us instead by phoning us at (401) 943-7337.

D. USE AND DISCLOSURE OF YOUR IIHI IN CERTAIN SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

The following categories describe unique scenarios in which we may use or disclose your identifiable health information:

1. Public Health Risks

Our practice may disclose your IIHI to public health authorities that are authorized by law to collect information for the purpose of:

Maintaining Vital Records, Such As Births and Deaths
Reporting Child Abuse or Neglect
Preventing or Controlling Disease, Injury, or Disability
Notifying a Person Regarding Potential Exposure to a Communicable Disease
Notifying a Person Regarding a Potential Risk for Spreading or Contracting a Disease or Condition
Reporting Reactions to Drugs or Problems with Products or Devices
Notifying Individuals if a Product or Device They May Be Using Has Been Recalled
Notifying Appropriate Government Agencies and Authorities Regarding the Possible Abuse or Neglect of an Adult Patient (Including Domestic Violence)
Notifying Your Employer Under Limited Circumstances Related Primarily to Workplace Injury or Illness or Medical Surveillance

2. Health Oversight Activities

Our practice may disclose your IIHI to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law. Oversight activities can include, for example, investigations, inspections, audits, surveys, licensure, and disciplinary actions; civil, administrative, and criminal procedures or actions; or other activities necessary for the government to monitor government programs, compliance with civil rights laws, and the health care system in general.

3. Lawsuits and Similar Proceedings

Our practice may use and disclose your IIHI in response to a court or administrative order if you are involved in a lawsuit or similar proceeding. We also may disclose your IIHI in response to a discovery request, subpoena, or other lawful processes by another party involved in the dispute, but only if we have made an effort to inform you of the request or to obtain an order protecting the information the party has requested.

4. Law Enforcement

We may release IIHI if asked to do so by a law enforcement official:

Regarding a Crime Victim in Certain Situations
Concerning a Death We Believe May Have Resulted From Criminal Conduct
Regarding Criminal Conduct at Our Offices
In Response to a Warrant, Summons, Court Order, Subpoena, or Similar Legal Process
To Identify or Locate a Suspect, Material Witness, Fugitive, or Missing Person
In an Emergency, to Report a Crime

5. Deceased Patients

Our practice may release IIHI to the family and caretakers of a patient who has died unless such information has been restricted from release by the patient beforehand. Our practice may release IIHI to a medical examiner or coroner to identify a deceased individual or to identify the cause of death. If necessary, we also may release information in order for funeral directors to perform their jobs.

6. Organ and Tissue Donation

Our practice may release your IIHI to organizations that handle organ, eye, or tissue procurement or transplantation, including organ donation banks, as necessary to facilitate organ or tissue donation and transplantation if you are an organ donor.

7. Serious Threats to Health or Safety

Our practice may use and disclose your IIHI when necessary to reduce or prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of another individual or the public. Under these circumstances, we will only make disclosures to a person or organization able to help prevent the threat.

8. Military

Our practice may disclose your IIHI if you are a member of U.S. or foreign military forces and if required by the appropriate authorities.

9. National Security

Our practice may disclose your IIHI to federal officials for intelligence and national security activities authorized by law. We also may disclose your IIHI to federal officials in order to protect the President, other officials, or foreign heads of state or to conduct investigations.

10. Inmates

Our practice may disclose your IIHI to correctional institutions or law enforcement officials if you are an inmate or under the custody of a law enforcement official. Disclosure for these purposes would be necessary:

for the institution to provide health care services to you;
for the safety and security of the institution; and/or
to protect your health and safety or the health and safety of other individuals.

11. Workers’ Compensation

Our practice may release your IIHI for workers’ compensation, disability, and similar programs.

E. YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR IIHI

You have the following rights regarding the IIHI that we maintain about you:

1. Confidential Communications

You have the right to request that our practice communicates with you about your health and related issues in a particular manner or at a certain location. For instance, you may ask that we contact you at home rather than at work. In order to request a type of confidential communication, you must make a written request to Atlantic Pediatrics RI specifying the requested method of contact or the location where you wish to be contacted. Our practice will accommodate reasonable requests. You do not need to give a reason for your request.

2. Requesting Restrictions

You have the right to request a restriction in our use or disclosure of your IIHI for treatment, payment, or health care operations. Additionally, you have the right to request that we restrict our disclosure of your IIHI to only certain individuals involved in your care or the payment for your care, such as family members and friends. We are not required to agree to your request; however, if we do agree, we are bound by our agreement except when otherwise required by law, in emergencies, or when the information is necessary to treat you. In order to request a restriction on our use or disclosure of your IIHI, you must make your request in writing to Atlantic Pediatrics RI. Your request must describe in a clear and concise fashion:

the information you wish restricted;
whether you are requesting to limit our practice’s use, disclosure, or both; and
to whom you want the limits to apply.

3. Restrictions of Information to Health Insurers

You have the right to restrict certain disclosures of IIHI to health plans in cases where you pay out-of-pocket and in full for the health care item or service.

4. Inspection and Copies

You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of the IIHI that may be used to make decisions about you, including patient medical records and billing records, but not any psychotherapy notes. You must submit your request in writing to Atlantic Pediatrics RI in order to inspect and/or obtain a copy of your IIHI. Our practice may charge a fee for the costs of copying, mailing, labor, and supplies associated with your request. Our practice may deny your request to inspect and/or copy in certain limited circumstances; however, you may request a review of our denial. Another licensed health care professional chosen by us will conduct reviews.

5. Amendment

You may ask us to amend your health information if you believe it is incorrect or incomplete, and you may request an amendment for as long as the information is kept by or for our practice. To request an amendment, a request must be made in writing and submitted to Atlantic Pediatrics RI. You must provide us with a reason that supports your request for amendment. Our practice will deny your request if you fail to submit your request (and the reason supporting your request) in writing. Also, we may deny your request if you ask us to amend information that is, in our opinion:

accurate and complete;
not part of the IIHI kept by or for the practice;
not part of the IIHI, which you would be permitted to inspect and copy; or
not created by our practice, unless the individual or entity that created the information is not available to amend the information.

6. Accounting of Disclosures

All of our patients have the right to request an “accounting of disclosures.” An “accounting of disclosures” is a list of certain non-routine disclosures our practice has made of your IIHI for non-treatment, non-payment, or non-operations purposes. Use of your IIHI as part of the routine patient care in our practice is not required to be documented. For example, the doctor sharing information with our staff; or the billing department using your information to file your insurance claim. In order to obtain an accounting of disclosures, you must submit your request in writing to Atlantic Pediatrics RI. All requests for an “accounting of disclosures” must state a time period, which may not be longer than six (6) years from the date of disclosure and may not include dates before April 14, 2003. The first list you request within a 12-month period is free of charge, but our practice may charge you for additional lists within the same 12-month period. Our practice will notify you of the costs involved with additional requests, and you may withdraw your request before you incur any costs.

7. Notification of Data Breaches

You have a right to or will be notified in the event of a significant data breach of your unsecured IIHI.

8. Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice

You are entitled to receive a paper copy of our notice of privacy practices. You may ask us to give you a copy of this notice at any time. To obtain a paper copy of this notice, contact Atlantic Pediatrics RI at (401) 943-7337.

9. Right to File a Complaint

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with our practice or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. To file a complaint with our practice, contact Atlantic Pediatrics RI at (401) 943-7337. All complaints must be submitted in writing. You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.

10. Right to Provide an Authorization for Other Uses and Disclosures

Our practice will obtain your written authorization for uses and disclosures that are not identified by this notice or permitted by applicable law. Any authorization you provide to us regarding the use and disclosure of your IIHI may be revoked at any time in writing. After you revoke your authorization, we will no longer use or disclose your IIHI for the reasons described in the authorization. Please note that we are required to retain our records of your care.

Again, if you have any questions regarding this notice or our health information privacy policies, please contact Atlantic Pediatrics RI at (401) 943-7337. For the latest information on any aspect of our pediatric practice, please visit our website.