Notice of HIPAA Privacy Practices
This notice is for your information. A. Boss Opticians, Inc. understands that your personal health information is confidential. Personal health information is protected health information that individually identifies you and relates to past, present and future health care or payment for such heath care. We are required by federal privacy regulations to keep personal health information about you private; give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your personal health information; and follow the terms of the notice that are currently in effect.
How we may use and disclose personal health information.
In performing our duties, we may use and disclose your personal health information in various ways. We have provided you with examples in certain categories; however, not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. Such disclosures include:
Treatment
We may use or disclose personal health information to your providers, including, optometrists, optical laboratories, or physicians who participate in the provision of your health care. We may provide you with general care information regarding products or options (e.g. new types of lenses or frames) through telephone mail or e-mail.
Payment
When you use your health care or vision benefits, we may use and disclose personal health Information about you in several ways, such as, to determine your eligibility in a vision or health plan, determine your plan benefits, bill and collect payment, coordinate your benefits, or investigate a claim. For example, we may send a claim to your vision plan identifying you and services provided to you so that we may be paid. We may release personal health information about your dependents to you. We may provide you with an explanation of benefits for you or your dependants.
Persons involved in care
We may use our discretion to disclose personal health information to notify a family member, your personal representative or another person involved in your care. For example, we may allow a person to pick up your finished glasses or a copy of your prescription. We may disclose your personal health information to a family member, friend or other person to the extent necessary to help with your care or with payment for your care.
Additional uses or disclosures
We may disclose personal health information about you concerning:
* Military as required by military command authorities if you are serving in the military.
* Law enforcement to respond to law enforcement official, court or administrative order or other lawful purposes.
* Coroners, Medical examiners.
* Regulatory or administrative oversight to state insurance departments, office of civil rights, department of health and human services and others that regulate us.
* Contractors who are out business associates and provide services to us who will be required to protect you personal health information.
Disclosure as you request
We may only use and disclose personal health information as generally described in this notice or according to laws that apply to us. Other uses or disclosure of your personal health information will be made only with your written permission, identified as an authorization.
If you provide us with authorization, you may revoke that permission at any time by sending a written request to us at A. Boss Opticians, Inc. 938 Brookline Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15226, Attention Privacy Officer.
If you revoke your permission, we will no longer use or disclose personal health information about you for the reasons stated in your authorization, except to the extent that we have already taken action in reliance on the authorization.
Your rights regarding personal health information
You have the following rights regarding your personal health information:
- Right to inspect and copy. You have the right to inspect and copy personal health information that we maintain.
- Right to amend. If you feel that personal heath information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend your personal health information. We may deny your request for an amendment if it is not in writing or does not include a reason to support the request, the current information is accurate and complete or if we did not create the information.
- Right to Accounting of Disclosure. You have the right to request a list of our disclosures for purposes other than treatment, payment or health care operations or disclosures made to you or your representative, authorized by you, or made to law enforcement personnel.
- Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to request that we restrict the way we use or disclose personal heath information regarding payment or health care operations. You also have the right to request that we restrict the personal health information we disclose about you to someone who is involved in your care or the payment for your care, like a family member or friend. We are not required to agree with your request.
This notice is available at our offices. You have the right to request a paper copy of this notice.