Notice Of Privacy Practices

HIPAA – NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW HEALTH INFORMATION MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION BY ASTR INSTITUTE, INC. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

I. OUR PLEDGE REGARDING HEALTH INFORMATION:

ASTR Institute understand that health information about you and your health care is personal. We committed to protecting health information about you. We need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with certain legal requirements. This notice will tell you about the ways in which we may use and disclose health information about you. We also describe your rights to the health information we keep about you, and describe certain obligations We have regarding the use and disclosure of your health information. We required by law to:

• Make sure that protected health information (“PHI”) that identifies you is kept private.
• Give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to health information.
• Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.
• We can change the terms of this Notice, and such changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new Notice will be available upon request on ASTR website.

II. HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU:

The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose health information. For each category of uses or disclosures we will explain what we mean and try to give some examples. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, all of the ways we permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories.

For Treatment Payment, or Health Care Operations: Federal privacy rules (regulations) allow health care providers who have direct treatment relationship with the patient/client to use or disclose the patient/client’s personal health information without the patient’s written authorization, to carry out the health care provider’s own treatment, payment or health care operations. We may also disclose your protected health information for the treatment activities of any health care provider. This too can be done without your written authorization. For example, if a clinician were to consult with another licensed health care provider about your condition, we would be permitted to use and disclose your person health information, which is otherwise confidential, in order to assist the clinician in diagnosis and treatment of your mental health condition.

Disclosures for treatment purposes are not limited to the minimum necessary standard. Because therapists and other health care providers need access to the full record and/or full and complete information in order to provide quality care. The word “treatment” includes, among other things, the coordination and management of health care providers with a third party, consultations between health care providers and referrals of a patient for health care from one health care provider to another.

Lawsuits and Disputes: If you are involved in a lawsuit, we may disclose health information in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose health information about your child 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 or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.

III. CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRE YOUR AUTHORIZATION:

1. Medicals Notes. We do keep “notes” as that term is defined in 45 CFR § 164.501, and any use or disclosure of such notes requires your Authorization unless the use or disclosure is:
2. a. For our use in treating you.
3. b. For our use in training or supervising to help them improve their skills in group, joint, family, or individual counseling or therapy.
4. c. For our use in defending myself in legal proceedings instituted by you.
5. d. For use by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to investigate our compliance with HIPAA.
6. e. Required by law and the use or disclosure is limited to the requirements of such law.
7. f. Required by law for certain health oversight activities pertaining to the originator of the notes.
8. g. Required by a coroner who is performing duties authorized by law.
9. h. Required to help avert a serious threat to the health and safety of others.
10. Marketing Purposes. We will not use or disclose your PHI for marketing purposes.
11. Sale of PHI. We will not sell your PHI in the regular course of our business.

IV. CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES DO NOT REQUIRE YOUR AUTHORIZATION.

Subject to certain limitations in the law, we can use and disclose your PHI without your Authorization for the following reasons:

1. When disclosure is required by state or federal law, and the use or disclosure complies with and is limited to the relevant requirements of such law.
2. For public health activities, including reporting suspected child, elder, or dependent adult abuse, or preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety.
3. For health oversight activities, including audits and investigations.
4. For judicial and administrative proceedings, including responding to a court or administrative order, although our preference is to obtain an Authorization from you before doing so.
5. For law enforcement purposes, including reporting crimes occurring on our premises.
6. To coroners or medical examiners, when such individuals are performing duties authorized by law.
7. For research purposes, including studying and comparing the health of patients who received one form of therapy versus those who received another form of therapy for the same condition.
8. Specialized government functions, including, ensuring the proper execution of military missions; protecting the President of the United States; conducting intelligence or counter-intelligence operations; or, helping to ensure the safety of those working within or housed in correctional institutions.
9. For workers’ compensation purposes. Although our preference is to obtain an Authorization from you, I may provide your PHI in order to comply with workers’ compensation laws.
10. Appointment reminders and health related benefits or services. We may use and disclose your PHI to contact you to remind you that you have an appointment with us. We may also use and disclose your PHI to tell you about treatment alternatives, or other health care services or benefits that I offer.
11. We may disclose your health care information to other healthcare professionals within our practice for the purpose of treatment, payment or healthcare operations.
12. We may disclose your health information to your insurance provider for the purpose of payment or health care operations. 
13. We may disclose your health information as necessary to comply with State Workers’ Compensation Laws.
14. We may disclose your health information to notify or assist in notifying a family member, or another person responsible for your care about your medical condition or in the event of an emergency or of your death.
15. As required by law, we may disclose your health information to public health authorities for purposes related to:  preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability, reporting child abuse or neglect, reporting domestic violence, reporting to the Food and Drug Administration problems with products and reactions to medications, and reporting disease or infection exposure.
16. We may disclose your health information in the course of any administrative or judicial proceeding.
17. We may disclose your health information to a law enforcement official for purposes such as identifying or locating a suspect, fugitive, material witness or missing person, complying with a court order or subpoena, and other law enforcement purposes.
18. We may disclose your health information to coroners or medical examiners.
19. We may disclose your health information to organizations involved in procuring, banking, or transplanting organs and tissues.
20. We may disclose your health information to researchers conducting research that has been approved by an Institutional Review Board.
21. It may be necessary to disclose your health information to appropriate persons in order to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a particular person or to the general public.
22. We may disclose your health information for military, national security, prisoner and government benefits purposes.  
23. We may leave a message on an automated answering device or person answering the phone for the purposes of scheduling appointments.  No personal health information will be disclosed during this recording or message other than the date and time of your scheduled appointment along with a request to call our office if you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment.”
24. We may contact you or send your bill by phone, mail, or email. “It is our practice to participate in charitable and marketing events to raise awareness, food donations, gifts, money, etc. During these times, we may send you a letter, post card, invitation or call your home to invite you to participate in the charitable activity.  
25. In the event that we are sold or merged with another organization, your health information/record will become the property of the new owner.

V. CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRE YOU TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO OBJECT.

Disclosures to family, friends, or others. We may provide your PHI to a family member, friend, or other person that you indicate is involved in your care or the payment for your health care, unless you object in whole or in part. The opportunity to consent may be obtained retroactively in emergency situations.

VI. YOU HAVE THE FOLLOWING RIGHTS WITH RESPECT TO YOUR PHI:

1. The Right to Request Limits on Uses and Disclosures of Your PHI. You have the right to ask me not to use or disclose certain PHI for treatment, payment, or health care operations purposes. We am not required to agree to your request, and I may say “no” if we believe it would affect your health care.
2. The Right to Request Restrictions for Out-of-Pocket Expenses Paid for In Full. You have the right to request restrictions on disclosures of your PHI to health plans for payment or health care operations purposes if the PHI pertains solely to a health care item or a health care service that you have paid for out-of-pocket in full.
3. The Right to Choose How We Send PHI to You. You have the right to ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address, and we will agree to all reasonable requests.
4. The Right to See and Get Copies of Your PHI. Other than “medical notes,” you have the right to get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other information that we have about you. We will provide you with a copy of your record, or a summary of it, if you agree to receive a summary, within 30 days of receiving your written request, and we may charge a reasonable, cost based fee for doing so.
5. The Right to Get a List of the Disclosures We Have Made.You have the right to request a list of instances in which we have disclosed your PHI for purposes other than treatment, payment, or health care operations, or for which you provided me with an Authorization. We will respond to your request for an accounting of disclosures within 60 days of receiving your request. We will charge you a reasonable cost based fee for each additional request.
6. The Right to Correct or Update Your PHI. If you believe that there is a mistake in your PHI, or that a piece of important information is missing from your PHI, you have the right to request that we correct the existing information or add the missing information. We may say “no” to your request, but we will tell you why in writing within 60 days of receiving your request.
7. The Right to Get a Paper or Electronic Copy of this Notice. You have the right get a paper copy of this Notice, and you have the right to get a copy of this notice by e-mail. And, even if you have agreed to receive this Notice via e-mail, you also have the right to request a paper copy of it.
8. You have the right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your health information.  Please be advised, however, that we are not required to agree to the restriction that you requested.
9. You have the right to have your health information received or communicated through an alternative method or sent to an alternative location other than the usual method of communication or delivery, upon your request.
10. You have the right to inspect and copy your health information.
11. You have a right to request that we amend your protected health information. Please be advised, however, that we are not required to agree to amend your protected health information. If your request to amend your health information has been denied, you will be provided with an explanation of our denial reason(s) and information about how you can disagree with the denial.
12. You have a right to receive an accounting of disclosures of your protected health information made by us.
13. You have a right to a paper copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices at any time upon request.

We reserve the right to amend this Notice of Privacy Practices at any time in the future, and will make the new provisions effective for all information that it maintains. Until such amendment is made, we are required by law to comply with this Notice.  

We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your health information and to provide you with notice of its legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your health information.  If you have questions about any part of this notice or if you want more information about your privacy rights, please contact us by calling this office at (888) 210-2787.  If our Privacy Officer is not available, you may make an appointment for a personal conference in person or by telephone within 2 working days.  

You have the right to communicate with us regarding any complaints you may have if you believe we have violated your privacy rights in any way. You also have the right to contact the Secretary of Health and Human Services as well if you believe we have violated your privacy rights. ASTR Institute cares about you and wants to know if you have any issue or complaint regarding the privacy of your health information.

Complaints about your Privacy rights, or how we have handled your health information should be directed to our Privacy Officer by calling this office at (888) 210-2787. If our Privacy Officer is not available, you may make an appointment for a personal conference in person or by telephone within 2 working days.  If you are not satisfied with the manner in which this office handles your complaint, you may submit a formal complaint to:

ASTR Institute

1577 N Linder Rd MB # 199

Kuna, ID 83634

Email: support@astrinstitute.com 

EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS NOTICE

This notice went into effect on 1/3/2018

Acknowledgement of Receipt of Privacy Notice

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), you have certain rights regarding the use and disclosure of your protected health information. By using this website, you are acknowledging that you have received a copy of HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices. By using this website,  you provide the company above with my authorization and consent to use and disclose my protected health care information for the purposes of treatment, payment and health care operations as described in the Privacy Notice

I HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT AND AGREE TO ALL OF THE PROVISIONS CONTAINED ABOVE.