Notice of Privacy Practices for Protected Health Information

Your Protected Health Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities.

This Notice of Privacy Practices for Protected Health Information (this “Notice”) describes how your protected health information collected by or on behalf of Juniper Midwifery and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, PLLC (“Juniper”) (such information, your “PHI”) may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to your PHI. Please review this Notice carefully.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Get a copy of your paper or electronic medical record
• Correct your paper or electronic medical record
• Request confidential communication
• Ask us to limit the PHI we share
• Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your PHI
• Get a copy of this privacy notice
• Choose someone to act for you
• File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated

Your Choices

You have some choices in the way that we use and share PHI as we:

• Tell family and friends about your condition
• Provide disaster relief
• Include you in a hospital directory
• Provide mental health care
• Market our services and sell your information
• Raise funds

Our Uses and Disclosures

We may use and share your PHI as we:

• Treat you
• Run our organization
• Bill for your services
• Help with public health and safety issues
• Do research
• Comply with the law
• Respond to organ and tissue donation requests
• Work with a medical examiner or funeral director
• Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests
• Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

Your Rights

When it comes to your PHI, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.

Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record

• You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other PHI we have about you. Ask us how to do this.
• We will provide a copy or a summary of your PHI, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

Ask us to correct your medical record

• You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. Ask us how to do this.
• We may say “no” to your request, but we’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days.

Request confidential communications

• You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address.
• We will say “yes” to all reasonable requests.

Ask us to limit what we use or share

• You can ask us not to use or share certain PHI for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care.
• If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that PHI for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer. We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information.

Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your PHI

• You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your PHI for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why.
• We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.

Get a copy of this privacy notice

You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.

Choose someone to act for you

• If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your PHI.
• We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.

File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated

• You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us at hello@junipermidwifery.com.
• You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/.
• We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Your Choices

For certain circumstances, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your PHI in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions.

In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to:

• Share PHI with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care
• Share PHI in a disaster relief situation
• Include your PHI in a hospital directory

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your PHI if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your PHI when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

In these cases we never share your PHI unless you give us written permission:

• Marketing purposes
• Sale of your PHI
• Most sharing of psychotherapy notes

In the case of fundraising:

• We may contact you for fundraising efforts, but you can tell us not to contact you again.

Our Uses and Disclosures

How do we typically use or share your PHI?

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.

Treat you

We can use your PHI  and share it with other professionals who are treating you.

Example: A doctor treating you for an injury asks another doctor about your overall health condition.

Example: We will share PHI about you with the pharmacy that will fill your prescription.  

Run our organization

We can use and share your PHI to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary.

Example: We use PHI about you to manage your treatment and services.

Bill for your services

We can use and share your PHI to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities.

Example: If your health insurance is paying for your treatment, we share PHI about you to your health insurance plan so it will pay for your services.

How else can we use or share your PHI?

We are allowed or required to share your PHI in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your PHI for these purposes. For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html.

Help with public health and safety issues

We can share PHI about you for certain situations such as:

• Preventing disease
• Helping with product recalls
• Reporting adverse reactions to medications
• Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
• Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety

Do research

We can use or share your PHI for health research.

Comply with the law

We will share PHI about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.

Respond to organ and tissue donation requests

We can share PHI about you with organ procurement organizations.

Work with a medical examiner or funeral director

We can share PHI with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies.

Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests

We can use or share PHI about you:

• For workers’ compensation claims
• For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official
• With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law
• For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services

Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

We can share PHI about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.

Our Responsibilities

• We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your PHI.
• We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your PHI.
• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.
• We will not use or share your PHI other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.

For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/noticepp.html.

Changes to the Terms of this Notice

We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, in our office, and on our web site.

The Effective Date of this Notice is April 25, 2022.  

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