Heart Partners Notice of Privacy Practices

This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to your information. Please review it carefully.
Please direct any questions to our HIPAA OFFICER: 1.888.7HEART8.
 

Our responsibilities to you

Heart Partners of Indiana will:

  • Maintain the privacy of your health information as required by law.
  • Provide you with this Notice of Privacy Practices.
  • Abide by the terms of the Notice of Privacy Practices then in effect.
  • Notify you if we cannot accommodate a request.
  • Accommodate your reasonable requests regarding methods to communicate health information with you.

We reserve the right to amend or eliminate provisions in our privacy practices and enact new provisions regarding the protected health information we maintain. If our information practices change, we will amend this Notice. You are always welcome to receive a copy of our current Notice.
 

Your health information rights

The health and billing records we maintain are the property of Heart Partners of Indiana. The information in it, however, belongs to you.
You have a right to:
Obtain a copy of this document, the Notice of Privacy Practices.

Submit a written request for restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your health information. We are not, however, required to agree to those restrictions.
Submit a written request to inspect or receive a copy of your health record.
We have 30 days in which to respond. There may be a charge for this. If we deny
your request, you may appeal.

Submit a written request to amend your health record. Under certain circumstances, we may deny such amendments, but our response will be returned to you in writing. Generally, we have 60 days in which to respond to your request. If we deny your request, you may choose to accept the denial, or you may file a statement of disagreement.

Obtain an accounting of any disclosures of your health information during the
previous six years, but not before April 14, 2003. This accounting will not include
uses and disclosures of information for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations, disclosures made to you or made at your request, disclosures made to your family members or friends who are involved in your care, or certain other disclosures. There may be a charge for this accounting.

Request that communications to you be made by alternative means or to an
alternative location.


Protecting your privacy

We understand that medical information about you is personal. We are committed to
protecting medical information about you. This office is permitted by Federal privacy laws to make uses and disclosures of your health information for purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations. Protected health information is the health information we create and obtain in providing our services to you. The Notice details your rights to obtain a copy of your records, request restrictions on how your protected health information is used or disclosed, request amendments of your record, receive an accounting of certain releases of your protected health information, request that we contact you in a way you approve of, and certain other provisions.

The Notice also outlines our responsibilities to maintain the privacy of your health information and other responsibilities. The Notice details how we handle your protected health information in different circumstances. These provisions are required by Parts 160, 162, and 164 of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, commonly known as HIPAA. We have posted this Notice in the waiting room of Heart Partners of Indiana and provided copies that you may pick up at any time during our regular office hours. We ask that you sign an acknowledgment the first time you receive this Notice. We welcome you to Heart Partners of Indiana and hope that your experience here meets your expectations. This Notice represents our explanation of the policies and procedures related to how we handle, use or release your health information.
Please read it carefully. If you have any questions, please ask our Staff, or ask for our HIPAA Officer.

The Privacy policies and procedures of Heart Partners of Indiana are applicable to its affiliated operations. Your protected health information will be shared between our affiliated operations as necessary to provide information will be shared between our affiliated operations as necessary to provide you with quality healthcare and treatment.
 

Privacy practices

Your protected medical information may include documenting your symptoms,
examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment, and applying for future care
or treatment. It also includes billing documents for those services.
Some examples are:

  • A nurse will obtain health information about you and record it in your
  • medical record.
  • We may consult with another physician or specialist and will share
  • the information about you with that physician to obtain his/her input.
  • We might share your health information with other doctors that are
  • actively treating you.
  • We will record medical information about you in your health record.
  • We may submit requests for payment to your health insurance company.That request must include your diagnosis and the treatment given.
  • We may contact you by telephone or mail to provide appointment reminders
  • or information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits
  • and services that may be of interest.
  • We obtain services from insurance companies or other business associates such as quality assessment and improvement, protocol and clinical guidelines development.
     

Other uses and disclosures

Law Enforcement:
We may disclose your protected health information for law enforcement purposes as required by law.

Health Oversight:
Federal regulation allows us to release your protected health information to appropriate health oversight agencies.

Judicial/Administrative Proceedings:
We may disclose your protected health information in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding as allowed or required by law, with your consent, or as directed by a proper court order. To avert a serious threat to health or safety,
we may disclose your protected health information consistent with applicable law to prevent or lessen a serious, imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public.

Disaster Relief:
We may use and disclose your protected health information to assist in disaster relief efforts.

Funeral Directors or Coroners:
We may disclose your protected health information to funeral directors or coroners consistent with applicable law to allow them to carry out their duties.
Marketing and other Communications:
We may contact you to provide you with appointment reminders, with information about treatment alternatives, or with information about other health related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA):
We may disclose to the FDA your protected health information relating to adverse events with respect to food, supplements, products and product defects, or post-marketing surveillance information to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacements.

Workers’ Compensation:
If you are seeking compensation through Workers’ Compensation, we may disclose your protected health information to the extent necessary to comply with laws relating to Worker’s Compensation.

Notification:
Unless you object, we may use or disclose your protected health information to notify, or assist in notifying, a family member, personal representative or other person who has been involved in your care, about your location or your general condition.

Abuse and Neglect:
We may disclose your protected health information to public authorities as allowed by law to report abuse or neglect.

Correctional Institutions:
If you are an inmate of a correctional institution, we may disclose to the institution or its agents the protected health information necessary for your health and the health and safety of other individuals.

For Specialized Governmental Functions:
We may disclose your protected health information for specialized government functions as authorized by law such as to Armed Forces personnel, for national security purposes, or to public assistance program personnel.

Medical Device Manufacturer:
In some instances your medical information might be disclosed for the purpose of prescribing the appropriate device/brace/implant to treat your condition.

Other Providers:
We may disclose your protected health information to other
covered healthcare providers who are treating you or are assisting
us in providing treatment for you.
 

To request information or file a complaint:

If you have questions, would like additional information, or want to report a problem regarding the handling of your information, you may contact our HIPAA Officer, at 1.888.7HEART8.
Additionally, if you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file
a written complaint at our office by delivering it to the HIPAA Officer. You may also file a complaint to the Secretary of Health and Human Services at:

Region V Office for Civil Rights
Department of Health and Human Services
233 N. Michigan Ave • Suite 240
Chicago, IL 60601

We cannot, and will not, retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

The Privacy policies and procedures of Heart Partners of Indiana, LLC are applicable to our affiliated operations, which include our clinics in outlying offices and hospitals.
Our protected health information will be shared between our affiliated operations as necessary to provide you with quality healthcare and treatment.