Notice of Privacy Practices

1. Our commitment to your privacy

Excel Medical Associates is required by law to protect the privacy of your health information, to give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, and to follow the terms of the notice currently in effect.

"Protected health information" (PHI) is information that identifies you and relates to your physical or mental health, the care you receive, or the payment for that care.

2. How we use and disclose your information

We may use and disclose your health information without your written authorization for the following three purposes:

• Treatment: to provide your care and coordinate it with other professionals. For example, sharing your lab results with a specialist we refer you to, or sending a prescription to your pharmacy.
• Payment: to obtain payment for the services we provide. For example, submitting a claim to your insurer with the diagnosis and procedures performed, or verifying your eligibility before a visit.
• Health care operations: for the activities needed to run the clinic and maintain quality of care. For example, reviewing service quality, training our staff, or conducting internal audits.

3. Other uses permitted without your authorization

The law permits or requires us to disclose your information, without your authorization, in the following situations:

• When required by law, including disclosures required by federal, state, or local law.
• For public health activities: reporting communicable diseases, adverse drug reactions, or product recalls.
• To report suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence to the appropriate authority.
• For health oversight activities, such as audits, investigations, and inspections by government agencies.
• In judicial and administrative proceedings, in response to a court order or a valid subpoena.
• To law enforcement, in the limited circumstances the law permits.
• To coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors, so they can carry out their duties.
• For organ and tissue donation, where applicable.
• For research, when an institutional review board has approved it and privacy protections are in place.
• To prevent a serious and imminent threat to your health or safety or that of others.
• For military and veterans activities, national security, and protective services, in the cases the law contemplates.
• For workers' compensation, to the extent necessary to comply with those laws.
• To family members or persons involved in your care or payment for it — only the information directly relevant, and if you do not object.

4. Appointment reminders and communications

We may contact you by phone, text message, or email to remind you of an appointment, confirm a request you made, or tell you about treatment alternatives and services that may be of interest to you.

You may ask us at any time to stop using a given channel, or to contact you only through one channel or at an alternative address. See the right to confidential communications in section 6.

5. Uses that do require your written authorization

The following uses and disclosures will be made only with your prior written authorization:

• Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes.
• Uses and disclosures for marketing purposes.
• Disclosures that constitute a sale of your health information.
• Any other use or disclosure not described in this notice.

6. Your rights regarding your health information

You have the following rights. To exercise any of them, write to our Privacy Office at the address shown at the end of this notice; you may also call us or come to the front desk. We may ask you to make the request in writing.

• Get a copy of your record: you may inspect and receive an electronic or paper copy of your medical and billing record. We will normally respond within 30 days and may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.
• Ask us to correct your record: if you believe information is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend it. We may deny the request, and if we do we will explain why in writing within 60 days.
• Request confidential communications: you may ask us to contact you in a specific way or at a different address, and we will accommodate all reasonable requests.
• Ask us to limit what we use or share: you may request restrictions on the use or disclosure of your information. We are not required to agree, except in one case: if you paid for a service out of pocket and in full, you have the right to have us not disclose that service to your health plan, and we must agree.
• Get a list of those we shared it with: you may request an accounting of the disclosures we made in the previous six years, with the exceptions the law provides, such as those made for treatment, payment, and operations.
• Get a paper copy of this notice: even if you received it electronically, you may request a printed copy at any time and we will provide it.
• Choose someone to act for you: if you have a legal representative or a valid power of attorney, that person may exercise your rights and make decisions about your information.
• Be notified of a breach: we will notify you if a breach occurs that compromises the privacy or security of your information.
• File a complaint without retaliation: you may complain if you believe your rights have been violated, and we will not retaliate against you for doing so.

7. Our duties

The law requires us to maintain the privacy and security of your health information, to give you this notice, and to follow the terms of the notice currently in effect.

We reserve the right to change this notice and to make the changes apply to all information we already hold about you, as well as information we receive in the future. If we make a material change, we will post the updated notice at the clinic and on this website, and you may request a copy.

8. How to file a complaint

If you believe we have violated your privacy rights, you may file a complaint directly with us by writing to our Privacy Office, whose details appear at the end of this notice. You may also call us or come to the clinic's front desk.

You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, by sending it to 200 Independence Avenue S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, by calling 1-877-696-6775, or through hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/.

We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.