Policies, Consent, Submit Data
NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED
AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.
PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.THE
PRIVACY OF YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION IS IMPORTANT TO US.
OUR LEGAL DUTY
We are required by applicable federal and state law to maintain the privacy of your
health information. We are also required to give you this
Notice about our privacy practices, our legal duties, and your rights concerning your
health information. We must follow the privacy
practices that are described in this Notice while it is in effect. This Notice takes
effect April 14, 2003, and will remain in effect until we
replace it. We reserve the right to change our privacy practices and the terms of this
Notice at any time, provided such changes are permitted
by applicable law. We reserve the right to make the changes in our privacy practices and
the new terms of our Notice effective for all health
information that we maintain, including health information we created or received before
we made the changes. In the event we make a
material change in our privacy practices, we will change this Notice and provide it to
you. You may request a copy of our Notice at any time.
For more information about our privacy practices, or for additional copies of this
Notice, please contact us using the information listed at the
end of this Notice.
USES AND DISCLOSURES OF HEALTH INFORMATION
We use and disclose health information about you for treatment, payment, and healthcare
operations. For example:
Treatment: We may use or disclose your health information to an optician,
ophthalmologist or other healthcare provider providing treatment
to you for: a) the provision, coordination, or management of health care and related
services by health care providers; (b) consultation
between health care providers relating to a patient; (c) the referral of a patient for
health care from one health care provider to another; or (d)
recall information.
Payment: We may use and disclose your health information to obtain payment for services
we provide to you. This may include: (a) billing
and collection activities and related data processing; (b) actions by a health plan or
insurer to obtain premiums or to determine or fulfill its
responsibilities for coverage and provision of benefits under its health plan or
insurance agreement, determinations of eligibility or coverage,
adjudication or subrogation of health benefit claims; (c) medical necessity and
appropriateness of care reviews, utilization review activities;
and (d) disclosure to consumer reporting agencies of information relating to collection
of premiums or reimbursement.
Healthcare Operations: We may use and disclose your health information in connection
with our healthcare operations. Healthcare
operations include things such as quality assessment and improvement activities,
reviewing the competence or qualifications of healthcare
professionals, evaluating practitioner and provider performance, conducting training
programs, accreditation, certification, licensing or
credentialing activities.
Your Authorization: In addition to our use of your health information for treatment,
payment or healthcare operations, you may give us
written authorization to use your health information or to disclose it to anyone for any
purpose. If you give us an authorization, you may
revoke it in writing at any time. Your revocation will not affect any use or disclosures
permitted by your authorization while it was in
effect. Unless you give us a written authorization, we cannot use or disclose your
health information for any reason except those described in
this Notice.
Marketing Health Products or Services: We will not use your health information for
marketing communications without your prior written
authorization. We may provide you with information regarding products or services that
we offer related to your health care needs. We will
never sell your health information without your prior authorization.
To You, Your Family and Friends: We must disclose your health information to you, as
described in the Patient Rights section of this
Notice. We may disclose your health information to a family member, friend or other
person to the extent necessary to help with your
healthcare or with payment for your healthcare, but only if you agree that we may do so
or, if you are not able to agree, if it is necessary in
our professional judgment.
Persons Involved in Care: We may use or disclose health information to notify, or assist
in the notification of (including identifying or
locating) a family member, your personal representative or another person responsible
for your care, of your location, your general condition,
or death. If you are present, then prior to use or disclosure of your health
information, we will provide you with an
opportunity to object to such uses or disclosures. In the event of your incapacity or
emergency circumstances, we will disclose health
information based on a determination using our professional judgment disclosing only
health information that is directly relevant to the
person's involvement in your healthcare. We will also use our professional judgment and
our experience with common practice to make
reasonable inferences of your best interest in allowing a person to pick up filled
prescriptions, medical supplies, x-rays, or other similar forms
of health information.
Required by Law: We may use or disclose your health information when we are required to
do so by law, including judicial and
administrative proceedings.
Abuse or Neglect: We may disclose your health information to appropriate authorities if
we reasonably believe that you are a possible victim
of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence or the possible victim of other crimes. We may
disclose your health information to the extent
necessary to avert a serious threat to your health or safety or the health or safety of
others.
National Security: We may disclose to military authorities the health information of
Armed Forces personnel under certain circumstances.
We may disclose to authorized federal officials health information required for lawful
intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national
security activities. We may disclose to correctional institution or law enforcement
official having lawful custody of protected health
information of inmate or patient under certain circumstances.
Appointment Reminders and Treatment Alternatives: We may use or disclose your health
information to provide you with appointment
reminders (such as voicemail messages, postcards, or letters) or information about
treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and
services that may be of interest to you.
PATIENT RIGHTS
Access: You have the right to review or get copies of your health information, with
limited exceptions. You may request that we provide
copies in a format other than photocopies. We will use the format you request unless we
cannot practicably do so. You must make a request
in writing to obtain access to your health information. You may obtain a form to request
access by using the contact information listed at the
end of this Notice. We will charge you a reasonable cost-based fee for expenses such as
copies and staff time. You may also request access
by sending us a letter to the address at the end of this Notice. If you request an
alternative format, we will charge a cost-based fee for
providing your health information in that format. If you prefer, we will prepare a
summary or an explanation of your health information for a
fee. Contact us using the information listed at the end of this Notice for a full
explanation of our fee structure.
Disclosure Accounting: You have the right to receive a list of instances in which we or
our business associates disclosed your health
information for purposes, other than treatment, payment, healthcare operations, where
you have provided an authorization and certain other
activities, for the last 6 years, but not for disclosure made prior to April14, 2003. If
you request this accounting more than once in a
12-month period, we may charge you a reasonable, cost-based fee for responding to these
additional requests.
Restriction: You have the right to request that we place additional restrictions on our
use or disclosure of your health information. We are
not required to agree to these additional restrictions, but if we do, we will abide by
our agreement (except in an emergency).
Alternative Communication: You have the right to request in writing that we communicate
with you about your health information by
alternative means or to alternative locations. Your request must specify the alternative
means or location, and provide satisfactory explanation
how payments will be handled under the alternative means or location you request.
Amendment: You have the right to request that we amend your health information. Your
request must be in writing, and it must explain why
the information should be amended. We may deny your request under certain
circumstances.
Electronic Notice: If you receive this Notice on our a Web site or by electronic mail
(e-mail), you are entitled to receive this Notice in
written form.
QUESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS
If you want more information about our privacy practices or have questions or concerns,
please contact us. If you are concerned that we may
have violated your privacy rights, or you disagree with a decision we made about access
to your health information or in response to a request
you made to amend or restrict the use or disclosure of your health information or to
have us communicate with you by alternative means
or at alternative locations, you may complain to us using the contact information listed
at the end of this Notice. You also may submit a
written complaint to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We will provide
you with the address to file your complaint with
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services upon request. We support your right to
the privacy of your health information. We will
not retaliate in any way if you choose to file a complaint with us or with the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
Contact Person: Dianna Kattengell O.D.
Telephone: 310-395-5550, fax 310-395-3398
E-mail: info@wlavisioneering.com
Address: 1431 7th Street Ste 101, Santa Monica, CA 90401
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