New Federal legislation mandates that certain information about how Affiliated Physicians uses your confidential medical record be provided to you and that we maintain a record of any entity with whom we share your information.
At Affiliated Physicians we have always regarded all medical and personal information as completely confidential. As a result, many of the new federal mandates have not changed the way we handle your information other than to tell you how we protect it.
All of our staff members must sign a confidentiality oath and has a background check performed. The oath states that your information is to be used only when necessary to provide you with medical care. We take this oath very seriously and strive to treat you and your medical information the way we would want ourselves and our own information to be treated. We also stay current and compliant with all state and federal laws regarding the handling of confidential personal and medical information.
The attached information sheet will give you a brief summary of our privacy policy, and instructions as to how you may retrieve a copy of our policy in its entirety. Please review this form, and take it with you.
We also must require you to sign authorizations following the receipt of the privacy policy to authorize the use of certain information. These authorizations may be changed or updated in writing at any time, and will expire annually (unless otherwise specified).
We thank you for your visit today, and hope we excel not only at providing you with the best healthcare we have to offer, but also a continued feeling of security and confidence in how your information is handled.
Affiliated Physicians Notice of Privacy Practices and Guidelines
(Abbreviated Version)
In accordance with HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
Effective: 4/14/2003
We at Affiliated Physicians are dedicated to providing appropriate security of patient records, the privacy of patient health information and the proper access for patients’ to their records.
Affiliated Physicians, in accordance with HIPAA, can only disclose patient medical information for the reasons of treatment, inter-office operation and to receive payment for services.
As a patient, you have the right to inspect and retain copies of all medical records.* You have the right to request in writing an amendment of your records, and any decision and action taken as a result of your request. You also have the right to restrict disclosure of medical information released and to whom it is released.
We will record and provide to you upon request, information about any release of your information other than the use of your information for the purposes listed above.
You have the right to receive a paper copy of these guidelines in full, and may receive that copy at the time of your visit, on our website at affiliatedphysicians.net, or by written request to the attention of the Compliance Officer.
*In certain circumstances, Affiliated Physicians may only be the guardian of your information but not the administrator of your records. In these cases, we will provide you with the proper procedures in obtaining a copy of your records from the appropriate parties.