THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
At Lab Testing API Inc.(“LTA” or “We”), We are committed to protecting the privacy rights of our Users. You have a variety of rights under a federal law known as “HIPAA” [the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996] and the related “Privacy Rule” which has been published by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The HIPAA Privacy Rule Final Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy and those rights are described in this Notice.
Each time you visit a hospital, physician, dentist, or another healthcare provider, a record of your visit is made. Typically, this record contains your symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment, and a plan for future care or treatment. This information is often referred to as your health or medical record, serves as a basis for planning your care and treatment, and serves as a means of communication among the many health professionals who contribute to your care. Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to ensure its accuracy, better understand who, what, when, where, and why others may access your health information, and helps you make more informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to others.
“Health Information” includes more than just information about medical procedures. It also relates to:
1 Protected Health Information (“PHI”) means individually identifiable health information: (1) except as provided in Paragraph two (2) of this definition that is: (i) transmitted by electronic media; (ii) maintained in electronic media; or (iii) transmitted or maintained in any other form or medium. (2) Protected health information excludes individually identifiable health information: (i) in education records covered by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 1232g; (ii) in records described in 20 U.S.C. 1232g(a)(4)(B)(iv); (iii) in employment records held by a covered entity in its role as employer; and (iv) regarding a person who has been deceased for more than 50 years. “Individually Identifiable Health Information” (as used herein) is information that is a subset of health information, including demographic information collected from an individual; and (1) is created or received by a health care provider, health plan, employer, or health care clearinghouse; and (2) relates to the past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition of an individual; the provision of healthcare to an individual; or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of healthcare to an individual; and (i) that identifies the individual; or (ii) with respect to which there is a reasonable basis to believe the information can be used to identify the individual.
We are required to maintain the privacy of your health information. In addition, we are required to provide you with a notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to the information we collect and maintain about you. We must abide by the terms of this notice. However, we do reserve the right to change our practices and to make the new provisions effective for all the protected health information we maintain. If our information practices change, a revised notice will be updated on our website that provides information about our patient/customer services or benefits, the new notice will be posted on that Web site.
We are also required to respond to written requests for PHI under certain circumstances and will do so, to the extent permitted by law. In that respect, upon written request from an individual for disclosure of PHI, we will respond within thirty (30) days [as to PHI requests which are maintained onsite] and no later than sixty (60) days [for information maintained offsite]. If a request cannot be fulfilled within the above stated time, we will provide written notice extending the above timeframes by thirty (30) or sixty (60) days respectively. Our response will either:
Unless otherwise required by law, your health record is the physical property of the healthcare practitioner or facility that compiled it. However, you have certain rights with respect to the information. You have the right to:
1. Receive a copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices from us upon enrollment or request.
2. Request restrictions on our uses and disclosures of your protected health information for treatment, payment, and health care operations. This includes your right to request that we not disclose your health information to a health plan for payment or health care operations if you have paid in full and out of pocket for the services provided. We reserve the right not to agree to a given requested restriction.
3. Request to receive communications of protected health information in confidence.
4. Inspect and obtain a copy of the protected health information contained in your medical and billing records and in any other Practice records used by us to make decisions about you. If we maintain or use electronic health records, you will also have the right to obtain a copy or forward a copy of your electronic health record to a third party. A reasonable copying/labor charge may apply.
5. Request an amendment to your protected health information. However, we may deny your request for an amendment, if we determine that the protected health information or record that is the subject of the request:
HIPAA and its ancillary regulations place a number of restrictions on the use of your PHI by LTA. These restrictions include but are not limited to your use of your PHI in connection to marketing and/or the sale of Personal Health Information. In that respect, be assured that your Personal Health Information will not be used or disclosed without your written authorization, except as described in this notice.
We will never sell your PHI without your prior written authorization. A “sale” of PHI takes place if we or any of our business associates receive direct or indirect remuneration in exchange for a transfer of PHI. Use of your PHI for public health purposes, as defined in the Privacy Rule; for research purposes (if remuneration constitutes a reasonable cost-based fee to cover the cost to prepare and transmit the PHI); for purposes of treatment and payment; for the sale, transfer, merger, or consolidation of all or part of LTA and for due diligence connected to such activity; to the patient at the patient’s request; or as required by law does not constitute a “sale” of PHI under HIPAA.
We will not use your PHI in connection to any marketing efforts without your prior authorization. Under HIPAA, “Marketing” is considered to be: (a) any communication about a product or service that encourages recipients of the communication to purchase or use the products or services; and/or (b) any arrangement between LTA and any other entity where We disclose PHI for remuneration, or for the other entity to make communications about its own services to encourage recipients to purchase that service or product.
In accordance with the HIPAA Privacy Rule Final Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy, LTA ensures that your protected health information related to reproductive health care, including information about abortion services, contraceptive services, and family planning services, is treated with utmost confidentiality. This includes restricting disclosures to third parties without your explicit authorization, except where required by law.
If you have questions about this Notice or would like additional information, you may contact our Privacy Officer, Michelle, at the telephone or address below. If you believe that your privacy rights have been violated, you have the right to file a complaint with the Privacy Officer at Lab Testing API Inc. or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The complaint must be in writing, describe the acts or omissions that you believe violate your privacy rights, and be filed within one hundred eighty (180) days of when you knew or should have known that the act or omission occurred. We will not retaliate against you if you make such complaints.
The contact information for both is included below.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office of the Secretary
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Tel: (202) 619-0257
Toll-Free: 1-877-696-6775
https://www.hhs.gov/about/contact-us/index.html
Lab Testing API Inc.
Michelle Chilcott
Privacy Officer
2810 N Church St #30986
Wilmington, Delaware
19802-4447, US
1-888-512-0719
[email protected]