THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.
PLEASE REVIEW CAREFULLY.
Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) United States Pharmaceutical Group, L.L.C. d/b/a NationsHealth (we or us) is required to maintain the privacy of your Protected Health Information (PHI) and provide you with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to such PHI.
We are required to abide by the HIPAA terms currently
in effect. We reserve the right to change the terms of our
Notice of Privacy Practices (Notice) at any time and
to make the new Notice provisions effective for all PHI
that we maintain. If you should have any questions or
require further information, please contact our Privacy
Officer toll free at (800) 246-2195.
Acknowledgment of Receipt of This Notice
You will be asked to provide a signed Acknowledgment
of Receipt of this Notice. Our intent is to make you
aware of the possible uses and disclosures of your PHI
and your privacy rights. The delivery of your services
will in no way depend upon your signed
Acknowledgment. If you decline to sign an
Acknowledgment, we will continue to provide your
services. We will also use and disclose your PHI for
treatment, payment, and health care operations, when
necessary.
How We May Use or Disclose Your Health Information
The following describes the purposes for which we are
permitted or required by law to use or disclose your
health information without your consent or
authorization. Any other uses or disclosures will be
made only with your written authorization and you may
revoke such authorization in writing at any time. For
example, we must obtain your written authorization prior
to using your PHI for marketing purposes outside of the
marketing purposes provided below.
Your Financial Information:
We collect and use
several types of financial information to carry out our
business activities. This includes information that you
give to us on applications or other forms, such as your
name, address, age, and dependents. We keep and share
financial records such as insurance coverage, premiums,
and payment history, only when necessary, with our
employees, affiliates, business associates, or others who
need it to provide services, to do business, for health
care operations, or for other legally allowed or required
purposes.
Treatment:
We will use or disclose your PHI to
provide, coordinate, or manage your healthcare, supplies
and any related services. This includes the coordination
or management of your healthcare with a third party for
treatment purposes. For example, we may disclose your
PHI to a laboratory for processing of diabetes test
results. We may also disclose PHI to your physician(s)
who may be treating you or other providers who are
involved in your healthcare. We may also disclose your
PHI to an outside treatment provider for purposes of the
treatment activities of the other provider.
Payment:
We may use or disclose your health
information in order to process claims or make payment
for covered services or supplies. For example, your
supplier may submit a claim to your insurance carrier
(i.e. Medicare) for payment. The claim form will include
information that identifies you, your diagnosis, and
treatment or supplies used in the course of treatment.
Health Care Operations:
We may use or disclose your
health information for health care operations. Health
care operations include, but are not limited to, quality
assessment and improvement activities, employee
review and development activities, review and audit
activities, management and general administrative
activities. For example, members of our quality
improvement team may use information in your health
record to assess the quality of care that you receive and
determine how to continually improve the quality and
effectiveness of the services we provide.
Business Associates:
There may be instances where
services are provided to our organization through
contracts with third-party business associates.
Whenever a business associate arrangement involves
the use or disclosure of your health information,
we will have a written contract that requires the
business associate to maintain the same high standards
of safeguarding your privacy that we require of our own
employees and affiliates.
Required by Law:
We will disclose medical information
about you when required to do so by applicable federal,
state or local law.
Communication with Family, Caregivers, and Close Friends:
We may disclose your PHI to a family
member, other relative, a close personal friend or any
other person identified by you when you are present for,
or otherwise available prior to, the disclosure, if: (1) we
obtain your written agreement or provide you with the
opportunity to object to the disclosure and you do not
object; or (2) we reasonably infer that you do not object
to the disclosure.
If you are not present for or unavailable prior to a
disclosure (i.e., when we receive a telephone call from a
family member or other caregiver), we may exercise our
professional judgment to determine whether a disclosure
is in your best interests. If we disclose information
under such circumstances, we would disclose only
information that is directly relevant to the person's
involvement with your care.
Public Health:
Consistent with applicable federal and
state laws, we may disclose your PHI for the following
public health activities: (1) to report health information
to public health authorities for the purpose of preventing
or controlling disease, injury or disability; (2) to report
child abuse and neglect, elder abuse, domestic violence
or any other form of abuse to a government authority
authorized by law to receive reports of such abuse,
neglect, or domestic violence; (3) to any state agency
in conjunction with a federal or state health benefit
program; (4) to report information about products under
the jurisdiction of the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration; (5) to report information to your
employer as required under laws addressing work-
related illnesses and injuries or workplace medical
surveillance; (6) to prevent a serious threat to your health
and safety or the health and safety of the public or
another person; and (7) as required by state law for other
public health activities.
Health Oversight Activities:
We may disclose health
information to a health oversight agency for activities
authorized by law, including audits, investigations,
inspections, and licensure.
Marketing:
We may use or disclose your health
information, as necessary, to provide you with
recommendations for alternative treatments, therapies,
health care providers or care settings. The definition
of marketing under HIPAA excludes communications
with individuals about participating providers and plans
in a network, or about a patient's treatment,
case management, or care coordination -- including
recommendations for alternative treatments, therapies,
health care providers or care settings.
Workers' Compensation:
We may disclose your PHI
as authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply
with state law relating to workers' compensation or other
similar programs.
Specialized Government Functions:
We may use and
disclose PHI to units of the government with special
functions, such as the US military or the US Department
of State under certain circumstances required by law.
Ordered Examinations:
We may disclose PHI when
required to report findings from an examination ordered
by a court or detention facility.
Law Enforcement Officials:
We may disclose your PHI
to the police or other law enforcement officials as
required by law or in compliance with a court order.
Lawsuits and Disputes:
We may disclose health
information about you in response to a subpoena,
discovery request, or other lawful order from a court.
Judicial and Administrative Proceeding:
We
may disclose your PHI in the course of a judicial or
administrative proceeding in response to a legal order or
other lawful process.
Decedents:
We may disclose PHI to a coroner or
medical examiner as authorized by law.
As Required by Law:
We may use and disclose PHI
when required to do so by any other law not already
referred to in the preceding categories.
Authorization:
We will get your written permission
before we use or share your PHI for any other purpose,
unless otherwise stated or referred to specifically or
generally in this Notice. You are not required to
authorize any additional uses or disclosures of your
PHI, and you may withdraw any authorization you
do provide at any time, in writing. We will then stop
using your information for that purpose. However,
if we have already used or shared your information
based on your authorization, we cannot undo any actions
we took before you withdrew your permission.
Your Rights Regarding Your Health Information
The following describes your rights regarding the health
information we maintain about you. To exercise your
rights, you must submit your request in writing to our
Privacy Officer at 13630 N.W. 8th Street, #210, Sunrise, FL 33325.
Right to Request Restrictions:
You have the right to request that we restrict uses or disclosures of your health
information to carry out treatment, payment, health care
operations, or communications with family or friends.
We are not required to agree to a restriction.
Right to Receive Confidential Communications:
You
have the right to request that we send communications
that contain your health information by alternative
means or to alternative locations. We must accommodate
your request if it is reasonable and you clearly state that
the disclosure of all or part of that information could
endanger you.
Right to Inspect and Copy:
You have the right to
inspect and copy health information that we maintain
about you in a designated record set. A 'designated
record set' is a group of records that we maintain such as
enrollment, supply order history, or payment. If copies
are requested or you agree to a summary or explanation
of such information, we may charge a reasonable, cost-
based fee for the costs of copying, including labor and
supply cost of copying; postage; and preparation cost
of an explanation or summary, if such is requested. We
may deny your request to inspect and copy in certain
circumstances as defined by law. If you are denied
access to your health information, you may request that
the denial be reviewed.
Right to Amend:
You have the right to have us amend
your health information for as long as we maintain such
information. Your written request must include the
reason or reasons that support your request. We may
deny your request for an amendment if we determine
that the record that is the subject of the request was not
created by us, is not available for inspections as
specified by law, or is accurate and complete.
Right to Receive an Accounting of Disclosures:
Upon
request, you may obtain an accounting of certain
disclosures of your PHI made by us during any period
of time prior to the date of your request provided such
period does not exceed six years and does not apply to
disclosures that occurred prior to April 14, 2003. If you
request an accounting more than once during a twelve
(12) month period, you will be charged a reasonable,
cost-based fee for the accounting statement.
Right to Obtain a Paper Copy:
You have the right to
obtain a paper copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices at
any time.
Potential Impact of Other Applicable Law:
The HIPAA
Privacy Rule generally does not preempt or override
state privacy or other applicable laws that provide
individuals with greater privacy protections. As a result,
state privacy laws which provide for a stricter privacy
standard will be followed.
How to File a Complaint if You Believe Your Privacy Rights Have Been Violated
>
If you believe that your privacy rights have been violated, please submit your complaint in writing to:
NationsHealth
Attn: Privacy Officer
13630 N.W. 8th Street, #210
Sunrise, FL 33325
(800) 246-2195
You may also file a complaint with the secretary of the
Department of Health and Human Services. You will not
be retaliated against for filing a complaint.
Effective Date
This Notice is effective as of August 1, 2009. We reserve
the right to change this notice, and to make the revised
and changed notice effective for medical information we
already have about you, as well as any information we
receive in the future. We will prominently post a copy of
the current notice on our website with the effective date.
NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
