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.
Your medical information is the information gathered by your therapists or other caregivers during the time you are being treated by CORA Health Services, Inc. (“CORA”) professionals. Your medical information includes all information within your record, including but not limited to, symptoms, examination, and test results, diagnoses, treatment, plans for future care and treatment, at home regimens, and billing related information, including contact information. It is private, and no one without a legitimate need to know may have access to it. CORA is required by law to maintain the privacy of your health information and to provide you with a notice of its legal duties and privacy practices. CORA will promptly notify affected individuals following a breach of unsecured protected health information.
CORA will not use or disclose your health information except as described in this Notice of Privacy Practices (“Notice”). This Notice applies to all of the medical records generated during your participation in CORA programs and services.
USES AND DISCLOSURES OF PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION
The following categories describe the ways that CORA may use and disclose your health information without a specific
authorization from you:
- Treatment: CORA will use your health information in the provision and coordination of your healthcare. We may disclose all or any portion of your medical record information to your physician, consulting physician(s), nurses and other healthcare providers who have a legitimate need for such information in the care and continued treatment of the patient.
- Payment: CORA may use and disclose medical information about you for the purposes of billing and collecting payment from you, your insurance company or another third party payor; reimbursement; determining coverage, claims management,; and medical data processing. The information may be released to an insurance company, third-party payor or other entity (or their authorized representatives) involved in the payment of your medical bill and may include copies or excerpts of your medical record that are necessary for payment of your account. For example, a bill sent to a third party payor may include information that identifies you, your diagnosis, the procedures and supplies used.
- Routine Healthcare Operations: CORA may use and disclose your medical information during routine healthcare operations, including quality assurance, utilization review, internal auditing, accreditation, certification, licensing or credentialing activities of each rehabilitation clinic (“Clinic”), medical research and educational purposes.
- Business Associates: CORA may use and disclose certain medical and billing information about you to business associates. A business associate CORA contracts with to perform services on its behalf. A business associate is an individual or entity under contract with CORA to perform or assist CORA in a function or activity that necessitates the use or disclosure of medical information. Examples of business associates include but are not limited to, a copy service used by the Clinic to copy medical records, consultants, independent contractors, accountants, lawyers, medical transcriptionists and thirdparty billing companies. CORA requires the business associate to protect the confidentiality of your medical information.
In addition, CORA requires any subcontractor of CORA’s business associate to protect the confidentiality of your medical information.
CORA and its business associates may use and disclose your medical information to remind you about your appointments, assess your satisfaction with our services, to collect payments, or to monitor compliance with your home exercise program, among other things. - Required by Law: CORA will disclose medical information about you when required to do so by law.
- Public Health Activities: CORA may disclose your medical information to public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability.
- Victims of Abuse, Neglect or Domestic Violence: CORA may disclose your health information to a public health authority that is authorized to receive reports of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence. We may make an effort to obtain your permission before releasing this information, but in some cases may be required or authorized to act without your permission.
- Health Oversight, Licensing, Accreditation and Regulatory Activities: CORA may disclose your health information to health oversight agencies authorized to conduct audits, investigations, and inspections of our facility. For example, billing practices may be audited by the State Auditor and records are subject to review by the Secretary of Health and Human
Services and his/her authorized representatives. - Judicial or Administrative Proceedings: CORA may disclose your health information if we are ordered to do so by a court or an administrative hearing officer that is handling a lawsuit or other dispute or provided with a valid subpoena.
- Disclosures for Law Enforcement Purposes: CORA may disclose your identity to law enforcement. Instances which may result in a disclosure of protected health information to law enforcement include to comply with court orders or assist with ongoing investigations
- Coroners, Medical Examiners and Funeral Directors: CORA may disclose protected health information to a coroner, medical examiner or funeral director for the purposes of identifying a deceased person or other duties as authorized by the law.
- Organ and Tissue Donation: CORA may share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.
- Research: In some instances, CORA can use or share your health information for health research.
- To Avert a Serious and Imminent Threat to Health or Safety: CORA may use or disclose your protected health information when necessary to prevent a serious and imminent threat to your health or safety, or the health or safety or another person or the public.
- Specialized Government Functions: If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or under the custody of a law enforcement officer, CORA may release your medical record information to the correctional institution or law enforcement official. CORA may also disclose your medical information as required by military command authorities if you are a
member of the armed forced. - Workers’ Compensation: CORA may release medical information about you for workers’ compensation or similar programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illnesses.
PATIENT CHOICES
You have the right and choice to tell us which information to share with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care, and if you would like us to share your information in a disaster relief situation. If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example, if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.
Except for the situations and exceptions described in this Notice, we will need to obtain your written authorization before using or disclosing your protected health information for other purposes. For example, except as otherwise set forth under State and Federal law, we must obtain your written authorization for most uses or disclosures of any psychotherapy notes related to you, for the use or disclosure of your protected health information for marketing purposes, or for the sale of your protected health information.
PATIENT INFORMATION RIGHTS
Although all records concerning your treatment obtained at CORA are the property of CORA, you have the following rights concerning your medical information:
- Right to Confidential Communications: You have the right to receive confidential communications of your medical information by alternative means or at alternative locations. For example, you may request that CORA contact you only at work or by mail.
- Right to Inspect and Copy: You have the right to inspect and copy your medical information.
- Right to Amend: You have the right to amend your medical information. Any request for amendment should be submitted to CORA in writing, stating a reason in support of the amendment.
- Right to an Accounting: You have the right to obtain an accounting of the disclosures of your medical information made during the preceding six (6) year period.
- Right to Request Restrictions: You have the right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your medical information. CORA is not required to honor your request except where: (i) the disclosure is for the purpose of carrying out payment or healthcare operations and is not otherwise required by law, and (ii) the medical information pertains solely to a healthcare item or service for which you, or person other than the health plan on your behalf, has paid CORA in full.
- Right to Receive a Paper Copy: You have the right to receive a paper copy of this Notice, even if you have previously agreed to receive the Notice electronically.
- Right to Receive Electronic Copies: You have the right to receive electronic copies of your medical information.
- Right to Transfer Records: You may also initiate the transfer of your records to another person by completing a written authorization form.
- Right to Revoke Authorization: You have the right to revoke your authorization to use or disclose your medical information, except to the extent that action has already been taken in reliance on your authorization. A request to exercise any of these rights must be submitted, in writing, to CORA Health Services, Inc. Forms to help you make your request are available in the Clinic, online at our web site www.coraphysicaltherapy.com or by contacting our HIPAA Privacy Officer at (305) 790-5389.
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REPORT A PROBLEM
If you have questions and would like additional information, you may contact our HIPAA Privacy Officer, at (305) 790-5389 or privacy@corahealth.com, or by calling the Compliance Hotline at (833) 221-3004. If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with CORA or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
To file a complaint with CORA, please contact the Front Desk located near the front entrance to the Clinic. All complaints must be submitted in writing. Forms are available in the lobby of the Clinic. There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint.
CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE
CORA will abide by the terms of the Notice currently in effect. CORA reserves the right to change the terms of its Notice and to make the new Notice provisions effective for all protected health information that it maintains. An updated version of the Notice may be obtained at the Clinic and on our web site at www.coraphysicaltherapy.com.
NOTICE EFFECTIVE DATE
This Notice is effective as of November 2018.
