HIPAA Privacy Policy
Notice of Health Information Privacy Practices
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.
In addition to being available in full-text English format, below, this information is also provided in the following formats:
HIPAA Privacy Policy (PDF)
Notificación de Prácticas de Privacidad (PDF)
Overview: Your Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities.
Your Rights
You have the right to:
- Get a copy of your paper or electronic medical record
- Request correction of your medical record
- Request confidential communication
- Ask us to limit the information we share
- Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information
- Get a copy of this privacy notice
- Choose someone to act for you
- File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated
Your Choices
You have some choices, including instructing us to:
- Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care
- Contact you for fundraising activities
- Receive marketing for products and services (NOTE: we will not use your information for marketing purposes unless you specifically authorize us to do so)
Our Uses and Disclosures
We may use and share your information as we:
- Treat you
- Run our organization
- Bill for your services
- Help with public health and safety issues
- Do research
- Comply with the law
- Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests
- Respond to lawsuits and legal actions
Effective Date: March 22, 2022; Rev. October 20, 2022.
Your Rights
When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.
Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record
- You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you. Ask us how to do this.
- We will provide a copy or a summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.
Ask us to correct your medical record
- You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. Ask us how to do this.
- We may say “no” to your request, but we’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days.
Request confidential communications
- You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address.
- We will say “yes” to all reasonable requests.
Ask us to limit what we use or share
- You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care.
- If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer. We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information.
Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared information
- You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why.
- We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.
Get a copy of this privacy notice
- You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.
Choose someone to act for you
- If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information.
- We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.
File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated
- You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us using the information on page 4.
- You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/.
- We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
Minors and Persons with Guardians
Minors have all the rights outlined in this Notice with respect to health information relating to reproductive healthcare, except in emergency situations or when the law requires reporting of abuse and neglect. In the case of abortion, if a parent provides consent to your abortion, the parent has all the rights outlined in this Notice, including the right to access the health information relating to abortion. However, if you obtain a judicial bypass of the consent requirement, you have the same rights as an adult with respect to health information relating to your abortion. In the case of abortion in Maryland, Maryland law requires that one parent or guardian be notified before a minor has an abortion. However, parental notification can be bypassed if, in the judgment of the doctor performing the abortion:
- The minor is mature and capable of giving her informed consent to the procedure, OR
- Notification would not be in the minor’s best interest, OR
- Notice may lead to physical or emotional abuse of the minor, OR
- The minor patient does not live with her parent or guardian, OR
- A reasonable effort to give notice has been unsuccessful.
If you are a minor or a person with a guardian obtaining healthcare that is not related to reproductive health, your parent or legal guardian may have the right to access your medical record and make certain decisions regarding the uses and disclosures of your health information.
Your Choices
For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions.
You have both the right and choice to tell us to :
- Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care
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.
We will not market services or products to you unless you give us written permission.
In the case of fundraising:
- We may contact you for fundraising efforts, but you can tell us not to contact you again.
Our Uses and Disclosures
How do we typically use or share your health information?
We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.
- Treat you
We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you.
Example: Confer with a specialist or make a referral. - Run our organization
We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary.
Example: We use health information about you to manage your treatment and services. - Bill for your services
We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities.
Example: We give information about you to your health insurance plan so it will pay for your services.
How else can we use or share your health information?
We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html.
Help with public health and safety issues
We can share health information about you for certain situations such as:
- Preventing disease
- Helping with product recalls
- Reporting adverse reactions to medications
- Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
- Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety
Do research
We can use or share your information for health research.
Comply with the law
We will share information about you if local, state, or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.
Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests
We can use or share health information about you:
- For workers’ compensation claims
- For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official
- With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law
- For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services
Respond to lawsuits and legal actions
We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.
Our Responsibilities
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We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
- We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
- We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.
- We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.
We understand that health information about you and you health care is personal. We are committed to protecting health information about you. We create a record of the care and services you receive from us. We do so to provide you with quality care and to comply with any legal or regulatory requirements.
This Notice applies to all of the records generated or received by PPMW, whether we documented the health information or another health care provider forwarded It to us. This Notice will tell you the ways in which we may use or disclose health information about you. This Notice also describes your rights to the health information we keep about you, and describes certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of your health information.
Our pledge regarding your health information is backed up by federal law. The privacy and security provisions of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH”) require us the make sure that health information that identifies you is kept private, provide to you this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to health information about you; follow the terms of the Notice that is currently in effect; and, notify you following a breach of your unsecured protected health information. In accordance with the 21st Century CURES Act, you may request access, use or exchange of electronic health information.
If you have any questions about this Notice, please contact PPMW’s Privacy Officer at (703) 304-3527 or at 1225 4th St NE, Washington, D.C. 20002.
For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/noticepp.html.
Changes to the Terms of this Notice
We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, in our office, and on our website.