Privacy Policies

Effective Date of this Notice:  June 14, 2010

Forensic Fluids Laboratories, Inc

225 Parsons Street
Kalamazoo, MI  49007
Phone 269 492 7700     FAX 269 492 7704 

Privacy Officer:  Bridget Lorenz Lemberg
 

Notice Of Privacy Practices

As Required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.  PLEASE REVIEW THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY.

Your medical information is personal and we are committed to protecting your privacy.  We are obligated by law to give you notice of our privacy practices.  This Notice describes how we protect your protected health information and what rights you have regarding your protected health information. "Protected health information" means any of your written and oral health information, including demographic data that can be used to identify you.  If you have any questions, please contact the Privacy Officer at the number shown above.

We reserve the right to revise or amend this Notice of Privacy Practices.  Any revision or amendment will be effective for all of your protected health information that FFL has created or maintained and for any generated in the future.  FFL will post a copy of our current Notice on our website and you may request a copy of our most current Notice at any time.

HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE YOUR PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION

The following categories describe the ways in which we may use and disclose your protected health information.  FFL may use your protected health information for purposes of providing treatment, obtaining payment for treatment, and conducting health care operations.  Your protected health information may be used or disclosed only for these purposes unless FFL has obtained your authorization or the use or disclosure is otherwise permitted by the HIPAA Privacy Regulations or State law.    For clarification, we have included some examples.  Not every possibility is specifically mentioned.  However, all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose your protected health information will fit within one of these general categories.

Treatment.  FFL may use and disclose your protected health information to treat you.  Common reasons for use and disclosure may include ordering or performing tests, ordering prescriptions, referring you to other medical professionals, or obtaining copies of information from other providers.

Payment.  We may use and disclose your protected health information in order to bill and collect payment for services.  For example, we may provide your insurer with treatment information to certify eligibility.  We also may use and disclose your protected health information to obtain payment from third parties that may be responsible for costs, such as family members.

Health Care Operations.  FFL may use and disclose your protected health information to operate our business.  Examples may include using your protected health information to evaluate the quality of care you received from us or to conduct cost-management and business planning activities for FFL.

Appointment Reminders.  FFL may use and disclose your protected health information to contact you and remind you of an appointment.

Treatment Options and Health-Related Benefits.  FFL may use and disclose your protected health information to inform you of potential treatment options or health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.

Disclosures Required By Law.  FFL will use and disclose your protected health information when we are required to do so by federal, state or local law.  For example, disclosure may be required by Workers’ Compensation statutes and various public health statutes in connection with required reporting of births and deaths, certain diseases, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, adverse drug reactions, etc.

Health Oversight Activities.  FFL may disclose your protected health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law.  Oversight activities can include investigations, inspections, audits, surveys, licensure and disciplinary actions; civil, administrative, and criminal procedures or actions; or other activities necessary for the government to monitor government programs, compliance with civil rights laws and the health care system in general.

Lawsuits and Similar Proceedings.  If you are involved in a lawsuit or similar proceeding, we may use and disclose your protected health information in response to an order of a court or administrative order or in response to a signed authorization.

Law Enforcement and/or National Security.  We may disclose your protected health information for law enforcement purposes.  For example, in limited circumstances we may disclose your protected health information if you are a victim of a crime.  We may provide information about a crime at FFL, or to report a crime that happened elsewhere.  Additionally we may disclose your protected health information for the purpose of identifying or locating a suspect, material witness or missing person.  Further, we may disclose your protected health information to federal officials for intelligence and national security activities authorized by law including to protect the President or other officials including foreign heads of state, to conduct investigations, or for military purposes.

Deceased Patients.  FFL may release protected health information to a medical examiner or coroner to identify a deceased individual or to identify the cause of death.  If necessary, we also may release information in order for funeral directors to perform their jobs or, when requested, to facilitate organ, eye or tissue donation.

Research.  Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose your protected health information for health related research purposes.  For example, a research project may involve comparing the health and recovery of all patients who received one medication to those who received another for the same condition.

Serious Threats to Health or Safety.  FFL may use and disclose your protected health information to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of another individual or the public.  Under these circumstances, we will only make disclosures to a person or organization able to help prevent the threat.

Uses and Disclosures Permitted Without Authorization But With Opportunity to Object

We may disclose your protected health information to your family member or close personal friends if it is directly relevant to the person's involvement in your care or payment related to your care.  You may object to these disclosures.  If you do not object to these disclosures or we can infer from the circumstances that you do not object or we determine, in the exercise of our professional judgment, that it is in your best interests for us to make disclosure of information that is directly relevant to the person's involvement with your care, we may disclose your protected health information as described.

Other uses and disclosures of your protected health information not covered by this Notice will be made only with your written authorization.  If you provide us with such an authorization, you may revoke it, in writing, at any time.  If you revoke your authorization, we will no longer use or disclose your information for the reasons covered by the authorization.

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION

You have the following rights regarding the protected health information that we maintain about you:

Confidential Communications. You have the right to request that we communicate with you in a particular manner.  For instance, you may ask that we contact you at home rather than work.  To request a type of communication, you must make a written request to the Privacy Officer listed on page one of this notice.  We will accommodate reasonable requests.

Requesting Restrictions.  You have the right to request a restriction in our use or disclosure of your protected health information for the purposes of treatment (except in emergencies or when required by law), payment or health care operations.  We are not required to agree to your request; if we do agree, we are bound by our agreement.  You also have the right to request that we restrict our disclosure of your protected health information to certain individuals involved in your care.  To request a restriction, you must make your request in writing to the Privacy Officer listed on page one.

Inspection and Copies.  You have the right to see and copy your protected health information.  You must submit your request in writing to the Privacy Officer listed on page one.  FFL may charge a fee for the costs of copying and mailing your information.  By law, FFL may deny your request to see and/or copy your information in certain limited circumstances; however, you may request a review of our denial. For information regarding such a review, contact the Privacy Officer listed on page one of this notice.

Amendment.  If you feel that protected health information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may send us a written request to amend the information.  The request must include a reason supporting your request and should be sent to the Privacy Officer listed on page one.  We may deny your request if it is not in writing or does not include a reason.  Further, we may deny your request if you ask us to amend information that is, in our opinion, accurate and complete, not part of the information kept by us, not part of the protected health information which you would be permitted to see and copy, or if it was not created by us.

List of Disclosures.  You have the right to request an accounting of disclosures FFL has made of your protected health information for non-treatment, non-payment or non-operations purposes.  Use of your protected health information as part FFL for purposes of treatment, payment or operations is not required to be documented and, therefore, will not be on the list. Further, the list will not include disclosures made with your authorization, incidental disclosures or those required by law.  In order to obtain a list of disclosures, you must submit your request in writing to the Privacy Officer listed on page one. All requests must state a time period (not to exceed six years) and may not include dates before April 14, 2003.  You are entitled to one such list per year free of charge; additional accounting request may be subject to a reasonable cost based fee.

Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice.  You are entitled to receive additional copies of this notice of privacy practices at any time.  To obtain a copy of this notice, write to the Privacy Officer listed on page one of this notice or go to our website at www.foresncifluids.com.

Right to File a Complaint.  If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with the Privacy Officer for FFL or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.  To file a complaint with FFL, write to the Privacy Officer listed on page one.  FFL will not retaliate against you in any way for submitting a request.