HIPAA PRIVACY POLICY

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Notice of Privacy Practices

This notice describes how medical information and other private information about you (clients and contractors) may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.

We understand that we collect private and/or potentially sensitive medical information about a client or a client’s family. Keeping your health care information private is one of our most important responsibilities. We are committed to protecting your health care information and following all laws about its use.

ABA Solutions, Inc. does not use or disclose protected health information unless permitted or required to do so by law. The Privacy Rule under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires us to (a) maintain the privacy of health/medical information provided to us; (2) provide notice of our legal duties and privacy practices; (3) abide by the terms of our Notice of Privacy Practices currently in effect. When we do use or disclose protected health information, we will make every reasonable effort to limit its use or the level of disclosure to the minimum we deem necessary to accomplish the intended purpose. Please note that the privacy provisions articulated in this notice do not apply to health information that does not identify the client or anyone else. For more information on ABA Solutions, Inc. privacy practices, or to receive another copy of this notice, please contact the office.

ABA Solutions, Inc. is required by law to follow the terms set forth in this notice. We reserve the right to change this notice. If we make a change in our privacy policies or procedures, we will provide the client with a new privacy notice either by mail or in person.

WHO WILL FOLLOW THIS NOTICE

This notice describes the practices of ABA Solutions, Inc. contractors and staff. This notice applies to each of these individuals, entities, sites and locations. In addition, these individuals, entities, sites and locations may share medical and other private information with each other for the treatment, payment and health care operation purposes described in this notice.

INFORMATION COLLECTED ABOUT YOU THE CLIENT

In the ordinary course of receiving treatment and health care services from us, you will be providing us with personal information such as:

    • Your name, address, email, and phone number.

    • Your social security number and date of birth.

    • Information relating to your medical history and diagnosis(es).

    • Your insurance information and coverage.

    • Information concerning your doctor, nurse or other medical providers.

    • Information concerning your family members’ medical history.

In addition, we will gather certain medical information about you and will create a record of the care provided to you. Some information also may be provided to us by other individuals or organizations that are part of your “circle of care”- such as the referring physician or agency, your other doctors/treating providers, your health plan, and close friends or family members.

HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE INFORMATION ABOUT YOU

We may use and disclose personal and identifiable health information about you for a variety of purposes. All of the types of uses and disclosures of information are described below, but not every use or disclosure in a category is listed.

Required Disclosures.

We may use and disclose your Protected Health Information in the following ways:

    1. For Treatment. We may use health information about you in your treatment. We may disclose your PHI to other health care providers for purposes related to your treatment. This may include, but is not limited to, your doctor, other therapists, caseworker, and school related personnel.

    • For Payment. We may use and disclose you PHI in order to bill and collect payment for the services and items you may receive from us. For example, we may use and disclose your PHI to obtain payment from third parties that may be responsible for such costs. We may also need to inform your payer of the treatment you are going to receive in order to obtain prior approval or to determine whether the service is covered.

    • For Health Care and Business Operations. We may use and disclose information about you for the general operation -of our business. For example, may have auditors or other consultants review our practices, evaluate our operations, and tell us how to improve our services. Or, for example, we may use and disclose your health or other personal information to review the quality of services provided to you.

    • Our Business Associates. We sometimes work with outside individuals and businesses that help us operate our business successfully. We may disclose your health and other private information to these business associates so that they can perform the tasks that we hire them to do. Our business associates must sign a contract that they will respect the confidentiality of your personal and identifiable health information.

    • Release of Information to Family/Friends. We may release your PHI to a friend or family member that is involved in your/your child’s care. For example, if a friend, babysitter, grandparent, or other family member is with you or your child during the session, they may receive PHI about you or that child. Generally, we will obtain your verbal agreement before using or disclosing health and other private information in this way. However, under certain circumstances, such as an emergency situation, we may make these uses and disclosures without your agreement.

    • Disclosures Required by Law. There are a number of public policy reasons why we may disclose information about you, which are described below in the next section.

Uses and Disclosure of your PHI in Certain Special Circumstances:

    1. Public Health Risks. We may disclose your PHI to public health authorities that are authorized by law to collect information for the purpose of reporting child abuse or neglect, maintaining vital records, preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability, notifying a person regarding a potential risk for spreading or contracting a disease or condition, reporting problems with products or devices, notifying individuals that a product or device they may be using has been recalled.

    • Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose your PHI to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law. Oversight activities may 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.

    • Treatment & Research. We may use or disclose certain health and other private information about your condition and treatment for research purposes where an Institutional Review Board or a similar body referred to as a Privacy Board determines that your privacy interests will be adequately protected in the study. We may also use and disclose your health and other private information to prepare or analyze a research protocol and for other research purposes.

    • Lawsuits and Similar Proceedings. We may disclose your protected health and other private information for legal or administrative proceedings that involve you. We may release such information upon order of a court or administrative tribunal. We may also release protected health and other private information in the absence of such an order and in response to a discovery or other lawful request, if efforts have been made to notify you or secure a protective order.

    • Law Enforcement. We may disclose your health and other private information as required by law, including in response to a warrant, subpoena, or other order of a court or administrative hearing body or to assist law enforcement identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness or missing person. Disclosures for law enforcement purposes also permit use to make disclosures about victims of crimes and the death of an individual, among others.

    • Serious threats to Health and Safety. This agency may use and disclose your PHI when necessary to reduce or prevent a serious threat to your or your child’s health and safety or the health and safety of another individual. We are also permitted to disclose protected health and other private information to a public health authority or other government authority authorized by law to receive reports of child abuse or neglect. We may disclose a patient’s health and other private information where we reasonably believe a patient is a victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence and the patient authorizes the disclosure or it is required or authorized by law.

    • Military. If you are a member of the Armed Forces, we may release health and other private information about you for activities deemed necessary by military command authorities. We also may release health and other private information about foreign military personnel to their appropriate foreign military authority.

    • National Security. We may disclose your PHI to federal officials for intelligence and national security activities authorized by law. We also may disclose your PHI to federal officials in order to protect the President, other officials or foreign heads of state, or to conduct investigations.

    • Inmates. We may disclose your PHI to correctional institutions or law enforcement officials if you or your child is an inmate or under the custody of law enforcement official. Disclosure for these purposes would be necessary for the institution to provide health care service to you or your child, for the safety and security of the institution and to protect your health and safety or the health and safety of other individuals.

Workers’ Compensation. We may release your PHI for workers’ compensation and similar programs, which provide benefits for work-related injuries or illnesses without regard to fault.

OTHER USES AND DISCLOSURES OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We are required to obtain written authorization from you for any other uses and disclosures of medical information other than those described above. If you provide us with such permission, you may revoke that permission, in writing, at any time. If you revoke your permission, we will no longer use or disclose personal information about you for the reasons covered by your written authorization, except to the extent we have already relied on your original permission.

INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR PHI

You have the following rights regarding the PHI that we maintain about you or your child. Request involving your rights must be submitted in writing.

    1. Confidential Communications– You have the right to request that our agency communicate with you about health related issues in a particular manner, or at a certain location. The request must specify the method of contact, or the location where you wish to be contacted. For example, you may ask that we only contact you at home or by mail. We may communicate with you via email, which by the nature of email correspondence, may not always be secure. If you do not wish to receive communication about your services via email, please make that request in writing. We will accommodate reasonable requests. You do not need to give a reason for your request.

    • Requesting Restrictions– You have the right to ask for restrictions on the ways we use and disclose your health and other private information for treatment, payment and health care operation purposes. You may also request that we limit our disclosures to persons assisting your care or payment for your care. Your request must describe in a clear and concise fashion the information you wish restricted, whether you are requesting to limit our clinic’s use, disclosure or both, and to whom you want the limits to apply. We will consider your request, but we are not required to accept it.

    • Inspection and Copies-Except under certain circumstances, you have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of the PHI that may be used to make decisions about you or your child, including patient medical records, and billing records. If you request copies of this information, we may charge a customary and reasonable fee of $15 or more for copying and mailing. This agency may deny your request to inspect and/or copy in certain limited circumstances; however, you may request a review of our denial.

    • Amendment-You may ask us to amend your health information if you believe it is incorrect or incomplete. You may request an amendment for as long as the information is kept by or for this agency. You must provide us with a reason that supports your request for the amendment. Also, we may deny your request if you ask us to amend information that is in our opinion accurate and complete, not part of the PHI, not created by our agency, or the individual/entity that created the information is not available to amend the information.

    • Accounting of Disclosure-All of our patients have the right to request an “accounting of disclosures” which is a list of certain non-routine disclosures our agency has made of your PHI for non- treatment, non-payment, or non-operations purposes. Use of your PHI as part of the routine patient care in our clinic is not required to be documented. All requests must state a time period, which may not be longer than six years from the date of disclosure. If you ask for this information from us more than once every twelve months, we may charge you a customary and reasonable fee of $20 or more.

    • Right to a copy of this Notice in Paper Form-You have the right to a copy of this notice in paper form. You may ask us for a copy at any time. To exercise any of your rights, please contact us in writing:

ABA Solutions, Inc. – 7441 114th Avenue – Suite 604 – Largo, FL 33773, Phone: (727) 492-5369 Fax: (727) 544-5900, [email protected]

    • Right to File a Complaint-If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with ABA Solutions, Inc. using the contact information provided above, or with the Office of Civil Rights, or the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.

    • Right to Provide an Authorization for Other Uses and Disclosures– This agency will obtain your written authorization for uses and disclosures that are not identified by this notice or permitted by applicable law. Any authorization you provide to us regarding the use and disclosure of you or your child’s PHI may be revoked at any time in writing. After you revoke your authorization, we will no longer use or disclose your PHI for the reasons described in the authorization. Please note we are required to retain records of your care.

CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE

We reserve the right to make changes to this notice at any time. We reserve the right to make the revised notice effective for personal health and other private information we have about you as well as any information we receive in the future. In the event there is a material change to this notice, the revised notice will be posted. Any revision to this notice will be effective for any records that this clinic has created or maintained in the past or will create or maintain in the future. In addition, you may request a copy of the revised notice at any time.

CONTACT US

If you have any other requests or concerns, you may contact the Administrator, Lisa Scott at [email protected].