NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

INGENES Hybrid Entity

This Notice of Privacy Practices (the “Notice”) describes how Instituto de Infertilidad y Genética México, S.C. (hereinafter referred to as INGENES or “Hybrid Entity”), may use and disclose your protected health information to carry out treatment, payment or business operations and for other purposes that are permitted or required by law. A Hybrid Entity is an entity that entails a venture of different activities or functions, among others, healthcare functions that a covered entity performs, and also develop some business functions that a covered entity is not able to perform or is not inherent to their activities. Business functions that are not functions a covered entity performs, are referred to as “non-covered functions” or “non-healthcare functions”.

INGENES holds a Business Associate relationship with INGENES SAN DIEGO, INC. and INGENES MCALLEN, P.C. (hereinafter referred to as “Covered Entity or collectively as “Covered Entities”), a conform a single unity of business with purposes of compliance to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). As a single business unity, albeit not under the same control or ownership, have elected to voluntarily substantially comply with the standards set forth in HIPAA. Each covered entity shall publish its Notice of Privacy Practices as set forth in HIPAA. 

INGENES will share protected health information with each other for the treatment, payment, and health care operations from covered entities and along with them, and as permitted by HIPAA and this Notice of Privacy Practices. The compliance officer for the single business entity can be reached on contacto@ingenes.com. 

NOTICE TO PATIENTS

For California Residents Open Payments Database 

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

INGENES SAN DIEGO, INC. Covered Entity

This Notice of Privacy Practices (the “Notice”) describes how INGENES SAN DIEGO, INC. (hereinafter referred to as INGENES SAN DIEGO or “Covered Entity”), may use and disclose your protected health information to carry out treatment, payment or business operations and for other purposes that are permitted or required by law under compliance to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). 

INGENES SAN DIEGO will share protected health information with other covered entities or business associates for the treatment, payment, and health care operations from covered entities and along with them, and as permitted by HIPAA and this Notice of Privacy Practices. The compliance officer can be reached on contacto@ingenes.com.

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

INGENES MCALLEN, P.C. Covered Entity

This Notice of Privacy Practices (the “Notice”) describes how INGENES MCALLEN, P.C. (hereinafter referred to as INGENES MCALLEN or “Covered Entity”), may use and disclose your protected health information to carry out treatment, payment or business operations and for other purposes that are permitted or required by law under compliance to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). 

INGENES MCALLEN will share protected health information with other covered entities or business associates for the treatment, payment, and health care operations from covered entities and along with them, and as permitted by HIPAA and this Notice of Privacy Practices. The compliance officer can be reached on contacto@ingenes.com.

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.

We understand the importance of privacy and are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of your medical information. We make a record of the medical care we provide and may receive such records from others. We use these records to provide or enable other health care providers to provide quality medical care, to obtain payment for services provided to you as allowed by your health plan and to enable us to meet our professional and legal obligations to operate this medical practice properly. We are required by law to maintain the privacy of protected health information, to provide individuals with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to protected health information, and to notify affected individuals following a breach of unsecured protected health information. This notice describes how we may use and disclose your medical information. It also describes your rights and our legal obligations with respect to your medical information. If you have any questions about this Notice, please contact our Privacy Officer listed above.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• How INGENES May Use or Disclose Your Health Information
• When INGENES May Not Use or Disclose Your Health Information
• Your Health Information Rights
• Right to Request Special Privacy Protections
• Right to Request Confidential Communications
• Right to Inspect and Copy
• Right to Amend or Supplement
• Right to an Accounting of Disclosures
• Right to a Paper or Electronic Copy of this Notice
• Changes to this Notice of Privacy Practices
• Complaints

How INGENES May Use or Disclose Your Health Information

This medical practice collects health information about you and stores it in an electronic health record/personal health record. This is your medical record. The medical record is the property of this medical practice, but the information in the medical record belongs to you. 

The law permits us to use or disclose your health information for the following purposes:

Treatment. We use medical information about you to provide your medical care. We disclose medical information to our employees and others who are involved in providing the care you need. For example, we may share your medical information with other physicians or other health care providers who will provide services that we do not provide. Or we may share this information with a pharmacist who needs it to dispense a prescription to you, or a laboratory that performs a test. We may also disclose medical information to members of your family or others who can help you when you are sick or injured, or after you die. 

INGENES may refer you, the patient, to a third party provider (i.e. dietician, nutritionist, physical therapist, psychotherapist, etc.) for health services related to the patient’s plan of care.  Your decision to consult with or receive services from the third party provider is voluntary.  In order to provide you with the best care, both INGENES and the third party provider may share your personal and medical information via INGENES’ electronic medical record and only to the extent necessary to effectuate your treatment plan and other permissible purposes as set forth by HIPAA.  You have the right to request that either INGENES or the third party provider not share your medical information and you may rescind your consent at any time by emailing INGENES at contacto@ingenes.com.  You may also, at any time, request a copy of your medical record by emailing contacto@ingenes.com .  I have read this permitted disclosure and understand its terms.

1. Payment. We use and disclose medical information about you to obtain payment for the services we provide. For example, we give your health plan the information it requires before it will pay us. We may also disclose information to other health care providers to assist them in obtaining payment for services they have provided to you.
2. Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose medical information about you to operate this medical practice. For example, we may use and disclose this information to review and improve the quality of care we provide, or the competence and qualifications of our professional staff. Or we may use and disclose this information to get your health plan to authorize services or referrals. We may also use and disclose this information as necessary for medical reviews, legal services and audits, including fraud and abuse detection and compliance programs and business planning and management. We may also share your medical information with our “business associates,” such as our billing service, that perform administrative services for us. We have a written contract with each of these business associates that contains terms requiring them and their subcontractors to protect the confidentiality and security of your protected health information. We may also share your information with other healthcare providers, health care clearinghouses or health plans that have a relationship with you, when they request this information to help them with their quality assessment and improvement activities, their patient-safety activities, their population-based efforts to improve health or reduce health care costs, their protocol development, case management or care-coordination activities, their review of competence, qualifications and performance of health care professionals, their training programs, their accreditation, certification or licensing activities, or their health care fraud and abuse detection and compliance efforts. We may also share medical information about you with the other healthcare providers, health care clearinghouses and health plans that participate with us in “organized health care arrangements” (OHCAs) for any of the OHCAs’ health care operations. OHCAs include hospitals, physician organizations, health plans, and other entities which collectively provide health care services. A listing of the OHCAs we participate in is available from the Privacy Official.
3. Appointment Reminders. We may use and disclose medical information to contact and remind you about appointments. If you are not home, we may leave this information on your answering machine or in a message left with the person answering the phone. We may also send this information to you by email if you have so consented.
4. Sign in Sheet. We may use and disclose medical information about you by having you sign in when you arrive at our office. We may also call out your name when we are ready to see you.
5. Notification and Communication with Family. We may disclose your health information to notify or assist in notifying a family member, your personal representative or another person responsible for your care about your location, your general condition or, unless you had instructed us otherwise, in the event of your death. In the event of a disaster, we may disclose information to a relief organization so that they may coordinate these notification efforts. We may also disclose information to someone who is involved with your care or helps pay for your care. If you are able and available to agree or object, we will give you the opportunity to object prior to making these disclosures, although we may disclose this information in a disaster even over your objection if we believe it is necessary to respond to the emergency circumstances. If you are unable or unavailable to agree or object, our health professionals will use their best judgment in communication with your family and others.
6. Marketing. Provided we do not receive any payment for making these communications, we may contact you to give you information about products or services related to your treatment, case management or care coordination, or to direct or recommend other treatments, therapies, health care providers or settings of care that may be of interest to you. We may similarly describe products or services provided by this practice and tell you which health plans this practice participates in. We may also encourage you to maintain a healthy lifestyle and get recommended tests, participate in a disease management program, provide you with small gifts, tell you about government sponsored health programs or encourage you to purchase a product or service when we see you, for which we may be paid. Finally, we may receive compensation which covers our cost of reminding you to take and refill your medication, or otherwise communicate about a drug or biologic product that is currently prescribed for you. We will not otherwise use or disclose your medical information for marketing purposes or accept any payment for other marketing communications without your prior written authorization. The authorization will disclose whether we receive any compensation for any marketing activity you authorize, and we will stop any future marketing activity to the extent you revoke that authorization.
7. Required by Law. As required by law, we will use and disclose your health information, but we will limit our use or disclosure to the relevant requirements of the law. When the law requires us to report abuse, neglect or domestic violence, or respond to judicial or administrative proceedings, or to law enforcement officials, we will further comply with the requirement set forth below concerning those activities.
8. Public Health. We may, and are sometimes required by law, to disclose your health information to public health authorities for purposes related to: preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability; reporting child, elder or dependent adult abuse or neglect; reporting domestic violence; reporting to the Food and Drug Administration problems with products and reactions to medications; and reporting disease or infection exposure. When we report suspected elder or dependent adult abuse or domestic violence, we will inform you or your personal representative promptly unless in our best professional judgment, we believe the notification would place you at risk of serious harm or would require informing a personal representative we believe is responsible for the abuse or harm.
9. Health Oversight Activities. We may, and are sometimes required by law, to disclose your health information to health oversight agencies during the course of audits, investigations, inspections, licensure and other proceedings, subject to the limitations imposed by law.
10. Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. We may, and are sometimes required by law, to disclose your health information in the course of any administrative or judicial proceeding to the extent expressly authorized by a court or administrative order. We may also disclose information about you in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process if reasonable efforts have been made to notify you of the request and you have not objected, or if your objections have been resolved by a court or administrative order.
11. Law Enforcement. We may, and are sometimes required by law, to disclose your health information to a law enforcement official for purposes such as identifying or locating a suspect, fugitive, material witness or missing person, complying with a court order, warrant, grand jury subpoena and other law enforcement purposes.
12. Organ or Tissue Donation. We may disclose your health information to organizations involved in procuring, banking or transplanting organs and tissues.
13. Public Safety. We may, and are sometimes required by law, to disclose your health information to appropriate persons in order to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a particular person or the general public.
14. Specialized Government Functions. We may disclose your health information for military or national security purposes or to correctional institutions or law enforcement officers that have you in their lawful custody.
15. Change of Ownership. In the event that this medical practice is sold or merged with another organization, your health information/record will become the property of the new owner, although you will maintain the right to request that copies of your health information be transferred to another physician or medical group.
16. Breach Notification. In the case of a breach of unsecured protected health information, we will notify you as required by law. If you have provided us with a current email address, we may use email to communicate information related to the breach. In some circumstances our business associate may provide the notification. We may also provide notification by other methods as appropriate.
17. Research. We may disclose your health information to researchers conducting research with respect to which your written authorization is not required as approved by an Institutional Review Board or privacy board, in compliance with governing law.
18. Fundraising. We may use or disclose your demographic information in order to contact you for our fundraising activities. For example, we may use the dates that you received treatment, the department of service, your treating physician, outcome information and health insurance status to identify individuals that may be interested in participating in fundraising activities. If you do not want to receive these materials, you may notify INGENES at any time by emailing INGENES at contacto@ingenes.com and we will stop any further fundraising communications. Similarly, you should notify the Privacy Officer if you decide you want to start receiving these solicitations again.

When INGENES May Not Use or Disclose Your Health Information

Except as described in this Notice of Privacy Practices, this medical practice will, consistent with its legal obligations, not use or disclose health information which identifies you without your written authorization. If you do authorize this medical practice to use or disclose your health information for another purpose, you may revoke your authorization in writing at any time.

Your Health Information Rights

1. Right to Request Special Privacy Protections. You have the right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your health information by a written request specifying what information you want to limit, and what limitations on our use or disclosure of that information you wish to have imposed. If you tell us not to disclose information to your commercial health plan concerning health care items or services for which you paid for in full out-of-pocket, we will abide by your request, unless we must disclose the information for treatment or legal reasons. We reserve the right to accept or reject any other request, and will notify you of our decision.
2. Right to Request Confidential Communications. You have the right to request that you receive your health information in a specific way or at a specific location. For example, you may ask that we send information to a particular email account or to your work address. We will comply with all reasonable requests submitted in writing which specify how or where you wish to receive these communications.
3. Right to Inspect and Copy. You have the right to inspect and copy your health information, with limited exceptions. To access your medical information, you must submit a written request detailing what information you want access to, whether you want to inspect it or get a copy of it, and if you want a copy, your preferred form and format. We will provide copies in your requested form and format if it is readily producible, or we will provide you with an alternative format you find acceptable, or if we can’t agree and we maintain the record in an electronic format, your choice of a readable electronic or hardcopy format. We will also send a copy to any other person you designate in writing. We will charge a reasonable fee which covers our costs for labor, supplies, postage, and if requested and agreed to in advance, the cost of preparing an explanation or summary.
4. Right to Amend or Supplement. You have a right to request that we amend your health information that you believe is incorrect or incomplete. You must make a request to amend in writing, and include the reasons you believe the information is inaccurate or incomplete. We are not required to change your health information, and will provide you with information about this medical practice’s denial and how you can disagree with the denial. We may deny your request if we do not have the information, if we did not create the information (unless the person or entity that created the information is no longer available to make the amendment), if you would not be permitted to inspect or copy the information at issue, or if the information is accurate and complete as is. If we deny your request, you may submit a written statement of your disagreement with that decision, and we may, in turn, prepare a written rebuttal. All information related to any request to amend will be maintained and disclosed in conjunction with any subsequent disclosure of the disputed information.
5. Right to an Accounting of Disclosures. You have a right to receive an accounting of disclosures of your health information made by this medical practice, except that this medical practice does not have to account for the disclosures provided to you or pursuant to your written authorization, or as described in paragraphs 1 (treatment), 2 (payment), 3 (health care operations), 6 (notification and communication with family) and 18 (specialized government functions) of Section A of this Notice of Privacy Practices or disclosures for purposes of research or public health which exclude direct patient identifiers, or which are incident to a use or disclosure otherwise permitted or authorized by law, or the disclosures to a health oversight agency or law enforcement official to the extent this medical practice has received notice from that agency or official that providing this accounting would be reasonably likely to impede their activities.
6. Right to a Paper or Electronic Copy of this Notice. You have a right to notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your health information, including a right to a paper copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices, even if you have previously requested its receipt by email.

If you would like to have a more detailed explanation of these rights or if you would like to exercise one or more of these rights, contact INGENES at any time by emailing INGENES at contacto@ingenes.com.  

USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRING YOUR WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION

Use or Disclosure with Your Authorization.  For any purpose other than the ones described above, your PHI may be used or disclosed only when you provide your written authorization on an authorization form (“Your Authorization”).  For instance, you will need to execute an authorization form before your PHI can be sent to your life insurance company or to the attorney representing the other party in litigation in which you are involved.

Marketing.  Your written authorization (“Your Marketing Authorization”) also must be obtained prior to using your PHI to send you any marketing materials.  (However, marketing materials can be provided to you in a face-to-face encounter without obtaining Your Marketing Authorization.  The Facility and/or Health Professionals are also permitted to give you a promotional gift of nominal value, if they so choose, without obtaining Your Marketing Authorization).  The Facility and/or Health Professionals may communicate with you in a face-to-face encounter about products or services relating to your treatment, case management or care coordination, or alternative treatments, therapies, providers or care settings without Your Marketing Authorization.

In addition, the Facility and/or Health Professionals may send you treatment communications, unless you elect not to receive this type of communication, for which the Facility and/or Health Professionals may receive financial remuneration.

Sale of PHI.  The Facility and Health Professionals will not disclose your PHI without your authorization in exchange for direct or indirect payment except in limited circumstances permitted by law.  These circumstances include public health activities; research; treatment of the individual; sale, transfer, merger or consolidation of the Facility; services provided by a business associate, pursuant to a business associate agreement; providing an individual with a copy of their PHI; and other purposes deemed necessary and appropriate by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Uses and Disclosures of Your Highly Confidential Information.  In addition, federal and state law require special privacy protections for certain highly confidential information about you (“Highly Confidential Information”), including the subset of your PHI that:  (1) is maintained in psychotherapy notes; (2) is about mental illness, mental retardation and developmental disabilities; (3) is about alcohol or drug abuse or addiction; (4) is about HIV/AIDS testing, diagnosis or treatment; (5) is about communicable disease(s), including venereal disease(s); (6) is about genetic testing; (7) is about child abuse and neglect; (8) is about domestic abuse of an adult; or (9) is about sexual assault.  In order for your Highly Confidential Information to be disclosed for a purpose other than those permitted by law, your written authorization is required.

Changes to this Notice of Privacy Practices

We reserve the right to amend this Notice of Privacy Practices at any time in the future. Until such amendment is made, we are required by law to comply with the terms of this Notice currently in effect. After an amendment is made, the revised Notice of Privacy Protections will apply to all protected health information that we maintain, regardless of when it was created or received. We will keep a copy of the current notice posted in our reception area, and a copy will be available at each appointment. We will also post the current notice on our website.

Complaints

Complaints about this Notice of Privacy Practices or how this medical practice handles your health information should be directed to our Privacy Officer listed at the top of this Notice of Privacy Practices.

If you are not satisfied with the manner in which this office handles a complaint, you may submit a formal complaint to: OCRPrivacy@hhs.gov

The complaint form may be found at www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/hipcomplaint.pdf.

You will not be penalized in any way for filing a complaint.

We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this Notice. We will maintain the privacy of your protected health information and to notify affected individuals following a breach of unsecured protected health information. If you have any questions about this Notice, please contact INGENES at contacto@ingenes.com.  

Please note that your consent is voluntary.  You may rescind your consent to any of the above at any time by emailing INGENES, INGENES SAN DIEGO or INGENES MCALLEN at contacto@ingenes.com.

For California Residents

THE CALIFORNIA CONSUMER PRIVACY ACT (CCPA) PROVIDES SOME CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS WITH THE CERTAIN PRIVACY RIGHTS. TO EXERCISE ANY OF THESE RIGHTS, PLEASE CONTACT US AT THE EMAIL ADDRESS OR TELEPHONE NUMBER LISTED BELOW.

1. Information to which the CCPA Applies

The CCPA and the rights explained in this section apply to certain personal information that we may collect from California residents. However, the CCPA does not apply to personal information that we obtain from patients or prospective patients of our practice or their personal representatives for purposes of providing health care services, or obtaining payment for health care services. This health information is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA). Our Notice of Privacy Practices describes how we use and disclose health information. The CCPA also does not apply to certain other kinds of information, such as information that is publicly available from government records, and deidentified or aggregate information.

Aside from this excluded information, we have collected the following categories of personal information that is not covered by HIPAA or the CMIA:

• Identifiers (e.g. name, postal address, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, passport number, or other similar identifiers)
• Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute, Cal. Civ. Code 1798.80(e) (e.g., Social Security number, physical characteristics or description, education, employment, employment history, financial information)
• Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law (e.g. age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, religion or creed, marital status, health condition, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, veteran or military status, genetic information)
• Commercial information (e.g. records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies)
• Biometric information (e.g., genetic, behavioral, and biological characteristics or activity patterns, such as fingerprints or retina scans)
• Internet or other similar network activity (e.g., browsing history, search history)
• Geolocation data (e.g., physical location or movements)
• Sensory data (e.g., audio, electronic, visual, thermal, or similar information)
• Professional or employment-related information (e.g., current or past job history)
• Non-public education information pursuant to FERPA (e.g., educational records maintained by an educational institution)
• Inferences drawn from other personal information (e.g., profile reflecting a person’s preferences, characteristics, trends, behavior)

2. Right to Know

You have the right to know and see what personal information we have collected about you over the past 12 months, including:

• The categories of personal information we have collected about you;
• The categories of sources from which the personal information is collected;
• The business or commercial purpose for collecting your personal information;
• The categories of third parties with whom we have shared your personal information; and
• The specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you.

3. Right to Delete

You have the right to request that we delete the personal information we have collected from you (and direct our service providers to do the same). There are a number of exceptions, however, that include, but are not limited to, when the information is necessary for us or a third party to do any of the following:

• Complete your transaction;
• Provide you with the Services;
• Perform a contract between us and you;
• Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent or illegal activity, and prosecute those responsible for such activities;
• Fix our system in the case of a bug;
• Protect the free speech rights, including the free speech rights of you or other users, or exercise another right provided by law;
• Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546 et seq.);
• Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interests that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws;
• Comply with a legal obligation; or
• Make other internal and lawful uses of the information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it.

4. Right to Opt-Out of the Sale of Your Personal Information

We do not sell any of your personal information.

5. Right to Non-Discrimination

We will not discriminate against those who exercise their rights under this section. If you exercise your rights, we will not deny you goods or services, charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, or provide you with a different level or quality of goods or services.

6. Other Rights

California Civil Code § 1798.83 permits users of our Services that are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. We do not disclose your personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. However, you are free to make an inquiry with any questions by contacting us in accordance with the “How to Contact Us” section in this Privacy Policy.

7. Exercising These Rights

To request access to or deletion of your personal information, or to exercise any other data rights under California law, please contact us in accordance with the “How to Contact Us” section in this Privacy Policy. Please include your full name, email address, and an explanation of you are emailing us, so that we can verify and process your request in an efficient manner. If we cannot verify your identity from the initial information you provide, we may request additional information from you, which will be used only for the purposes of verifying your identity to assist you with exercising your rights. You may also designate an authorized agent to make a request under this section on your behalf. We may request additional information from you to confirm that the authorized agent has in fact been authorized by you to act on your behalf.

8. Accessing in Alternative Formats

For individuals with disabilities, please contact us in accordance with the “How to Contact Us” section regarding how to access the information in this Privacy Policy in an alternative format.

9. Response Time

We aim to respond to a consumer request for access or deletion within 45 days of receiving a verifiable request. If we require more time, we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless INGENES SAN DIEGO and its officers, directors, shareholders, employees, agents, and affiliates against all actual and direct losses, liabilities, claims, costs, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) they may suffer as the result of third-party claims, demands, actions, investigations, settlements, or judgments against them arising from or in connection with any breach of these Terms of Use, or from any breaches of confidentiality or negligence or wrongful acts or omissions, by you or your dependents or agents. The limitation of liability and indemnification obligations of these Terms of Use stated above will survive termination of these Terms of Use.

10. Do Not Track Symbols

We do not have the capability to respond to “Do Not Track” signals received from various web browsers at this time.

11. How to Contact Us

If you have any questions, comments or concerns about this policy, or if you wish to exercise any rights regarding your personal information, please feel free to contact us by mail at contacto@ingenes.com.

For Texas Residents

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. This Notice of Privacy Practices describes how INGENES MCALLEN may use and disclose your protected health information (PHI) to carry out treatment, payment or health care operations (TPO) and for your purposes that are permitted or required by law.  

It also describes your rights to access and control your protected health information.  “Protected health information” is information about you, including demographic information that may identify you and that relates to your past, present or future physical or mental health or condition and related health care services.  

USES AND DISCLOSURES OF PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION

Your protected health information may be used and disclosed (in paper or electronic form) by your physician, our office staff and others outside of our office that are involved in your care and treatment for the purpose of providing health care services to you, to pay your health care bills, to support the operation of the physician’s practice, and any other use required by law.    Except for the following purposes, we will use and disclose your protected health information only with your   written permission.   

You may revoke such permission at any time by writing to: INGENES MCALLEN, contacto@ingenes.com. We will use and disclose your protected health information to provide, coordinate, or manage your health care and any related services.    This includes the coordination or management of your health care with a third party. For example, your protected health information may be provided to a physician to whom you have been referred to ensure that the physician has the necessary information to diagnose or treat you. 

Payment. Your protected health information will be used, as needed, to obtain payment for your health care services.    For example, we would give information about you to your health insurance plan so it will pay for your services. 

Healthcare Operations We may use or disclose, as needed, your protected health information in order to support the business activities of your physician’s practice.    These activities include, but are not limited to, quality assessment activities, employee review activities, licensing, and conducting or arranging for other business activities.    For example, we may disclose your protected health information to externs who observe patient exams at our office.    In addition, we may use a sign-in sheet at the registration desk where you will be asked to sign your name.    We may also call you by name in the waiting room when your physician is ready to see you.   We may use or disclose your protected health information as necessary to contact you to remind you of your appointment. We may use or disclose your protected health information in the following situations without your authorization.    These situations include:  as    required by law, public health issues as required by law, communicable diseases, health oversight, abuse or neglect, Food and Drug Administration requirements, legal proceedings, law enforcement, coroners, funeral directors, and organ donation, research, criminal activity, military activity and national security, Worker’s Compensation, required uses and disclosures.    

Under the law, we must make disclosures to you and when required by the Secretary of Department of Health and Human Services to investigate or determine our compliance with the requirements of Section 164.500. Other Permitted and Required Uses and Disclosures will be made only with your consent, authorization or opportunity to object unless required by law. 

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION 

The following is a statement of your rights with respect to your projected health information.    Such requests should be in writing and addressed to: INGENES MCALLEN, contacto@ingenes.com. You have the right to inspect and copy your protected health information. You have the right to inspect a copy of your medical record, in paper or electronic form.    By Texas Medical Privacy Act (HB  300), you may request an electronic or paper copy, and we must provide that within 15 days.    Under federal law, however, you may not inspect or copy the following records:  psychotherapy notes, information compiled in reasonable anticipation of or use in a civil, criminal or administrative action or proceedings, and protected health information that is subject to law that prohibits access to protected health information. 

You have the right to request a restriction of your protected health information This means that you may ask us not to use or disclose any part of your protected health information for the purposes of treatment, payment, or healthcare operations.   You may also request that any part of your protected health information not be disclosed to family members or friends who may be involved in your care or for notification purposes as described in the Notice of Privacy Practices.   

 Your request must state the specific restriction requested and to whom you want the restriction to apply.    Your physician is not required to agree to a restriction that you may request.    If the physician believes it is in your best interest to permit use and disclosure of your protected health information, your protected health information will not be restricted.    You then have the right to use another Healthcare Professional. 

You have the right to request to receive confidential communications from us by alternative means or at an alternative location.    You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this notice from us, upon request, even if you have agreed to accept this notice alternatively, i.e., electronically. You have the right to have your physician amend your protected health information.    If we deny your request for amendment, you have the right to file a statement of disagreement with us and we may prepare a rebuttal to your statement and will provide you with a copy of any such rebuttal. 

You have the right to receive an accounting of certain disclosures we have made, if any, of your protected health information. 

Complaints You may complain to us or to the Secretary of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy rights have been violated by us.    You may file a complaint with us by notifying our privacy contact of your complaint.    We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint. 

Changes to this notice We may change this notice and make it effective for medical information we already have about you, as well as new information.    The current notice will be posted and available at all times.   You have a right to request a paper copy of the current notice at any visit or by written request.