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NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
United States Pharmaceutical Group, L.L.C. d/b/a
NationsHealth
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE
USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.
PLEASE REVIEW CAREFULLY. Under the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) United States Pharmaceutical
Group, L.L.C. d/b/a NationsHealth (we or us) is required to
maintain the privacy of your Protected Health Information (PHI) and
provide you with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices
with respect to such PHI.
We are required to abide by the HIPAA terms currently in effect.
We reserve the right to change the terms of our Notice of Privacy
Practices (Notice) at any time and to make the new Notice
provisions effective for all PHI that we maintain. If you should
have any questions or require further information, please contact
our Privacy Officer toll free at (800) 246-2195.
Acknowledgment of Receipt of This Notice
You will be asked to provide a signed Acknowledgment of Receipt of
this Notice. Our intent is to make you aware of the possible uses
and disclosures of your PHI and your privacy rights. The delivery
of your services will in no way depend upon your signed
Acknowledgment. If you decline to sign an Acknowledgment, we will
continue to provide your services. We will also use and disclose
your PHI for treatment, payment, and health care operations, when
necessary.
How We May Use or Disclose Your Health
Information
The following describes the purposes for which we are permitted or
required by law to use or disclose your health information without
your consent or authorization. Any other uses or disclosures will
be made only with your written authorization and you may revoke
such authorization in writing at any time. For example, we must
obtain your written authorization prior to using your PHI for
marketing purposes outside of the marketing purposes provided
below.
Your Financial
Information:
We collect and use several types of financial information to carry
out our business activities. This includes information that you
give to us on applications or other forms, such as your name,
address, age, and dependents. We keep and share financial records
such as insurance coverage, premiums, and payment history, only
when necessary, with our employees, affiliates, business
associates, or others who need it to provide services, to do
business, for health care operations, or for other legally allowed
or required purposes.
Treatment:
We will use or disclose your PHI to provide, coordinate, or manage
your healthcare, supplies and any related services. This includes
the coordination or management of your healthcare with a third
party for treatment purposes. For example, we may disclose your PHI
to a laboratory for processing of diabetes test results. We may
also disclose PHI to your physician(s) who may be treating you or
other providers who are involved in your healthcare. We may also
disclose your PHI to an outside treatment provider for purposes of
the treatment activities of the other provider.
Payment:
We may use or disclose your health information in order to process
claims or make payment for covered services or supplies. For
example, your supplier may submit a claim to your insurance carrier
(i.e. Medicare) for payment. The claim form will include
information that identifies you, your diagnosis, and treatment or
supplies used in the course of treatment.
Health Care
Operations:
We may use or disclose your health information for health care
operations. Health care operations include, but are not limited to,
quality assessment and improvement activities, employee review and
development activities, review and audit activities, management and
general administrative activities. For example, members of our
quality improvement team may use information in your health record
to assess the quality of care that you receive and determine how to
continually improve the quality and effectiveness of the services
we provide.
Business
Associates:
There may be instances where services are provided to our
organization through contracts with third-party business
associates. Whenever a business associate arrangement involves the
use or disclosure of your health information, we will have a
written contract that requires the business associate to maintain
the same high standards of safeguarding your privacy that we
require of our own employees and affiliates.
Required by
Law:
We will disclose medical information about you when required to do
so by applicable federal, state or local law.
Communication with Family,
Caregivers, and Close Friends:
We may disclose your PHI to a family member, other relative, a
close personal friend or any other person identified by you when
you are present for, or otherwise available prior to, the
disclosure, if: (1) we obtain your written agreement or provide you
with the opportunity to object to the disclosure and you do not
object; or (2) we reasonably infer that you do not object to the
disclosure.
If you are not present for or unavailable prior to a disclosure
(i.e., when we receive a telephone call from a family member or
other caregiver), we may exercise our professional judgment to
determine whether a disclosure is in your best interests. If we
disclose information under such circumstances, we would disclose
only information that is directly relevant to the person's
involvement with your care.
Public
Health:
Consistent with applicable federal and state laws, we may disclose
your PHI for the following public health activities: (1) to report
health information to public health authorities for the purpose of
preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability; (2) to
report child abuse and neglect, elder abuse, domestic violence or
any other form of abuse to a government authority authorized by law
to receive reports of such abuse, neglect, or domestic violence;
(3) to any state agency in conjunction with a federal or state
health benefit program; (4) to report information about products
under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration;
(5) to report information to your employer as required under laws
addressing work- related illnesses and injuries or workplace
medical surveillance; (6) to prevent a serious threat to your
health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another
person; and (7) as required by state law for other public health
activities.
Health Oversight
Activities:
We may disclose health information to a health oversight agency
for activities authorized by law, including audits, investigations,
inspections, and licensure.
Marketing:
We may use or disclose your health information, as necessary, to
provide you with recommendations for alternative treatments,
therapies, health care providers or care settings. The definition
of marketing under HIPAA excludes communications with individuals
about participating providers and plans in a network, or about a
patient's treatment, case management, or care coordination -
including recommendations for alternative treatments, therapies,
health care providers or care settings. Workers' Compensation: We
may disclose your PHI as authorized by and to the extent necessary
to comply with state law relating to workers' compensation or other
similar programs.
Specialized Government
Functions:
We may use and disclose PHI to units of the government with
special functions, such as the US military or the US Department of
State under certain circumstances required by law.
Ordered
Examinations:
We may disclose PHI when required to report findings from an
examination ordered by a court or detention facility.
Law Enforcement
Officials:
We may disclose your PHI to the police or other law enforcement
officials as required by law or in compliance with a court
order.
Lawsuits and
Disputes:
We may disclose health information about you in response to a
subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful order from a
court.
Judicial and Administrative
Proceeding:
We may disclose your PHI in the course of a judicial or
administrative proceeding in response to a legal order or other
lawful process.
Decedents:
We may disclose PHI to a coroner or medical examiner as authorized
by law.
As Required by Law
We may use and disclose PHI when required to do so by any other
law not already referred to in the preceding categories.
Authorization
We will get your written permission before we use or share your
PHI for any other purpose, unless otherwise stated or referred to
specifically or generally in this Notice. You are not required to
authorize any additional uses or disclosures of your PHI, and you
may withdraw any authorization you do provide at any time, in
writing. We will then stop using your information for that purpose.
However, if we have already used or shared your information based
on your authorization, we cannot undo any actions we took before
you withdrew your permission.
Your Rights Regarding Your Health
Information
The following describes your rights regarding the health
information we maintain about you. To exercise your rights, you
must submit your request in writing to our Privacy Officer at 13621
NW 12th Street, Suite 100, Sunrise FL 33323.
Right to Request Restrictions
You have the right to request that we restrict uses or disclosures
of your health information to carry out treatment, payment, health
care operations, or communications with family or friends. We are
not required to agree to a restriction.
Right to Receive Confidential
Communications
You have the right to request that we send communications that
contain your health information by alternative means or to
alternative locations. We must accommodate your request if it is
reasonable and you clearly state that the disclosure of all or part
of that information could endanger you.
Right to Inspect and Copy
You have the right to inspect and copy health information that we
maintain about you in a designated record set. A 'designated record
set' is a group of records that we maintain such as enrollment,
supply order history, or payment. If copies are requested or you
agree to a summary or explanation of such information, we may
charge a reasonable, cost- based fee for the costs of copying,
including labor and supply cost of copying; postage; and
preparation cost of an explanation or summary, if such is
requested. We may deny your request to inspect and copy in certain
circumstances as defined by law. If you are denied access to your
health information, you may request that the denial be
reviewed.
Right to Amend
You have the right to have us amend your health information for as
long as we maintain such information. Your written request must
include the reason or reasons that support your request. We may
deny your request for an amendment if we determine that the record
that is the subject of the request was not created by us, is not
available for inspections as specified by law, or is accurate and
complete.
Right to Receive an Accounting of
Disclosures
Upon request, you may obtain an accounting of certain disclosures
of your PHI made by us during any period of time prior to the date
of your request provided such period does not exceed six years and
does not apply to disclosures that occurred prior to December 15,
2011. If you request an accounting more than once during a twelve
(12) month period, you will be charged a reasonable, cost-based fee
for the accounting statement.
Right to Obtain a Paper Copy
You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this Notice of
Privacy Practices at any time.
Potential Impact of Other Applicable Law
The HIPAA Privacy Rule generally does not preempt or override
state privacy or other applicable laws that provide individuals
with greater privacy protections. As a result, state privacy laws
which provide for a stricter privacy standard will be followed.
How to File a Complaint if You Believe Your Privacy
Rights Have Been Violated
If you believe that your privacy rights have been violated, please
submit your complaint in writing to:
NationsHealth
Attn: Privacy Officer
13621 N.W. 12th Street, Suite 100
Sunrise, FL 33323
(800) 246-2195
You may also file a complaint with the secretary of the
Department of Health and Human Services. You will not be retaliated
against for filing a complaint.
Effective Date
This Notice is effective as of December 15, 2011. We reserve the
right to change this notice, and to make the revised and changed
notice effective for medical information we already have about you,
as well as any information we receive in the future. We will
prominently post a copy of the current notice on our website with
the effective date.
NOTICE
OF PRIVACY PRACTICES