Notice of Privacy Practices

Ionia Family Dentistry

430 Swartz Ct

Ionia, MI 48846

(616)-527-4930

Purpose: This form, Notice of Privacy Practices, presents the information which federal laws requires us to give our patients regarding our privacy practices.

We must provide a notice to each patient beginning no later than the date of our first service delivery to the patient, including service delivered electronically, after April 14, 2003. We must make a good-faith attempt to obtain written acknowledgement of receipt of the Notice from the patient. We must also have the Notice available at our office for patients to request to take with them. We must post the Notice in our office in a clear and prominent location where it is reasonable to expect any patients seeking service from us to be able to read the Notice. Whenever the Notice is revised, we must make the Notice available upon request on or after the effective date of the revision in a manner consistent with the above instructions. Thereafter, we must distribute the Notice to each new patient at the time of service delivery and to any person requesting a Notice. We must also post the revised Notice in our office as discussed above.

Notice of Privacy Practices

This notice describes how health information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information.

Please review it carefully. The privacy of your health information is important to us.

Our Legal Duty

We are required by applicable federal and state law to maintain the privacy of your health information. We are also required to give you a notice about our office’s privacy practices, our legal duties and your rights concerning your health information. We must follow the privacy practices which are described in This Notice while it is in effect. This Notice takes effect August 12th of 2010, and will remain in effect until we replace it.

We Reserve the right to change our privacy practices and the terms of this notice at any time, provided such changes are permitted by applicable law. We reserve the right to make the changes in our privacy practices and the new terms of our notice effective for all health information which we maintain, including health information we created or received before we made the changes. Before we make a significant change in our privacy practices, we will change our notice and make the new notice available upon request.

You may request a copy of our notice at any time. For more information about our privacy practices, or for additional copies of the notice, please contact us using the information listed at the end of this notice.

Uses and Disclosures of Health Information

We use and disclose health information about you for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. For example:

Treatment: We may use or disclose your health information to a physician or other healthcare provider providing treatment to you.

Payment: We may use and disclose your health information to obtain payment for services we provide to you.

Healthcare Operations: We may use and disclose your health information in connection with our healthcare operations. Healthcare operations include quality assessment and improvement activities, reviewing the competence or qualifications of healthcare professionals, evaluating practitioner and provider performance, conduction training programs, accreditations, certification, licensing or credentialing activities.

Your Authorization: In addition to our use of your health information for treatment, payment or healthcare operations, you may give us written authorization to use your health information or to disclose it to anyone for any purpose. If you give us an authorization, you may revoke it in writing at any time. Your revocation will not affect any use or disclosures permitted by your authorization while it was in effect. Unless you give us a written authorization, we cannot use or disclose your health information for any reason except those described in this notice.

To Your Family and Friends: We must disclose your health information to you, as described in the Patient Rights section of our notice. We may disclose your health information to a family member, friend or other persons to the extent necessary to help with your healthcare or with payment for your healthcare, but only if you agree we may do so.

Persons Involved In Care: We may use or disclose health information to notify, or assist in the notification of (including identifying or locating) a family member, your personal representative or another person responsible for your care, or your location, your general condition, or death. If you are present, then prior to use or disclosure of your incapacity of emergency circumstances, we will disclose health information based on a determination using our professional judgment disclosing only health information which is directly relevant to the person’s involvement in your healthcare. We will also use our professional judgment and our experience with common practice to make reasonable inferences of your best interest in allowing a person to pick up filled prescriptions, medical supplies, x-rays, or other similar formats of health information.

Marketing Health-Related Services: We will not use your health information for marketing communications without your written authorization.

Required by Law: We may use or disclose your health information when we are required to do so by law.

Abuse or Neglect: We may disclose your health information to appropriate authorities if we reasonably believe you are a possible victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence or the possible victim or other crimes. We may disclose your health information to the extent necessary to avert a serious threat to your health or safety or the health or safety of others.

National Security: We may disclose to military authorities the health information of Armed Forces personnel under certain circumstances. We may disclose to authorized federal officials your health information required to lawful intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities. We may disclose to correctional institution or law enforcement official having lawful custody of protected health information of inmate or patient under certain circumstances.

Appointment Reminders: We may use or disclose your health information to provide you with appointment reminders (such as voicemail messages, postcards, or letters).

Patient Rights

Access: You have the right to look at or get copies of your health information, with limited exceptions. You may request we provide copies in a format other than photocopies. We will use the format you request unless we cannot practically do so. (You must make a request in writing to obtain access to your health information. You may obtain a form to request access by using the contact information listed at the end of this notice.

Disclosure Accounting: You have the right to receive a list of instances in which we or our business associated disclosed your health information for purposes, other than treatment, payment, healthcare operations, and certain other activities, for the last 6 (six) years, but not before April 14th of 2003. If you request this accounting more than once in a 12 (twelve) month period, we may charge you a reasonable, cost-based fee for responding to these additional requests.

Restriction: You have the right to request we place additional restrictions on our use or disclosure of your health information. We are not required to agree to these additional restrictions, but if we do, we will abide by our agreement (except in an emergency).

Alternative Communication: You have the right to request we communicate with you about your health information by alternative means or to alternative locations. (You must make your request in writing.) Your request must specify the alternative means or location, and provide satisfactory explanation how payments will be handled under the alternative means or location you request.

Amendment: You have the right to request we amend your health information. (Your request must be in writing, and it must explain why the information should be amended.) We may deny your request under certain circumstances.

Electronic Notice: If you receive this notice on our Web site or by electronic mail (e-mail), you are entitled to receive this notice in written form.

Questions and Complaints

If you want more information about our privacy practices or have questions and/or concerns, please contact us.

If you are concerned we may have violated your privacy rights, or you disagree with a decision we made about access to your health information or in response to a request you made to amend or restrict the use or disclosure of your health information or to have us communicate with you by alternative means or at alternative locations, you may complain to us using the contact information listed at the end of this notice. You may also submit a written complaint to the US Department of Health and Human Services. We can provide you with the address to file your complaint with the US Department of Health and Human Services upon request.

We support your right to the privacy of your health information. We will not retaliate in any way if you choose to file a complaint with us or with the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Notice of Privacy Practices

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