To Our Valued Patients:

The misuse of protected health information has been identified as a national problem causing some patients inconvenience, aggravation and money.  We want you to know that all of our employees/managers periodically receive training to assist them in understanding and complying with the government rules and regulations regarding the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) with a particular emphasis on the “Privacy Rule.”  We strive to achieve the highest standards of ethics and integrity in performing services for our patients.

When it is appropriate and necessary, we provide the minimum necessary information to only those we feel are in need of your health care information.  Other entities may have indirect treatment relationships with you (such as the physician reading your x-ray) and we may have to disclose personal health information for purposes of treatment or payment.  These entities are most often not required to obtain patient consent.

You may refuse, in writing, the consent to the use or disclosure of your personal health information.  Under this law, we then have the right to refuse to treat you should you refuse to disclose your personal health information.  At any time in the future you may request to refuse all or part of disclosure of your personal health information.  However, you may not revoke actions that have already been taken which relied on this or previously signed consent.

It is our policy to determine appropriate uses of personal health information in accordance with the government rules, laws and regulations.  We want to ensure that our office never contributes in any way to the growing problem of improper disclosure of personal health information.  We have implemented a program we believe will help prevent any such inappropriate use of personal health information.

We also know that we are not perfect.  Because of this fact, our policy is to listen to our patients and employees regarding any event they feel may compromise our policy of integrity.  Moreover, we welcome your input regarding any service problem so that we may remedy the situation promptly.  If you have any questions, please speak to our Privacy Officer.  Thank you for your continued confidence in our care.