II. How We May Use and Disclose Your Protected Health Information

We use and disclose protected health information for a variety of reasons. We have a limited right to use and/or disclose your health information for purposes of treatment, payment, or for the operations of our facility. For other uses, you must give us your written authorization to release your protected health information unless the law permits or requires us to make the use or disclosure without your authorization.

Should it become necessary to release your protected health information to an outside party, we will require the party to have a signed agreement with us that the party will extend the same degree of privacy protection to your information as we do.

The privacy law permits us to make some uses or disclosures of your protected health information without your consent or authorization. The following describes each of the different ways that we may use or disclose your protected health information. Where appropriate, we have included examples of the different types of uses or disclosures. These include:

1.       Use and Disclosures Related to Treatment:

We may disclose your protected health information to those who are involved in providing medical and nursing care services and treatments to you. For example we may release health information about you to nurses, nursing assistants, medication aides/technicians, medical and nursing students, therapists, pharmacists, medical records personnel, consultants, physicians, etc., who participate in your treatment.  We may also disclose your protected health information to outside entities performing other services relating to your treatment; such as diagnostic laboratories, home health/hospice agencies, family members, care givers, etc.

2.       Use and Disclosures Related to Payment:

We may use or disclose your protected health information to bill and collect payment for services or treatments we provided to you. For example, we may contact your insurance facility, health plan, or another third party to obtain payment for services we provided to you.

3.       Use and Disclosures Related to Health Care Operations:

We may use or disclose your protected health information to perform certain functions within our pharmacy should these uses or disclosures become necessary to operate our pharmacy and to ensure that you and others we provide care and services to continue to receive quality care and services. For example, we may take your photograph for medication identification purposes or use your health information to evaluate the effectiveness of the care and services you are receiving. We may disclose your protected health information to our staff or consultants for auditing, care planning, treatment, and learning purposes. We may also combine your health information with information from other health care providers to study how our facility is performing in comparison to like facilities or what we can do to improve the care and services we provide to you. When information is combined, we remove all information that would identify you so that others may use the information in developing research on the delivery of health care services without learning your identity.

4.       Use and Disclosures Related to Treatment Alternatives, Health-Related Benefits and Services:

We may use or disclose your protected health information for purposes of contacting you to inform you of treatment alternatives or health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you. For example, a newly released medication or treatment that has a direct relationship to the treatment or medical condition.

© 2003-2005
Grant County Drugs, Inc