Notice of Privacy Practices

Effective Date: 3/25/2022

THIS NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES (“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.

Caption Care, Inc.  and its affiliated physician practices, (“we,” “us,” or “Caption”) are required by law to maintain the privacy of your health information and to provide you with this Notice about our privacy practices, legal duties and your rights concerning your Protected Health Information. Protected Health Information (“health information”) is any individually identifiable health information transmitted or maintained in any form or medium by us.  

USE OR DISCLOSURE OF HEALTH INFORMATION

We are committed to protecting the confidentiality of your health information. Except as described in this Notice, we will not use or disclose your health information without your written authorization. Your health information may be used for the following purposes:

Operations. We may use your health information for the purposes of our operations and in connection with any ultrasound scans you undergo with us.  Such operations may include quality assessments, protocol development, review of competence Caption personnel, staff training programs, legal services & auditing functions, and general administrative activities, including management actions relating to HIPAA, customer service, resolution of internal grievances, & creation of de-identified information and limited data sets.

Treatment. We may use your health information for treatment purposes which includes, but is not limited to, the processing of ultrasound scan images and the assessments of those images by our affiliated physicians.

Business Associates. We may disclose your Protected Health Information to other companies or individuals, known as "Business Associates," who provide services to us. Business Associates are required to protect the privacy and security of your Protected Health Information and notify us of any improper disclosure of information

Payment. We may use your health information for payment purposes. For example, a bill may be sent to you to seek payment for the ultrasound scan you receive from us.  The bill may contain or be accompanied by information that identifies you and the services you received.

Appointment reminders and test results. We may contact you to provide appointment reminders, test results or to provide you with educational information that might be helpful to you. This may include voicemail messages, postcards, letters, e-mail and other forms of communication.

Research. Under certain circumstances, we may use or disclose your Protected Health Information for research purposes. All research projects at Caption are subject to review by a committee responsible for ensuring the protection of individual research subjects, appropriate patient authorization, and an adequate plan to safeguard Protected Health Information. In preparation for research, we may review limited Protected Health Information to draft research protocols, to identify prospective research participants, or for similar purposes.

Other uses and disclosures of health information. We may use or disclose health information about you without your prior authorization for several other reasons. Subject to certain requirements, we may give out health information about you without prior authorization for public health purposes, accreditation, required abuse or neglect reporting, health oversight audits or inspections, funeral arrangements and organ donations, worker's compensation purposes and emergencies. We also disclose health information when required by law, such as in response to a request from law enforcement in specific circumstances or in response to valid judicial or administrative orders. We may also combine health information about many of our customers to decide which additional services should be offered.

WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION

In addition to the uses and disclosures described above, we may also use and disclose your health information if you provide Caption written authorization to do so. You may authorize Caption to use or disclose your health information to anyone for any purpose. If you give us an authorization, you may revoke the authorization at any time by delivering written notice of your revocation to privacy@captionhealth.com.  Your revocation will not affect any use or disclosure of your health information permitted while the authorization was in effect. Unless you give us a written authorization, we cannot use or disclose your health information except as set forth in this Notice. Caption must obtain your authorization for any use or disclosure of your health information for certain marketing purposes and for disclosures that constitute the sale of your health information.

YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION RIGHTS

Right to Access your health information. You, or your authorized or designated personal representative, have the right to inspect or copy the Protected Health Information maintained by us. You must submit a written request to the privacy office to inspect and/or copy your health information records.  You may also direct us to direct your records to someone else, including another health care provider.

Restrictions on use and disclosure of health information. You have the right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your health information. These restrictions must be made in writing and signed by you or your representative. Caption is not required to agree to your restrictions. We cannot agree to limit uses/disclosures that are required by law. In the event of a termination of an agreed-to restriction by us, we will not notify you of such termination. You may terminate, in writing or orally, any agreed-to restriction by sending such terminations to the Privacy Officer.

Right to Request Confidential Communications. You can request that Caption communicate with you about your health information only in the way that you ask. For example, you may request that Caption communicate with you only at work or only by mail. Caption will try to follow your request, if it is reasonable.

Access and/or copying health information. You have the right to receive your health information through reasonable alternative means. You have the right to inspect and copy your health information. If you request copies, we may charge a fee for the cost of copying, shipping, and other related supplies.

Amendments to health information. You have the right to request that your health information be amended or corrected. Caption is not required to change your health information. In the case that Caption denies to make a change, it will provide you with information about the denial and the process whereby you can disagree with the denial.

Accounting for disclosures of health information. You have a right to receive an accounting of disclosures of your health information made by Caption, except that Caption does not have to account for the disclosures for delivery of services or business operations as described above, information provided to you, or certain government functions described above.

Right to paper copy. You have a right to a paper copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices. If you would like to have a more detailed explanation of these rights or you would like to understand one or more of these rights, please email privacy@captionhealth.com.

Questions and Complaints.  If you have questions or concerns about our privacy practices or would like a more detailed explanation about your privacy rights, please email privacy@captionhealth.com.

If you believe that we may have violated your privacy rights, you may submit a complaint to our Privacy Office. You also may submit a written complaint to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We will provide you with the address to file your complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services upon request. Caption will not take retaliatory action against you and you will not be penalized in any way if you choose to file a complaint with us or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE

Caption reserves the right to amend this Notice of Privacy Practices at any time in the future. Any amendments will be applied prospectively and will be made solely in compliance with applicable laws. Until such amendment is made, Caption is required by law to comply with this Notice.

‍