• Notice of Privacy Practices (eff. 10.1.2020)

This notice is effective October 1, 2020. Please note that Innovative Management Systems (“IMS”) never markets or sells personal information.

Your Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities.

This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Get a copy of your paper or electronic medical record
• Correct your paper or electronic medical record
• Request confidential communication
• Ask us to limit the information we share
• Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information
• Get a copy of this privacy notice
• Choose someone to act for you
• File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated

Your Choices

You have some choices in the way that we use and share information as we:

• Tell family and friends about your condition
• Provide disaster relief
• Include you in a hospital directory
• Provide mental health care
• Market our services and sell your information
• Raise funds

Our Uses and Disclosures

We may use and share your information as we:

• Treat you
• Run our organization
• Bill for your services
• Help with public health and safety issues
• Do research
• Comply with the law
• Respond to organ and tissue donation requests
• Work with a medical examiner or funeral director
• Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests
• Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

Member Rights

When administering your health care benefits, we collect various types of protected health information (“PHI”) from you and other sources, including other health care providers. This information may be used, for example, to decide wither we will pay for your care and to see if you are getting the right care; for utilization review; to detect fraud and abuse; to review the qualifications of health care professionals, and to fulfill legal and regulatory requirements. When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.

Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record

• You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you.
• IMS will provide a copy or a summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

Ask us to correct your medical record

• You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. We may say “no” to your request, but we will provide you a written explanation within 60 days.

Request confidential communications

• You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address. We will say “yes” to all reasonable requests.

Ask us to limit what we use or share

• You have the right to ask IMS to limit what we use or share. You must tell IMS what information you do not want shared and who you don’t want us to share your information with. We will review and consider your request. IMS is not required to agree with your request if it would affect your care.
• If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer. We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information.

Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared information

• You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times IMS shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why.
• We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 3 years.

Get a copy of this privacy notice

You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically, by calling IMS at 1-800-285-6164 or TTY (711). You can also access this notice on our website at www.IMSMSO.com

Choose someone to act for you

• If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information. We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.

File a complaint if you feel your rights have been violated

• You can file a complaint if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting:
  • IMS’ Privacy Officer:
    • Email: Compliance@imsmso.com
    • Phone Hotline: 1-844-359-3410
      • This hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
      • Reports can be made
    • Fax: 1-323-832-8141
  • IMS’ Customer Service Department
    • Telephone: (323) 505-4457
    • Toll-free: (877) 830-6880
    • TDD/TTY: (866) 461-4288
  • You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/.
  • We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Your Choices

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, please let us know.

You have both the right and choice to tell us to:

• Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care
• Share information in a disaster relief situation
• Include your information in a hospital directory

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

In the following cases, we never share your information unless you give us written permission:

• Marketing purposes
• Sale of your information
• Most sharing of psychotherapy notes

Our Uses and Disclosures

How do we typically use or share your health information?

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways:

• To treat you
  • We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you.
  • Example: A doctor treating you for an injury asks another doctor about your overall health condition.
• To run our organization
  • We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary.
  • Example: We use health information about you to manage your treatment and services.
• To bill for your services
  • We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities.
  • Example: We give information about you to your health insurance plan so the health plan will pay for your services.

How else can we use or share your health information?

We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We must meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information, please see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html.

Help with public health and safety issues

We can share health information about you for certain situations such as:

• Preventing disease
• Helping with product recalls
• Reporting adverse reactions to medications
• Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
• Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety

Do research

We can use or share your information for health research.

Comply with the law

We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we are complying with federal privacy law.

Respond to organ and tissue donation requests

We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.

Work with a medical examiner or funeral director

We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when a individual passes.

Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests

We can use or share health information about you:

• For workers’ compensation claims
• For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official
• With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law
• For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services

Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.

Our Responsibilities

• We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
• We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.
• We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.

For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/noticepp.html

Changes to the Terms of this Notice

We can change the terms of this notice and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The revised notice will be available upon request, in our office, and on our website.