Private Health Information Policies (HIPPA)

OUR PLEDGE REGARDING PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION:

We, American Nutrition Counseling, understand that protected health information about you and your health is personal.  We are committed to protecting health information about you.  This Notice applies to all of the records of your care generated by the American Nutrition Counseling, LLC.  

This Notice will tell you about the ways in which we may use and disclose protected health information about you.  We also describe your rights and certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of protected health information.  The law requires us to:

• make sure that protected health information that identifies you is kept private; 
• notify you about how we protect protected health information about you;
• explain how, when and why we use and disclose protected health information;
• follow the terms of the Notice that is currently in effect. 

We are required to follow the procedures in this Notice.  We reserve the right to change the terms of this Notice and to make new notice provisions effective for all protected health information that we maintain by:

• posting the revised Notice in our office
• making copies of the revised Notice available upon request;
• posting the revised Notice on our Web site.

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU.

• You have the following rights regarding protected health information we maintain about you: 

  Right to Inspect and Copy. You have the right to inspect and copy protected health information that may be used to make decisions about your care. Usually, this includes medical and billing records.

  Right to Amend. If you feel that protected health information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend or supplement the information.

  Right to an Accounting of Disclosures. You have the right to request an "accounting of disclosures." This is a list of the disclosures we made of protected health information about you.

  Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the protected health information we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment or health care operations or to persons involved in your care.

  We are not required to agree to your request. If we do agree, we will comply with your request.

  Right to Request Confidential Communications. You have the right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way or at a certain location. For example, you can ask that we only contact you at work or by mail.

  To request confidential communications, you must make your request in writing to American Nutrition Counseling, LLC. We will accommodate all reasonable requests.

  Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice. You have the right to a paper copy of this Notice at any time by contacting American Nutrition Counseling, LLC.

HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU.

The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose protected health information without your written authorization.

For Nutrition Assessment & Counseling. We may use protected health information about you to provide you with, coordinate or manage your medical treatment or services. We may disclose protected health information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, or other personnel who are involved in taking care of you.

American Nutrition Counseling, LLC staff may also share protected health information about you in order to coordinate the different things you need, such as nutrition services. We also may disclose protected health information about you to people outside American Nutrition Counseling, LLC who may be involved in your medical care, such as clergy or others we use to provide services that are part of your care.

We may use and disclose protected health information to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for nutrition services at the American Nutrition Counseling, LLC. We may use and disclose protected health information to tell you about or recommend possible treatment options or alternatives or health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you. 

Communication through phone, website, fax and e-mails. American Nutrition Counseling, LLC may communicate protected health information with you through our website, videoconference, Skype, WeChat, Line, phone, fax and e-mails. We are using Yahoo to host our website and based on Yahoo, they have website encryption to protect clients’ information. American Nutrition Counseling, LLC is not responsible for the information or data lost or hacked through video conference, phone, fax, e-mail or website communication. 

For Payment for Services. We may use and disclose protected health information about you so that the treatment and services you receive at the American Nutrition Counseling, LLC may be billed to and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company or a third party. For example, we may need to give your health plan information about nutrition services you received at American Nutrition Counseling, LLC so your health plan will pay us or reimburse you for the service. We may also tell your health plan about the nutrition services you are going to receive to obtain prior approval or to determine whether your plan will cover the treatment.

As Required By Law. We will disclose protected health information about you when required to do so by federal, state or local law. 

OTHER USES AND DISCLOSURES 

We will obtain your written authorization before using or disclosing your protected health information for purposes other than those provide for above (or as otherwise permitted or required by law). You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time. Upon receipt of the written revocation, we will stop using or disclosing your information, except to the extent that we have already taken action in reliance on the authorization. 

YOU MAY FILE A COMPLAINT ABOUT OUR PRIVACY PRACTICES

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with the American Nutrition Counseling, LLC or file a written complaint with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. A complaint to the Secretary should be filed within180 days of the occurrence or action that is the subject of the complaint.