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

The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a federal mandate that requires that all medical records and other individually identifiable health information used or disclosed by us in any form, whether electronically, or paper, or orally, are kept properly confidential. The Act gives you, the patient, new rights to understand and control how your health information is used.

As required by HIPM, Spine Surgery Associates has prepared this explanation of how we are required to maintain the privacy of your health information and how we may use and disclose your health information.

We may use and disclose your medical records, without notice, for each of the following purposes: ongoing treatment or testing, payment, and health care business operations.

• TREATMENT or TESTING means providing, coordinating, or managing your health care and related services by one or more health care providers. An example of this would be sending you for an MRI.
• PAYMENT means any activities related to obtaining reimbursement for services provided and may include confirming coverage, billing or collection activities, and utilization review. An example of this would be sending a bill for your surgery to your insurance company for payment.
• HEALTH CARE BUSINESS OPERATIONS include the business aspects of running our practice, such as conducting quality assessment and improvement activities, auditing
  functions, cost management analysis, and customer service. An example would be an internal chart review for compliance with federally mandated documentation requirements.
  We may also create and distribute de-identified health information by removing all references to
  individually identifiable information.

We may contact you to provide appointment reminders or information about current or alternative treatment protocols or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.

The following is a list of other uses and disclosures allowed by the privacy rule

• Controlling Disease - As required by law, we may disclose your protected health information to public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability.