Privacy Policy

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

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.

This privacy notice is effective as of May 31, 2024.

Privacy Law

At Mothering Restored, PLLC, we are committed to protecting the privacy rights of our patients. You have a variety of rights under the federal law known as (“HIPPA”), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, and the related Privacy Rule published by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Those rights are described in this notice.

Under the HIPPA and the Privacy Rule, we have certain obligations:

(a) We are required by law to maintain the privacy of protected health information;

(b) We must provide you with this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your protected health information; and

(c) We are required to abide by the terms of the privacy notice currently in effect.

We reserve the right, when we change a privacy practice, to change the terms of our notice and to make the new notice provisions effective for all protected health information that we maintain. If we do update our policy, we will provide you with a new notice by posting a notice on our website, and sending you a paper copy of the latest policy.

What is Protected Health Information?

Health information includes more than just information about medical procedures. The term includes all information that relates to:

(a) The past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition of an individual;

(b) The provision of health care to an individual; and

(c) The past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to an individual.

Health information that identifies an individual or which can probably be used to identify the individual is protected by law. This protected health information is known as (“PHI”).

WHEN WE CAN USE HEALTH INFORMATION WITHOUT WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION OR REACTION FROM YOU

In the following circumstances, we are permitted to use or disclosure health information without obtaining written consent (called “authorization”), or without giving you a chance to object or agree to the use of disclosure.

FOR TREATMENT. “Treatment” generally means the provision, coordination, or management of health care and related services by one or more health care providers, including the coordination or management of health care by a health care provider with a third party; consultation between health care providers relating to a patient; or the referral of a patient for health care from one health care provider to another.

For instance, we will send a consultation report to your attending healthcare provider or your infant’s heath care provider as requested.

FOR PAYMENT. “Payment” encompasses the various activities of health care providers to obtain payment or be reimbursed for their services and of a health plan to obtain premiums, to fulfill their coverage responsibilities and provide benefits under the plan, and to obtain or provide reimbursement for the provision of health care. In addition to the general definition, the Privacy Rule provides examples of common payment activities which include, but are not limited to:

(a) Determining eligibility or coverage under a plan and adjudicating claims; 

(b) Risk adjustments; 

(c) Billing and collection activities; 

(d) Reviewing health care services for medical necessity, coverage, justification of charges, and the like; 

(e) Utilization review activities; and 

(f) Disclosures to consumer reporting agencies (limited to specified identifying information about the individual, his or her payment history, and identifying information about the covered entity). 

For instance, we may share necessary information in the form of a “superbill” that will be provided to you for you to submit to your insurance company.

FOR HEALTH CARE OPERATIONS.  “Health care operations” are certain administrative, financial, legal, and quality improvement activities of a covered entity that are necessary to run its business and to support the core functions of treatment and payment. These activities, which are limited to the activities listed in the definition of “health care operations” at 45 CFR 164.501, include:

(a) Conducting quality assessment and improvement activities, population-based activities relating to improving health or reducing health care costs, and case management and care coordination; 

(b) Reviewing the competence or qualifications of health care professionals, evaluating provider and health plan performance, training health care and non-health care professionals, accreditation, certification, licensing, or credentialing activities; 

(c) Underwriting and other activities relating to the creation, renewal, or replacement of a contract of health insurance or health benefits, and ceding, securing, or placing a contract for reinsurance of risk relating to health care claims;

(d) Conducting or arranging for medical review, legal, and auditing services, including fraud and abuse detection and compliance programs; 

(e) Business planning and development, such as conducting cost-management and planning analyses related to managing and operating the entity; and 

(f) Business management and general administrative activities, including those related to implementing and complying with the Privacy Rule and other Administrative Simplification Rules, customer service, resolution of internal grievances, sale or transfer of assets, creating de-identified health information or a limited data set, and fund-raising for the benefit of the covered entity.

For instance, the law requires our entity to share your information under certain situations including, but not limited to, the service of a subpoena on our entity to turn over your medical records.

USES REQUIRING YOUR CONSENT

We may make certain other uses and disclosures of your health information that require your consent. We will only make these uses or disclosures with your written authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time. However, the revocation does not affect actions taken before we receive it.

OTHER PRIVACY RIGHTS YOU CAN EXERCISE

You have a variety of rights under HIPAA and the Privacy Rule, that you may choose to exercise. These consist of:

(a) The right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of protected health information. You can ask us to restrict disclosure to persons involved in the individual’s health care, or payment for health care. You can ask us to limit disclosures made to notify family member or others about the person’s condition or location. We are not obligated to agree to these restrictions. If we do agree, we must honor that agreement (except in certain emergency situations).

(b) The right to receive confidential communications of protected health information. For instance, you may wish to be contacted only at home and not at work, or vice versa. For instance, if you request us to contact you only at a specific address or telephone number, we will do so.

(c) You can inspect and copy the protected health information we have in our files.

(d) You can request amendment of any inaccurate protected health information.

(e) On request, you can receive an accounting of the disclosures of protected health information that we have made.

(f) Even if you have agreed to receive privacy notices electronically, you can have, on request, a paper copy of any notice.

PRIVACY COMPLAINTS

If you have a complaint about privacy matters, please let us know. You can make a complaint by emailing Mothering Restored, PLLC, at robin@motheringrestored.org.

You may also contact the Office for Civil Rights of the federal Department of Health and Human Services. You will find information about the HIPAA complaint procedure on their website

(http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacyhowtofile.htm). You can call toll-free for assistance at: 1-800-368-1019.

We will not retaliate against you in any way for making a privacy complaint.

CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have any questions, or need further information, or wish to make a privacy complaint, please contact Mothering Restored, PLLC, as follows:

Telephone: 832-492-2582

Email: robin@motheringrestored.org

Address: 9210 FM 2484, Salado, Texas 76571