Big Apple Pharmacy - HIPAA Privacy Policy

 

Last updated: September 11, 2023

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.

As part of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, known as HIPAA, the Facility has created this Notice of Privacy Practices (Notice). This Notice describes the Facility's privacy practices and the rights you, the individual, have as they relate to the privacy of your Protected Health information (PHI). Your PHI is information about you, or that could be used to identify you, as it relates to your past and present physical and mental health care services. The H1PAA regulations require that the Facility protect the privacy of your PHI that the Facility has received or created.

This Facility will abide by the terms presented within this Notice. For any uses or disclosures that are not listed below (including Marketing and Selling of PHI), the Facility will obtain a written authorization from you for that use or disclosure, which you will have the right to revoke at any time, as explained in more detail below. The Facility reserves the right to change the Facility's privacy practices and this Notice.

HOW THE FACILITY MAY USE AND DISCLOSE YOUR PHI:

The following is an accounting of the ways that the Facility is permitted, by law, to use and disclose your PHI.

Treatment: We will use the PHI that we receive from you to fill your prescription and coordinate or manage your health care.

Payment: The Facility will disclose your PHI to obtain payment or reimbursement from insurers for your health care services.

Health Care Operations: The Facility may use the minimum necessary amount of your PHI to conduct quality assessments, improvement activities, and evaluate the Facility workforce.

As required by law: The Facility is required to use or disclose PHI about you as required and as limited by law.

Public Health Activities: The Facility may use or disclose PHI about you to a public health authority that is authorized by law to collect for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability. This includes the FDA so that it may monitor any adverse effects of drugs, food, nutritional supplements and other products as required by law.

Victims of abuse, neglect or domestic violence: The Facility may use or disclose PHI about you to a government authority if it is reasonably believed you are a victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence.

Health Oversight Activities: The Facility may use or disclose PHI about you to a health oversight agency for oversight activities which may include audits, investigations, inspections as necessary for licensure, compliance with civil laws, or other activities the health oversight agency is authorized by law to conduct.

Individuals Involved in your Care: The Facility may disclose PHI about you to individuals involved in your care.

Judicial and Administrative Proceedings: The Facility may disclose PHI about you in the course of any judicial or administrative proceedings, provided that proper documentation is presented to the Facility.

Law Enforcement Purposes: The Facility may disclose PHI about you to law enforcement officials for authorized purposes as required by law or in response to a court order or subpoena.

About the Deceased: The Facility may disclose PHl about a deceased, or prior to, and in reasonable anticipation of an individual's death, to coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors.

Cadaveric organ, eye or tissue donation purposes: The Facility may use and disclose PHI for the purpose of procurement, banking, or transplantation of cadaveric organs, eyes, or tissues for donation purposes.

Research Purposes: The Facility may use and disclose PHI about you for research purposes with a valid waiver of authorization approved by an institutional review board or a privacy board. Otherwise, the Facility will request a signed authorization by the individual for all other research purposes.

To avert a serious threat to health or safety: The Facility may use or disclose PHI about you, if it believed in good faith, and is consistent with any applicable law and standards of ethical conduct, to avelt a serious threat to health or safety.

Specialized Government Functions: The Facility may use or disclose PHI about you for specialized government functions including, military and veteran's activities, national security and intelligence, protective services, department of state functions, and correctional institutions and law enforcement custodial situations.

Workers' Compensation: The Facility may disclose PHI about you as authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with workers' compensation laws or programs established by law.

Disaster Relief Purposes: The Facility may disclose PHI about you as authorized by law to a public or private entity to assist in disaster relief efforts and for family and personal representative notification.

Business Associates: The Facility may disclose PHI about you to the Facility's business associates for services that they may provide to or for the Facility to assist the Facility to provide quality health care. To ensure the privacy of your PHI, we require all business associates to apply appropriate safeguards to any PHI they receive or create.

OTHER USES AND DISCLOSURES:

The Facility may contact you for the following purposes:

Information about treatment alternatives: The Facility may contact you to notify you of alternative treatments and/or products.

Health related benefits or services: The Facility may use your PHI to notify you of benefits and services the Facility provides.

Fundraising: if the Facility participates in a fundraising activity, the Facility may use demographic PHI to send you a fundraising packet, or the Facility may disclose demographic PHI about you to its business associate or an institutionally related foundation to send you a fundraising packet. No further disclosure will be allowed by the business associates or an institutionally related foundation without your written authorization. You will be provided with an opportunity to opt-out of all future fundraising activities.

YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION RIGHTS:

The following are a list of your rights in respect to your PHI. Please contact the pharmacist for more information about the below.

You have the right to request additional restrictions of the Facility's uses and disclosures of your PHI; however, the Facility is not required to accommodate a request. This includes the right to restrict disclosures to insurances for those products and services you pay out-of-pocket for.

You have the right to request that the Facility communicate confidentially with you using an address or phone number other than your residence. However, state and federal laws require the Facility to have an accurate address and home phone number in case of emergencies. The Facility will consider all reasonable requests.

You have the right to request access and/or obtain a copy of your PHI that is contained in the Facility for the duration the Facility maintains PHI about you. There may be a reasonable cost-based charge for providing these documents. You will be notified in advance of incurring such charges, if any.

You have the right to request an amendment of the PHI the Facility maintains about you, if you feel that the PHI the Facility has maintained about you is incorrect or otherwise incomplete. Under certain circumstances we may deny your request for amendment. If we do deny the request, you will have the right to have the denial reviewed by someone we designate who was not involved in the initial review. You may also ask the Secretary, United States Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS"), or their appropriate designee, to review such a denial.

You have the right to receive an accounting of certain disclosures of your PHI made by the Facility.

You have the right to receive additional paper copies of this Notice, upon request, even if you initially agreed to receive the Notice electronically. You will be notified of any breaches that have compromised the privacy of your PHI.

REVISIONS TO THE NOTlCE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES:

The Facility reserves the right to change and/or revise this Notice and make the new revised version applicable to all PHI received prior to its effective date. The Facility will also post the revised version of the Notice in the Facility.

COMPLAINTS:

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with the Facility and/or to the Secretary of HHS, or his designee. If you wish to file a complaint with the Facility, please contact the pharmacist-in-charge. If you wish to file a complaint with the Secretary, please write to: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/oficelabout/rgn-hqaddresses.html. The Facility will not take any adverse action against you as a result of your filing of a complaint.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For more information about our privacy practices, if you have questions, or if you would like to make a complaint, please contact us by e-mail at [email address] or by mail using the details provided below:

37-71 103rd Street, Corona NY 11368, United States