West Morris Dental, PC Notice of Privacy Practices for Protected Health Information
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.
Confidentiality Practices:
West Morris Dental, PC is committed to protecting your health information. This notice explains how we will use, share and protect your health information. It also explains your rights to privacy of your health information as required by law. If our confidentiality practices change, a new notice will be mailed to you within sixty (60) days of the change.
Uses, Sharing and Protection of Health Information
The law only allows our staff to use your health information when doing their jobs or to share your information when it is necessary to run the program. When health information is shared with other agencies or organizations, our office requires them to keep your health information confidential. Your health information will be shared to approve or deny treatment, and to determine if you are getting the right dental treatment. For example, doctors and assistants employed by our practice may review the treatment plan created for you by your health care provider to make sure the care you receive is covered by your dental insurance.
The Practice Will Use and Share Your Health Information Without Authorization to:
The Program May Disclose Your Health Information Without Authorization:
With your consent, the practice is permitted by federal privacy laws to make uses and disclosures of your health information for purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations. Protected health information is the information we create and obtain in providing our services to you. Such information may include documenting your symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment, and applying for future care or treatment. It also includes billing documents for those services.
A nurse obtains treatment information about you and records it in a health record. During the course of your treatment, the doctor determines a need to consult with another specialist in the area. The doctor will share the information with such specialist and obtain input.
We submit a request for payment to your health insurance company. The health insurance company requests information from us regarding medical care given. We will provide information to them about you and the care given.
We obtain services from our insurers or other business associates such as quality assessment, quality improvement, outcome evaluation, protocol and clinical guidelines development, training programs, credentialing, medical review, legal services, and insurance. We will share information about you with such insurers or other business associates as necessary to obtain these services.
Your Health Information Rights
The health record we maintain and billing records are the physical property of the practice. The information in it, however, belongs to you. You have a right to:
If you want to exercise any of these rights, please contact, Joan Bozich in person or in writing, during normal hours. She will help you with assistance on the steps to exercise your rights.
You have the right to review this Notice before signing the consent authorizing use and disclosure of your protected health information for treatment, payment, and health care operations purposes.
The practice is required to:
We reserve the right to amend, change, or eliminate provisions in our privacy practices and access practices and to enact new provisions regarding the protected health information we maintain. If our information practices change, we will amend our Notice. You are entitled to receive a revised copy of the Notice by calling and requesting a copy of our “Notice” or by visiting our office and picking up a copy.
If you have questions, would like additional information, or want to report a problem regarding the handling of your information, you may contact Joan Bozich. You will not be retaliated against for filing a complaint.
Additionally, if you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a written complaint at our office by delivering the written complaint to Joan Bozich at 23 Route 46 East, Hackettstown, NJ 07840, or email info@westmorrisdental.com
You may also file a complaint by mailing it to the Secretary of Health and Human Services 200 Independence Ave, SW, HHH Building Room 509H, Washington, DC 20201
We cannot, and will not, require you to waive the right to file a complaint with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a condition of receiving treatment from the practice. We cannot, and will not, retaliate against you for filing a complaint with the Secretary.
Unless you object, we may use or disclose your protected health information to notify, or assist in notifying, a family member, personal representative, or other person responsible for your care, about your location, and about your general condition, or your death.
Using our best judgment, we may disclose to a family member, other relative, close personal friend, or any other person you identify, health information relevant to that person’s involvement in your care or in payment for such care if you do not object or in an emergency.
We may disclose to the FDA your protected health information relating to adverse events with respect to products and product defects, or post-marketing surveillance information to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacements.
If you are seeking compensation through Workers Compensation, we may disclose your protected health information to the extent necessary to comply with laws relating to Workers Compensation.
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.
We may disclose your protected health information to public authorities as allowed by law to report abuse or neglect.
If you are an inmate of a correctional institution, we may disclose to the institution, or its agents, your protected health information necessary for your health and the health and safety of other individuals.
We may disclose your protected health information for law enforcement purposes as required by law, such as when required by a court order, or in cases involving felony prosecutions, or to the extent an individual is in the custody of law enforcement.
Federal law allows us to release your protected health information to appropriate health oversight agencies or for health oversight activities.
We may disclose your protected health information in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding as allowed or required by law, with your consent, or as directed by a proper court order.
Other uses and disclosures besides those identified in this Notice will be made only as otherwise authorized by law or with your written authorization and you may revoke the authorization as previously provided.
For More Information
If you have any questions about this notice or need more information, please contact the office Privacy Officer. West Morris Dental, PC, may change its Notice of Privacy Practices. Any changes will apply to information we already have, as well as any information we may get in the future. A copy of any new notice will be posted at our office as well as on our web site. You may ask for a copy of the current notice at any time, or get it on-line at info@westmorrisdental.com. Additionally, this platform uses cookies which enable us to identify your device when you move between different websites and applications, so that we can serve targeted advertising to you.
Effective 12/11/2018