Privacy Policy (HIPPA)

Your Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities.

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.
State and Federal laws require us to maintain the privacy of your health information and to inform you about our privacy practices by providing you with this Notice. We must follow the privacy practices as described below.

Your Rights
You have the right to:
• Get a copy of your paper or electronic medical record
• Correct your paper or electronic medical record
• Request confidential communication
• Ask us to limit the information we share
• Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information
• Get a copy of this privacy notice
• Choose someone to act for you
• File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated

Your Choices
You have some choices in the way that we use and share information as we:
• Tell family and friends about your condition
• Provide disaster relief
• Include you in a hospital directory
• Provide mental health care
• Market our services and sell your information
• Raise funds

Our Uses and Disclosures

We may use and share your information as we:

• Treat you
• Run our organization
• Bill for your services
• Help with public health and safety issues
• Do research
• Comply with the law
• Respond to organ and tissue donation requests
• Work with a medical examiner or funeral director
• Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests
• Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

Your Rights
When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.
Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record
• You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you. Ask us how to do this.
• We will provide a copy or a summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. Copies, if requested, will be $1.00 per page for the first 25 pages and $0.25 per page for every page after 25. The office may choose to waive this fee at the discretion of the physician. We will try to accommodate all reasonable request, however, if we deny your request to inspect and/or copy your records you may request a written reason for the denial.

Ask us to correct your medical record
• You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. Ask us how to do this.
• We may say “no” to your request, but we’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days.

Request confidential communications
• You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address.
• Our practice may use and disclose you Private Health records to contact you at the number or email you have supplied to us and remind you of an appointment.
• We will say “yes” to all reasonable requests.

Ask us to limit what we use or share
• You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care.
• If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer. We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information.

Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared information
• You can ask for a list of the times we’ve shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why.
• We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, costbased fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.

Get a copy of this privacy notice
You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.

Choose someone to act for you
• If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information.
• We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.

File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated
• You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us using the information on page 1.
• You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/.
• We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Health Related Benefits and Services
• Most uses and disclosures of Private Health Information for marketing purposes and disclosures that constitute sale of protected health information require authorization.
• Winter Garden Health and Wellness, LLC does maintain various social media sites; additionally it maintains a neutral presence on third party online review sites such as, but not limited to healthgrades.com, Google etc. If you elect to leave any feedback on these sites it is at your own discretion and you could potentially forfeit your right to privacy as a patient of our practice by doing so. However, we still follow guidelines by HIPPA.

Your Choices
For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions.

In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to:
• Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care
o Our practice may release your Private Health information to a friend or family member that is involved in your care, or who assist in taking care of your child with written and signed consent from the patient or guardian and/or legal guardian.
• Share information in a disaster relief situation
• Include your information in a hospital directory

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

In these cases we never share your information unless you give us written permission:
• Marketing purposes
• Sale of your information
• Most sharing of psychotherapy notes

In the case of fundraising:
• We may contact you for fundraising efforts, but you can tell us not to contact you again.

Our Uses and Disclosures
How do we typically use or share your health information?
We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.

Treat you
We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you. We may ask you to have laboratory tests and we may use results to help us reach a diagnosis. We might use our Protected Health Information in order to write a prescription for you. Many of the people who work in our practice – including, but not limited to, your doctors and medical assistants- may use or disclose your Protected Health Information in order to treat you or to assist others in your treatment.
Example: A doctor treating you for an injury asks another doctor about your overall health condition.

Run our organization
We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary. Examples of the ways in which we may do this include using your Private Health Information to evaluate the quality of care you receive from us or to conduct cost-management and business planning activities for our practice. Examples of personnel who may have access to this information include, but not limited to, our medical records staff, outside health or management reviewers and individuals performing similar activities.
Example: We use health information about you to manage your treatment and services.

Bill for your services
We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities. For example, we may contact your health insurer to certify that you are eligible for benefits, and we may provide your insurer with details regarding your treatment. We also may use and disclose your Private Health Information to obtain payment from third parties that may be responsible for such costs, such as family members.
Example: We give information about you to your health insurance plan so it will pay for your services.

How else can we use or share your health information?
We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html.

Help with public health and safety issues
We can share health information about you for certain situations such as:
• Preventing disease
• Notifying a person regarding a potential exposure to a communicable disease
• Helping with product recalls
• Reporting adverse reactions to medications
• Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
• Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety

Do research
We can use or share your information for health research.

Comply with the law
We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.

Respond to organ and tissue donation requests
We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.

Work with a medical examiner or funeral director
We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies.

Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests
We can use or share health information about you:
• For workers’ compensation claims
• For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official
• With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law
• For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services

Minors and Persons with Legal Guardians
• Minors and certain disable adults are entitled to the privacy protection of their health information. Because by law they cannot make health decisions for themselves, a parent or guardian can make medical decisions on their behalf. Therefore parents and guardians can authorize the use and release of Private Health records and also hold all rights listed in this notice or the behalf of the minor child or disabled adult.
• Under certain situations defined by law, minors can make independent healthcare decisions without parent or guardian knowledge or consent. In those situations, the minor may hold all rights listed in this notice. If the minor chooses to inform the parent or guardian, then all privacy rights regarding Private Health Information may transfer to the parent or guardian.
• There are also certain situations where access, use or release of a minor’s Private Health Information may occur without the consent of the parent or guardian, ie when the health or safety of the minor is in danger and Private Health Information is necessary to protect the minor.

Respond to lawsuits and legal actions
We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.

Our Responsibilities
• We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
• We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.
• We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.

For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/noticepp.html.

Changes to the Terms of this Notice
We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, in our office, and on our web site.

Other Instructions for Notice
• Effective Date of this Notice: August 1, 2020. Will remain in effect until it is amended or replaced by Winter Garden Health and Wellness, LLC.
• It is our right to change our privacy policy provided the law permits the change. Before we make a significant change, this Notice will be amended to reflect the changes and we will make the new notice available upon request.
• Privacy official: Melodie Mope, MD ; Admin@wghw.health
• We never market or sell personal information
• We will never share any substance abuse treatment records without your written permission.

How to contact us:
Please direct any questions about this Notice to our Privacy Office: Melodie Mope, MD
Privacy Officer Address:
Winter Garden Health and Wellness, LLC

Attn: Melodie Mope, MD , Privacy Officer

15820 Shaddock Drive Suite 130

Winter Garden, Fl 34787-1707