PRIVACY
POLICY
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.
Date of Notice: April 14, 2003
Uses
and Disclosures of Protected Health Information
1. Under applicable law, we are required to
protect the privacy of your individual health
information, which is referred to in this notice
as "Protected Health Information".
We are also required to provide you with this
Notice regarding our policies and procedures
that affec your Protected Health Information
and to abide by the terms of this notice, as
it may be updated from time to time.
We are permitted to make certain types of uses
and disclosures under applicable law for treatment,
payment, and healthcare operations purposes.
We may obtain information to dispense prescriptions
and for the documentation of pertinent information
in your records that may assist us in managing
your medication therapy of your overall health.
For treatment purposes, such use and disclosure
will take place in providing, coordinating,
or managing healthcare and its related services
by one or more of your providers, suc h as when
your pharmacist consults with your phyisician
or a specialist regarding your medications,
treatment or condition.
For payment purposes, such use and disclosure
will take place to obtain or provide reimbursement
for providing pharmaceutical care services,
such as when your case is reviewed to ensure
than appropriate care was rendered. For reimbursement
purposes, your Protected Health Information
may be disclosed to one or several intermediaries
employed by your plan sponsor including but
not limited to insurers, pharmacy benefits managers,
claims administrators and computer switching
companies.
For healthcare operations purposes, such use
and disclosure will take place in a number of
ways, including for quality assessment and improvement;
provider review and training; underwriting activities;
review and compliance activities; and planning,
development, management and administration.
Your information could be used, for example,
to assist in the evaluation of the quality of
care that you were provided.
We store some of your Protected Health Information
in electronic computer files. We backup our
electronic records daily and employ other precautions
to safeguard the integrity of your Protected
Health Information. In spite of these precautions
it is possible but unlikely that a computer
crash or other technological failute could cause
the loss of data. Reasonable safeguards are
employed to protect your Protected Health Information
stored on electronic media.
In addition, we may contact you to provide
refill reminders, health screenings, wellness
events, inoculations, vaccinations or information
about treatment alternatives or other health-related
benefits and services that may be of interest
to you. We may also disclose your health information
to your plan sponsor and we may contact you
for the purpose of fund raising activities.
We may use and disclose your Protected Health
Information, without your authorization when
the pharmacy needs to contact a physician or
physician's staff and is permitted or required
to do so without individual written authorization.
We may use and disclose your Protected Health
Information if we are contacted by another pharmacy
that states they have your request and consent
to transfer pharmacy records to them.
From time to time we may employ the services
of business associates who may assist us in
one or more tasks and who may use, change or
create Protected Health Information. business
associates are required to comply with all the
privacy regulations on your behalf.
We may disclose Protected Health Information
about you without your authorization to comply
with workers compensation laws, as required
by law enforcement, legal proceedings, public
health requirements, health oversight activities
and as required by law.
Other uses and disclosures will be made only
with your written authorization, and you may
revoke your authroization by notifying us.
2. You may ask us to restrict uses and disclosures
of your Protected Health Information to carry
out treatment, payment, or healthcare operations,
or to restrict uses and disclosures to family
members, relatives, friends, or other persons
identified by you who are involved in your care
or payment of your care. However, we are not
required to agree to your request.
3. You have the right to request the following
with respect to your Protected Health Information:
(i) inspection and copying; (ii)amendment of
correction; (iii) an accounting of the disclosures
of this information by us (we are not required
to account to you for disclosures made for treatment,
payment, operations, disclosures to you, disclosures
to your care givers, for notifications or as
otherwise excluded by law); and (iv) the right
to receive a paper copy of this notice upon
request. We may require you to pay for this
request to cover our costs of copying, labor
and postage.
4. We may use your name to reference your prescriptions
and pharmaceutical care services. You may be
required to sign a signature log form to acknowledge
receipt of service and to acknowledge receipt
of this Notice and the disclosure of Protected
Health Information as outlined herein. We may
disclose this information to other persons who
ask for you or your prescriptions by name. You
may restrict of prohibit these uses and disclosures
by notifying a pharmacy representative orally
or in writing of your restriction or prohibition.
We are not required to honoro those requests.
We are able to provide treatment services to
you even if youobject to sign the acknowledgement
of the receipt of this Notice of if we decide
not to honor a request regarding the information
in this document. In the event of an emergency
of your incapacity, we will do in our reasonable
judment what is consistent with your known preference,
and what we determine to be in your best interest.
We will inform you of any such uses or disclosures
if uses and disclosures would require your signed
authorization under such circumestances and
give you an opportunity to object as soon as
practicable.
5. We may disclose to one of your family members,
to a realtive, to a close personal friend, or
to any other person identified by you, Protected
Health Information that is directrly relevant
to the person's involvement with your care or
payment related to your care. In addition, we
may use or disclose the Protected Health Inforamtion
to notify, identify, or locate a member of your
family, your personal representative, another
person responsible for your care , or certain
disaster relief agencies of your location, general
condition, or death. If you are incapacitated,
there is an emergency, or you object to this
use or disclosure, we will do in our judgment
what is in your best interest regarding such
disclosure and will disclose only the information
that is directly relevant to the person's involvement
with your healthcare. We will also use our judgement
and experience regarding your best interest
in allowing people to pick-up filled perscriptions,
or other similar forms of Protected Health Information.
6. We reserve the right to change the terms
of this Notice and to make new Notice provisions
effective for all Protected Health Information
we maintain. You may receive a copy of this
Notice by contact us or upon receipt of pharmacy
care services.
7. If you believe that your privacy rights
have been violated, you may complain in writing
to us or to the Secretary of the Department
of Health and Human Services, Hubert H. Humphrey
Building, 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington
DC 20201. You will not be retaliated agains
for filing a complaint.