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Privacy Policy
Judicial and Administrative Proceedings
We may disclose your PHI as required to comply with court orders, discovery requests or
other legal process in the course of a judicial or administrative proceeding.
Your Health Information Rights
Although your health record is the physical property of PDL you have the rights
described below with respect to your health information:
Right to Inspect and Copy
PDL is defined as an "indirect provider" of healthcare services. This means
that according to Federal and State law, clinical laboratories in the State of
California shall examine specimens only at the request of a person authorized by law
to receive and interpret the laboratory test results. You or your authorized or
designated personal representative has the right to inspect and copy your PHI. PDL may
deny access to certain information for specific reasons, for example, where state law
prohibits such patient access.
Right to Amend
If you feel that health information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you
may ask us to amend this information. You have the right to request reasonable amendment
for as long as this information is kept by, or on behalf of, PDL We may deny your request
for an amendment in certain situations. If this occurs, you will be notified of the
reason for the denial. If you disagree with our denial, you may submit a statement of
disagreement or ask that your request become part of your record. In response, we may
prepare a rebuttal statement. These will be made a part of your record. To request an
amendment, please contact the PDL compliance Department. Requests must be in writing and
must provide reasons for requesting the amendment. We will respond to your request within
30-days.
Right to an Accounting of Disclosures
You have the right to request an accounting of certain disclosures of your health
information made by PDL for a period of up to six years prior to the date of your
written request, but not including any disclosures made prior to April 14, 2003, when
the Privacy rule went into effect.
Right to Request Restrictions
You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the health information we
use about you for treatment, payment, or health care operations.
Right to Request Confidential Communications
You have the right to request that PDL send your billing or PHI to an alternate address,
but we are not required to agree to your request.
Right to a Copy of this Notice
You have the right to receive a paper copy of this Notice at anytime. Copies of the
current Notice are available from all PDL Patient Service Centers and our website at
www.pdllabs.com.
Complaints
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you have the right to register a
complaint with Pacific Diagnostic Laboratories (PDL) or the Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. PDL will not retaliate against any individual
for filing a complaint. You may file a complaint by calling: (805) 692-4610 or by
writing to this address:
Pacific Diagnostic Laboratories
89 S. Patterson Ave.
Santa Barbara, Ca 93111
This Notice tells you about the ways in which we may use and disclose information about
you. It also describes your rights and certain obligations we have regarding the use
and disclosure of your medical information.
We are required by law to:
- Make sure that your medical information is protected;
- Give you this Notice describing our legal duties and privacy practices with
respect to medical information about you upon request and
- Follow the terms of the Notice that is currently in effect.
We reserve the right to change the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices and make
the provisions of the new Notice of Privacy Practices effective for all PHI that we
maintain.
We urge you to read this Notice of Privacy Practices carefully so that you will
understand both our commitment to the privacy of your PHI, and how you can participate
in that commitment. Should you have any questions about this Notice or our privacy
practices, please call us at (805) 692-4610.
Pacific Diagnostic Privacy Policy
Pacific Diagnostic Laboratories and its employees are committed to obtaining,
maintaining, using and disclosing patient protected health information (PHI) in a manner
that protects patient privacy. We will only use or disclose the minimum necessary to
perform a job or complete an activity. This Notice applies to all PHI that we
maintain.
How we may use and Disclose your Protected Health Information
Your PHI will be used or disclosed for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations
purposes and for other purposes permitted or required by law. Not every use or disclosure
is listed; however, all of the ways we use or disclose your PHI will fall into one of
the categories listed below. If we wanted to use or disclose your PHI for other
purposes we would have to obtain your written authorization. For example, patient
authorization is often required by state law for release of HIV test results, except if
the results are being released to public health officials as required by law. You have
the right to revoke your authorization at any time, except if we already made a
disclosure based on that authorization. We do not need your authorization or permission
to use or disclose your PHI for the following purposes:
For Treatment
Information obtained from your physician or by a phlebotomist, technician or other member
of our health care team will be recorded on your laboratory requisition and used to help
provide the laboratory services that have been ordered by your provider. We may also
provide information to others providing your care. This will help them stay informed
about your care.
For Payment
We request payment from you or from your health insurance plan. Health plans need
information from us about your medical care. Information provided to health plans may
include your diagnoses and procedures performed.
- Medical quality review by your health plan; accounting, legal, risk management
and insurance services;
- Accounting, legal, risk management, and insurance services;
- Audit functions, including fraud and abuse detection and compliance programs.
Disclosure to Business Associates
We may disclose your PHI to other companies or individuals who need your PHI in order
to provide specific services to us. These other entities, known as
"business associates", must comply with strict contractual standards designed
to ensure that they will maintain the privacy and security of the PHI we provide to them
or which they create on our behalf. Our business associates must only use your PHI for
designated treatment, payment, or health care operations purposes that we contract them
to perform on our behalf. For example, we may disclose your PHI to the College of
American Pathologists and other private accrediting organizations that inspect and
certify the quality of our laboratories.
As Permitted or Required by Law
We may release your PHI for various public policy reasons that are authorized or
required by law.
Public Health
We may disclose your PHI when reporting communicable disease results to public health
departments as required by law.
Health Oversight
We may disclose your PHI in connection with governmental oversight, licensure, auditing,
and other purposes. For example, governmental agencies periodically review our records
to ensure that we are complying with the rules of various regulatory and licensing
agencies. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and state Health Departments
are examples of agencies that oversee aspects of our operations. Government agencies,
such as OSHA or the FDA may require us to provide PHI in connection with an investigation
or other proceeding.
Law Enforcement
We may also disclose PHI for law enforcement purposes. For example, we may be required
to release PHI to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing
person.
Public Safety
When the appropriate conditions apply, we may use or disclose PHI to prevent or lessen
a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public.
Specialized Government Functions
We may disclose your PHI for military, national security, prisoner and government
benefits (for health plans only) purposes.
Workers Compensation
We may disclose your protected health information as authorized to comply with workers’
compensation laws and other similar legally established programs that provide benefits
for work-related illnesses and injuries.
To avert serious threat to Health or Safety
We may use and disclose health information about you when necessary to prevent a serious
threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person.
Any disclosure would only be to someone who is likely to help prevent the threat.