Everyone here at Mary Lee Amerian would like to live in a spam-free universe.
We never swap or rent your e-mail address to third parties. We won't send you e-mail blasts you
haven't asked for. Here's some information on how we treat the information you give us.
Your e-mail address
We only collect and hold your e-mail address in order to send you information you have requested.
You can unsubscribe any time for any reason. If you have a problem with your subscription,
contact us
here. Mary Lee Amerian
never rents e-mail lists. We don't share your name with "marketing partners," unless you request that your
name be added to a partner's list.
What we send
You will only get e-mails from Mary Lee Amerian, never from third parties. You can always choose exactly
what you want to receive from us. If you are a Mary Lee Amerian client, you may receive special offers when
we launch new services or products. If you request articles or monthly newsletters, you will only receive
what you have requested.
Unsubscribing
To unsubscribe from any mailing list, just click
here.
Questions?
If you have any questions regarding this policy or any other general site use concerns, please contact us
here or call 310-829-9396.
Thank you!
Notice of Privacy Practices (HIPAA)
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. If you have any questions about this Notice of Privacy Practices
please contact our Privacy Official:
Ms. Maria Larkin
This Notice of Privacy Practices describes how Mary Lee Amerian, MD may use and disclose your protected health
information (PHI) to carry out treatment, payment or health care operations and for other purposes that are
permitted or required by law. It also describes your rights to access and control your protected health
information.
"Protected Health Information" is information about you, including demographic information,
that may identify you and that relates to your past, present or future physical or mental health or condition
and related health care services.
We are required to abide by the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices. We may change the terms of our notice,
at any time. The new notice will be effective for all protected health information that Mary Lee Amerian, MD
maintains at that time. Upon your request, Mary Lee Amerian, MD will provide you with any revised Notice of
Privacy Practices by calling the practice and requesting that a revised copy be sent to you in the mail or
asking for one at the time of your next appointment.
1. Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information
Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information Based Upon Your Written Consent
You will be asked by Mary Lee Amerian, MD to sign a consent form. Once you have consented to use and disclosure
of your protected health information for treatment, payment and health care operations by signing the consent
form, Mary Lee Amerian, MD will use or disclose your protected health information as described in this Section.
Your protected health information may be used and disclosed by Mary Lee Amerian, MD, the office staff and others
outside of our office that are involved in your care and treatment for the purpose of providing medical care
services to you. Your protected health information may also be used and disclosed to pay your medical care
bills and to support the operation of Mary Lee Amerian, MD practice.
Treatment: We will use and disclose your protected health information to provide, coordinate or manage your
medical care and any related services. This includes the coordination or management of your medical care with a
third party that has already obtained your permission to have access to your protected health information. In
addition,Mary Lee Amerian, MD may disclose your protected health information to another physician or health care
provider (e.g., a specialist or laboratory) who, at the request of Mary Lee Amerian, MD, becomes involved in your
care by providing assistance with your medical care diagnosis or treatment to Mary Lee Amerian, MD.
Payment: Your protected health information will be used, as needed, to obtain payment for your medical care
services. This may include certain activities that your health insurance plan may undertake before it approves
or pays for the medical care services Mary Lee Amerian, MD recommends for you.
Healthcare Operations: We may use or disclose, as needed, your protected health information in order to
support the business activities of Mary Lee Amerian, MD's practice. In addition, Mary Lee Amerian, MD may use a
sign-in sheet at the registration desk where you will be asked to sign your name. We may also call you by name
in the waiting room when Mary Lee Amerian, MD is ready to see you. We may use or disclose your protected health
information, as necessary, to contact you to remind you of your appointment.
We will share your protected health information with third party "business associates" that perform various
activities for the practice. Whenever an arrangement between our office and a business associate involves the use
or disclosure of your protected health information, Mary Lee Amerian, MD will have a written contract that contains
terms that will protect the privacy of your protected health information.
Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information Based upon Your Written Authorization
Other uses and disclosures of your protected health information will be made only with your written authorization,
unless otherwise permitted or required by law as described below. You may revoke this authorization, at any time,
in writing, except to the extent that Mary Lee Amerian, MD or the practice has taken an action in reliance on
the use or disclosure indicated in the authorization.
Other Permitted and Required Uses and Disclosures That May Be Made With Your Consent, Authorization or Opportunity
to Object
We may use and disclose your protected health information in the following instances. You have the opportunity to
agree or object to the use or disclosure of all or part of your protected health information. If you are not present
or able to agree or object to the use or disclosure of the protected health information, then Mary Lee Amerian, MD
may, using professional judgment, determine whether the disclosure is in your best interest. In this case, only
the protected health information that is relevant to your medical care will be disclosed.
Others Involved in Your Healthcare:
Unless you object, Mary Lee Amerian, MD may disclose to a member of your family, a relative, a close friend or any
other person you identify, your protected health information that directly relates to that person's involvement in
your medical care. If you are unable to agree or object to such a disclosure, Mary Lee Amerian, MD may disclose
such information as necessary if it determines that it is in your best interest based on its professional judgment.
We may use or disclose protected health information to notify or assist in notifying a family member, personal
representative or any other person that is responsible for your care of your location, general condition or death.
Emergencies:
We may use or disclose your protected health information in an emergency treatment situation. If this happens, Mary
Lee Amerian, MD will try to obtain your consent as soon as reasonably practicable after the delivery of treatment.
If Mary Lee Amerian, MD is required by law to treat you and it has attempted to obtain your consent but is unable
to obtain your consent, it may still use or disclose your protected health information to treat you.
Communication Barriers:
We may use and disclose your protected health information if Mary Lee Amerian, MD attempts to obtain consent from you
but is unable to do so due to substantial communication barriers and it determines, using professional judgment,
that you intend to consent to use or disclosure under the circumstances.
Other Permitted and Required Uses and Disclosures That May Be Made Without Your Consent, Authorization or Opportunity
to Object
We may use or disclose your protected health information in the following situations without your consent or
authorization. These situations include:
Required By Law: We may use or disclose your protected health information to the extent that law requires the use
or disclosure. The use or disclosure will be made in compliance with the law and will be limited to the relevant
requirements of the law. You will be notified, as required by law, of any such uses or disclosures.
Public Health: We may disclose your protected health information for public health activities and purposes to a
public health authority that is permitted by law to collect or receive the information. The disclosure will be made
for the purpose of controlling disease, injury or disability. We may also disclose your protected health information,
if directed by the public health authority, to a foreign government agency that is collaborating with the public
health authority.
Communicable Diseases: We may disclose your protected health information, if authorized by law, to a person who
may have been exposed to a communicable disease or may otherwise be at risk of contracting or spreading the disease
or condition.
Health Oversight: Mary Lee Amerian, MD may disclose protected health information to a health oversight agency
for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations and inspections. Oversight agencies seeking this
information include government agencies that oversee the medical care system, government benefit programs, other
government regulatory programs and civil rights laws.
Abuse or Neglect: We may disclose your protected health information to a public health authority that is authorized
by law to receive reports of child abuse or neglect. In addition, Mary Lee Amerian, MD may disclose your protected
health information if it believes that you have been a victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence to the
governmental entity or agency authorized to receive such information. In this case, the disclosure will be made
consistent with the requirements of applicable federal and state laws.
Food and Drug Administration: We may disclose your protected health information to a person or company required by
the Food and Drug Administration to report adverse events, product defects or problems, biologic product deviations,
track products; to enable product recalls; to make repairs or replacements, or to conduct post marketing surveillance,
as required.
Legal Proceedings: We may disclose protected health information in the course of any judicial or administrative
proceeding, in response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal (to the extent such disclosure is expressly
authorized), in certain conditions in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process.
Law Enforcement: We may also disclose protected health information, so long as applicable legal requirements are
met, for law enforcement purposes. These law enforcement purposes include:
legal processes and otherwise required by law;
limited information requests for identification and location purposes;
pertaining to victims of a crime;
suspicion that death has occurred as a result of criminal conduct;
in the event that a crime occurs on the premises of the practice;
medical emergency (not on Mary Lee Amerian, MD practice's premises) and it is likely that a crime has occurred.
Coroners: Mary Lee Amerian, MD may disclose protected health information to a coroner or medical examiner for
identification purposes, determining cause of death or for the coroner or medical examiner to perform other duties authorized
by law.
Criminal Activity: Consistent with the applicable federal and state laws, Mary Lee Amerian, MD may disclose your
protected health information, if it believes that the use or disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and
imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public. Mary Lee Amerian, MD may also disclose protected health
information if it is necessary for law enforcement authorities to identify or apprehend an individual.
Military Activity and National Security: When the appropriate conditions apply, Mary Lee Amerian, MD may use or disclose
protected health information of individuals who are Armed Forces personnel:
for activities deemed necessary by appropriate military command authorities;
for the purpose of a determination by the Department of Veterans Affairs of your eligibility for benefits;
to foreign military authority if you are a member of that foreign military services.
Mary Lee Amerian, MD may also disclose your protected health information to authorized federal officials for conducting
national security and intelligence activities, including for the provision of protective services to the President or others
legally authorized.
Workers' Compensation: Mary Lee Amerian, MD may disclose your protected health information as authorized to comply with
workers' compensation laws and other similar legally established programs.
Required Uses and Disclosures: Under the law, Mary Lee Amerian, MD must make disclosures to you and when required by
the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate or determine our compliance with the requirements
of HIPAA Privacy Rule under§164.500 of the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
2. Your Rights
The following is a statement of your rights with respect to your protected health information and a brief description of how you
may exercise these rights.
You have the right to inspect and copy your protected health information. This means you may inspect and obtain a copy of
protected health information about you that is contained in a designated record set for as long as Mary Lee Amerian, MD maintain
the protected health information. A "designated record set" contains medical and billing records and any other records that
Mary Lee Amerian, MD and the practice use for making decisions about you.
Under federal law, however, you may not inspect or copy the following records:
information compiled in reasonable anticipation of, or use in, a civil, criminal, or administrative action or proceeding;
protected health information that is subject to law that prohibits access to protected health information.
Depending on the circumstances, a decision to deny access may be reviewable. In some circumstances, you may have a right
to have this decision reviewed. Please contact our Privacy Official if you have questions about access to your medical record.
You have the right to request a restriction of your protected health information. This means you may ask us not to use or disclose
any part of your protected health information for the purposes of treatment, payment or healthcare operations. You may also
request that any part of your protected health information not be disclosed to family members or friends who may be involved in
your care or for notification purposes as described in this Notice of Privacy Practices. Your request must state the specific
restriction requested and to whom you want the restriction to apply.
Mary Lee Amerian, MD is not required to agree to a restriction that you may request. If it believes it is in your best interest
to permit use and disclosure of your protected health information, your protected health information will not be restricted. If
Mary Lee Amerian, MD does agree to the requested restriction, it may not use or disclose your protected health information in
violation of that restriction unless it is needed to provide emergency treatment. With this in mind, please discuss any
restriction you wish to request with Mary Lee Amerian, MD You may request a restriction by contacting our Privacy Official.
You have the right to request to receive confidential communications from us by alternative means or at an alternative location.
We will accommodate reasonable requests. We may also condition this accommodation by asking you for information as to how payment
will be handled or specification of an alternative address or other method of contact. We will not request an explanation from
you as to the basis for the request. Please make this request in writing to our Privacy Official.
You may have the right to request Mary Lee Amerian, MD to amend your protected health information. This means you may
request an amendment of protected health information about you in a designated record set for as long as Mary Lee Amerian, MD
maintains this information. In certain cases, it may deny your request for an amendment. If Mary Lee Amerian, MD denies your
request for amendment, you have the right to file a statement of disagreement with us and it may prepare a rebuttal to your
statement and it will provide you with a copy of any such rebuttal. Please contact our Privacy Official to determine if you
have questions about amending your medical record.
You have the right to receive an accounting of certain disclosures Mary Lee Amerian, MD has made, if any, of your protected
health information. This right applies to disclosures for purposes other than treatment, payment or healthcare operations
as described in this Notice of Privacy Practices. It excludes disclosures Mary Lee Amerian, MD may have made to you, to family
members or friends involved in your care or for notification purposes. You have the right to receive specific information
regarding these disclosures that occurred after April 14, 2003. You may request a shorter timeframe. The right to receive
this information is subject to certain exceptions, restrictions and limitations.
You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this notice from us, upon request, even if you have agreed to accept this
notice electronically.
3. Complaints
You may complain to us or to the Secretary of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy rights have been violated by
us. You may file a complaint with us by notifying our privacy contact of your complaint. We will not retaliate against you for
filing a complaint.
You may contact our Privacy Official, Ms. Maria Larkin for further information about the complaint process.
4. Effectiveness
This notice was published and becomes effective on April 14, 2003.