PRIVACY POLICY
This Notice of Privacy Practices describes how Advanced Orthopedics and Sports Medicine d/b/a Sano Orthopedics may use and disclose your protected health information to carry out treatment, payment or health care operations and for other purposes that are permitted or required by law.
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 we maintain at that time.
What is Protected Health Information?
“Protected Health Information” is information that individually identifies you and that we create or get from you or from another health care provider, health plan, your employer, or a health care clearinghouse and that relates to (1) your past, present, or future physical or mental health or conditions, (2) the provision of health care to you, or (3) the past, present, or future payment for your health care.
How We May Use and Disclose Your Protected Health Information
We may use and disclose your Protected Health Information in the following circumstances:
- For Treatment. We may use or disclose your Protected Health Information to give you medical treatment or services and to manage and coordinate your medical care. For example, your Protected Health Information may be provided to a physician or other health care provider (e.g., a specialist or laboratory) to whom you have been referred to ensure that the physician or other health care provider has the necessary information to diagnose or treat you or provide you with a service.
- For Payment. We may use and disclose your Protected Health Information so that we can bill for the treatment and services you receive from us and can collect payment from you, a health plan, or a third party. For example, we may tell your health plan about a treatment you will receive. This is done to determine if your plan will pay for treatment.
- Surveys, Appointment, Statement Balance Reminders. We may contact you to remind you about your appointments and billing statements. We may also contact you requesting your feedback; we use this data internally to help us improve our quality of care.
- As Required by Law. We will disclose Protected Health Information about you when required to do so by international, federal, state, or local law.
- For Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose Protected Health Information for our healthcare operations. For example, we may use your Protected Health Information to internally review the treatment’s quality to ensure our patients receive quality care. We also may disclose information to physicians, nurses, medical technicians, medical students, residents, fellows and other authorized personnel for educational and learning purposes.
- Minors. We may disclose the Protected Health Information of minor children to their parents or guardians unless such disclosure is otherwise prohibited by law.
- Research. We may use and disclose your Protected Health Information for research purposes, but we will only do that if the research has been specially approved by an authorized institutional review board or a privacy board that has reviewed the research proposal and has set up protocols to ensure the privacy of your Protected Health Information. Even without that special approval, we may permit researchers to look at Protected Health Information to help them prepare for research, for example, to allow them to identify patients who may be included in their research project, as long as they do not remove, or take a copy of, any Protected Health Information. We may use and disclose a limited data set that does not contain specific readily identifiable information about you for research. However, we will only disclose the limited data set if we enter into a data use agreement with the recipient who must agree to (1) use the data set only for the purposes for which it was provided, (2) ensure the confidentiality and security of the data, and (3) not identify the information or use it to contact any individual.
- To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety. We may use and disclose Protected Health Information when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health or safety or to the health or safety of others. But we will only disclose the information to someone who may be able to help prevent the threat.
- Business Associates. We may disclose Protected Health Information to our business associates who perform functions on our behalf or provide us with services if the Protected Health Information is necessary for those functions or services. For example, we may use another company to do our billing, or to provide transcription or consulting services for us. All of our business associates are obligated, under contract with us, to protect the privacy and ensure the security of your Protected Health Information.
- Military and Veterans. If you are a member of the armed forces, we may disclose Protected Health Information as required by military command authorities.
- Workers’ Compensation. We may use or disclose Protected Health Information for workers’ compensation or similar programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illnesses.
- Abuse, Neglect, or Domestic Violence. We may disclose Protected Health Information to the appropriate government authority if we believe a patient has been the victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence and the patient agrees or we are required or authorized by law to make that disclosure.
- Public Health Risks. We may disclose Protected Health Information for public health activities. This includes disclosures to: (1) a person subject to the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for purposes related to the quality, safety or effectiveness of an FDA-regulated product or activity; (2) prevent or control disease, injury or disability; (3) report births and deaths; (4) report child abuse or neglect; (5) report reactions to medications or problems with products; (6) notify people of recalls of products they may be using; and (7) a person who may have been exposed to a disease or may be at risk for contracting or spreading a disease or condition.
- Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose Protected Health Information to a health agency for activities authorized by law. These oversight activities include, for example, audits, investigations, inspections, licensure, and similar activities that are necessary for the government to monitor the health care system, government programs, and compliance with civil rights laws.
- Data Breach Notification Purposes. We may use or disclose your Protected Health Information to provide legally required notices of unauthorized access to or disclosure of your health information.
- Lawsuits and Disputes. If you are involved in a lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose Protected Health Information in response to a court or administrative order. We may also use or disclose your Protected Health Information to defend ourselves in the event of a lawsuit.
- Law Enforcement. We may disclose Protected Health Information, so long as applicable legal requirements are met, for law enforcement purposes.
- Military Activity and National Security. If you are involved with military, national security or intelligence activities or if you are in law enforcement custody, we may disclose your Protected Health Information to authorized officials so they may carry out their legal duties under the law.
- Coroners, Medical Examiners, and Funeral Directors. We may disclose Protected Health Information to a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director so that they can carry out their duties.
Online and Cookie Policy
We use cookies to ensure the website can function, measure traffic, and support the marketing of our services. By using the website, you agree to our use of third-party cookies such as Google Analytics, which uses cookies to collect non-personally identifiable information. Google Analytics uses cookies to track visitors, providing reports about website trends without identifying individual visitors. We also use cookies to identify your internet browser and store your preferences to help us offer you products/services that may interest you and deliver relevant advertising to you. The information does not usually directly identify you but can give you a more personalized web experience.
This website contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for such other sites’ content or privacy practices. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of any other site that collects personally identifiable information.
Uses and Disclosures That Require Us to Allow You to Object and Opt Out
Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care. Unless you object, we may disclose to a member of your family, a relative, a close friend or any other person you identify your Protected Health Information directly related to that person’s involvement in your health care. If you cannot agree or object to such a disclosure, we may disclose such information as necessary if we determine that it is in your best interest based on our professional judgment.
Disaster Relief. We may disclose your Protected Health Information to disaster relief organizations that seek your Protected Health Information to coordinate your care, or notify family and friends of your location or condition in a disaster. We will provide you with an opportunity to agree or object to such a disclosure whenever we practicably can do so.
Fundraising Activities. We may use or disclose your Protected Health Information, as necessary, in order to contact you for fundraising activities. You have the right to opt out of receiving fundraising communications.
Other Uses of Medical Information
The following uses and disclosures of your Protected Health Information will be made only with your written authorization:
- Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes;
- Uses and disclosures of Protected Health Information for marketing purposes
- Disclosures that constitute a sale of your Protected Health Information.
Other uses and disclosures of Protected Health Information not covered by this Notice or the laws that apply to us will be made only with your written authorization. If you do give us authorization, you may revoke it at any time by submitting a written revocation to our Administration and we will no longer disclose Protected Health Information under the authorization. But disclosure that we made in reliance on your authorization before you revoked it will not be affected by the revocation.
Your Rights Regarding Your Protected Health Information
You have the following rights, subject to certain limitations, regarding your Protected Health Information:
- Right to Access and Receive Copies. You have the right to look at and to receive copies of Protected Health Information used to make decisions about your care, including information in an electronic health record, and/or to tell us where to send the information. Usually, this includes medical and billing records.
- Right to a Summary or Explanation. We can also provide you with a summary of your Protected Health Information, rather than the entire record, or we can provide you with an explanation of the Protected Health Information which has been provided to you, so long as you agrees to this alternative form and pay the associated fees.
- Right to an Electronic Copy of Electronic Medical Records. If your Protected Health Information is maintained in an electronic format (known as an electronic medical record or an electronic health record), you have the right to request that an electronic copy of your record be given to you or transmitted to another individual or entity. We will make every effort to provide access to your Protected Health Information in the form or format you request, if it is readily producible in such form or format. If the Protected Health Information is not readily producible in the form or format you request your record will be provided in either our standard electronic format or if you do not want this form or format, a readable hard copy form. We may charge you a reasonable, cost-based fee for the labor of transmitting the electronic medical record.
- Right to Get Notice of a Breach. You have the right to be notified upon a breach of any of your unsecured Protected Health Information.
- Right to Request Amendments. If you feel that our Protected Health Information is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information. You have the right to request an amendment for as long as the information is kept by or for us. A request for amendment must be made in writing and it must tell us the reason for your request. In certain cases, we may deny your request for an amendment.
- Right to an Accounting of Disclosures. You have the right to get a list of disclosures we made of your Protected Health Information including medical information we maintain in an electronic health record. This list may not include all disclosures that we made. For example, it would not include disclosures that we made for treatment, payment or health care operations purposes. To ask for this information, you must submit your request in writing.
- Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the Protected Health Information we use or disclose for treatment, payment, or health care operations. You also have the right to request a limit on the Protected Health Information we disclose about you to someone who is involved in your care or the payment for your care, like a family member or friend. You must submit a written request to restrict who may access your Protected Health Information. Your request must state the specific restriction requested, how to limit the information and to whom you want the restriction to apply. We are not required to agree to your request, unless you ask us to restrict the use and disclosure of your Protected Health Information to a health plan for payment or health care operation purposes. Such information you wish to restrict pertains solely to a health care item or service for which you have paid us “out-of-pocket” or “self-pay” in full. If we do agree to the requested restriction, we may not use or disclose your Protected Health Information in violation of that restriction unless it is needed to provide emergency treatment.
- Self Pay Payments. If you paid out-of-pocket (or in other words, you have requested that we not bill your health plan) in full for a specific item or service, you have the right to ask that your Protected Health Information with respect to that item or service not be disclosed to a health plan for purposes of payment or health care operations, and we will honor that request.
- Right to Request Confidential Communications. You have the right to request that we communicate with you only in certain ways to preserve your privacy. For example, you may request that we contact you by mail at a specific address or call you only at your work number. You must make any such request in writing and you must specify how or where we are to contact you. We will accommodate all reasonable requests. We will not ask you the reason for your request.
- Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice. You have the right to a paper copy of this Notice, even if you have agreed to receive this Notice electronically. You may request a copy of this Notice at any time.
Photograph/Video/Audio Recording
Patients and patient visitors are prohibited from photographing, audio recording, or video recording Protected Health Information while on Sano premises and inside the facilities.
Revisions To This Notice
We reserve the right to change this Notice. We reserve the right to make the changed Notice effective for Protected Health Information we already have, and for any Protected Health Information, we create or receive in the future.
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 Business Manager of your complaint. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
If you have any questions about this notice or if you need more information, please contact our business manager or administration team.
2861 NE Independence Ave, #201
Lee’s Summit, MO 64064
P: 816-525-2840
Fax: 816-525-2841
This has been updated on 8/24/2023.