HIPAA The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA, was signed into law in August of 1996. The administrative provisions of HIPAA establish the standards for the electronic transmission of health care claims and other transactions and the procedures to be used to protect the confidentiality and security of medical records and other personal health information. For more information regarding HIPAA and compliance deadlines, visit http://www.cms.gov/hipaa/hipaa2/default.asp. We create a record of the care and services you receive at the practice.  We need this record in order to provide you with quality care and to comply with certain legal requirements.  This notice applies to all of the records of your care generated by the practice, whether made by practice personnel or by your personal physician.  The law requires us to make sure that medical inforamtion that identifies you is kept private; give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to medical information about you; and to follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.  Other ways we may use or disclose your protected healthcare information include:  appointment reminders; as required by law; for health-related benefits and services; to infividuals involved in your care or payment for your care; research; to avert a serious threat to health or safety; and for treatment alternatives.  Other uses and disclosures of your personal information could include disclosure to, or for:  coroners, medical examiners and funeral directors; health oversight activities; inmates; law enforcement; lawsuits and disputes; military and veterans; national security and intelligence activities; organ and tissue donation; protective services for the President and others; public health risks; and worker's compensation. The following categories describe different ways that we may use and disclose medical information.  For each category of uses or disclosures, we will elaborate on the meaning.  Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed.  However, all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories. For Payment:  We may use and disclose medical information about you so that the treatment and services you receive at the practice may be billed to and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company or a third party. For Treatment:    We may use medical information about you to proved you with medical treatment or services.  We may disclose medical information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, or other personnel who are involved in taking care of you at the practice or hospital. For Health Care Operations:  We may use and disclose medical information about you for health care operations.  These uses and disclosures are necessary to run the practice and ensure that all of our patients receive quality care.  We may also disclose information to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, and other practice personnel for review and learning purposes. This notice describes our practice's policies and procedures and that of any health care professional authorized to enter information into your medical chart, any member of a volunteer group which we allow to help you, as well as all employees, staff and other practice personnel.