Privacy Policy

HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices

Lifestyle Physio & Wellness PLLC is committed to protecting the privacy of your identifiable health information. This information is known as “protected health information” or “PHI.” 

Our Responsibilities:

Lifestyle Physio & Wellness PLLC is required by law to maintain the privacy of your PHI. We are also required to provide you with this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices upon request. It describes our legal duties, privacy practices and your patient rights as determined by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). We are required to follow the terms of this Notice currently in effect. We are required to notify affected individuals in the event of a breach involving PHI that is unsecured. PHI is stored electronically and is subject to electronic disclosure. 

How We May Use or Disclose Your Health Information

We need your authorization to use or disclose your PHI for any purpose not covered by one of the categories below. Unless you have signed an authorization, we will note use your PHI for marketing purposes, and we will not sell your PHI. You may revoke any authorization you sign at any time. If you revoke your authorization, we will no longer use or disclose your PHI except to the extent we have already taken action based on your authorization.

We use your PHI for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations purposes and for other purposes permitted or required by law. Not every use or disclosure is listed in this Notice, but all of our uses or disclosures of your PHI will fall into one of the categories listed below.

We may use and disclose your PHI for the following purposes.

Treatment:

We disclose your PHI to authorized healthcare professionals who are part of your interdisciplinary care team, if medically necessary, such as your physician, nurse practitioner, dentist, nurse, caregiver, counselor, or other healthcare and wellness providers such as a coach. We may use and disclose PHI to contact you to remind you of an appointment or to tell you about our health-related products and services that may be of benefit to you

Payment:

Lifestyle Physio & Wellness PLLC may use and disclose your PHI for purposes of billing and payment. We may also send invoices to the subscriber whose policy covers your health services.

Healthcare Operations:

Lifestyle Physio & Wellness PLLC may use and disclose your PHI for activities necessary to support our healthcare operations. This includes functions such as performing quality checks, internal audits, arranging for legal services or developing standardized reference ranges for performance outcomes. It also includes, for example, the sale, transfer, merger, or consolidation of all or part of Lifestyle Physio & Wellness PLLC with another covered entity, or an entity that following such activity will become a covered entity and due diligence related to the transaction(s).

Business Associates:

We may provide your PHI to other companies or individuals that need it to provide services to us. These other entities, known as "business associates," are required to maintain the privacy and security of PHI. For example, our business associates may use your PHI to conduct billing, collections, imaging, courier, or record storage services on our behalf.

Individuals Involved in Your Care:

If you tell us that this is acceptable to you or you do not object, we may disclose relevant PHI to a family member, friend, caregiver or other individual involved in your healthcare or payment for your healthcare.

As Required by Law:

We may use and disclose your PHI as required by law. We may use and disclose your PHI if necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to your health and safety or that of another person. We may also provide PHI to law enforcement officials, for example, in response to a warrant, investigative demand or similar legal process, or for officials to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person. We may disclose your PHI as required to comply with a court or administrative order. We may disclose your PHI in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other legal process in the course of a judicial or administrative proceeding, but only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request or to obtain an order of protection for the requested information.

Research:

We may use or disclose PHI for research purposes when permitted by law, such as when an Institutional Review Board or privacy board has reviewed the research proposal and plans to ensure the privacy of your PHI and determined that your authorization is not required. 

De-identified Information:

We may use your PHI to create “de-identified” information, which means that we remove information that can be used to identify you. There are specific rules under the law about what type of information needs to be removed before information is considered de-identified. Once information has been de-identified as required by law, it is no longer PHI and we may use it for any lawful purpose.

Incidental Uses and Disclosures:

Sometimes, your PHI may be used or disclosed in the course of our primary uses and disclosures, such as for treatment, payment or healthcare operations. For example, we may call your name in the waiting room, or use it in a telephone conversation with a provider. We are permitted to make such incidental uses and disclosures as long as we take reasonable steps to minimize them, and have in place appropriate safeguards to protect them.

Right to Access:

You may obtain your documentation online using the software registration information shared with you at your start of care. You may also request written copies, which will be provided to you, provided that you supply the administrative fee to cover the resources required to collect, package, and deliver your documentation via HIPAA-compliant methods. 

Amended Health Information:

You may request amendments (changes) to your PHI by making a written request. However, we may deny the request in some cases (such as if we determine the PHI is accurate). If we deny your request to change your PHI, we will provide you with a written explanation of the reason for the denial and let you know about further actions you may take.

Complaints/Questions/Contact Information:

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you have the right to file a complaint with us. Lifestyle Physio & Wellness PLLC will not retaliate against any individual for filing a complaint. 

Note:

We reserve the right to amend the terms of this Notice to reflect changes in our privacy practices, and to make the new terms and practices applicable to all PHI that we maintain about you, including PHI created or received prior to the effective date of the Notice revision. Our Notice is displayed on our website and a copy is available upon request.