THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW YOUR INFORMATION MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
Introduction
At Renal Specialists of Houston, P.A., we are committed to treating and using protected health information about you responsibly. This Notice of Health Information Practices describes the personal information we collect, and how and when we use or disclose this information. It also describes your rights as they relate to your protected health information. This Notice is effective January 2, 2002 and applies to all protected health information as defined by federal regulations.
Understanding Your Health Record Information
Each time you visit Renal Specialists of Houston, P.A., a record of your visit is made. Typically, this record contains your symptoms, examination, test results, diagnosis, treatment and a plan for future care or treatment. This information, often referred to as your health or medical record, serves as:
- A basis for planning your care and treatment
- A means of communication among the many health professionals who contribute to your care
- A legal document describing the care you received
- A means by which you or a third-party payer can verify that services billed were actually provided
- A tool in educating health professionals
- A source of data for medical research
- A source of information for public health officials charged with improving the health of this state and the nation
- A source of data for our planning and marketing
- A tool with which we can assess and continually work to improve the care we render and the outcomes we achieve
Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to ensure its accuracy; better understand who, what, when, where and why others may access your health information; and make more informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to others.
Your Health Information Rights
Although your health record is the physical property of Renal Specialists of Houston, P.A., the information belongs to you. You have the right to:
- Obtain a paper copy of this notice of information practices upon request
- Inspect and receive a copy of your health record as provided for in 45 CFR 164.524
- Place an amendment in your health record as provided in 45 CFR 164.528
- Obtain an accounting of disclosures of your health information as provided in 45 CFR 164.528
- Request communications of your health information by alternative means or an alternative location
- Request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your information as provided in 45 CFR 164.522
- Revoke your authorization to use or disclose health information except to the extent that action has already been taken
Our Responsibilities:
Renal Specialists of Houston, P.A. is required to:
- Maintain the privacy of your health information
- Provide you with this notice as to our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to information we collect and maintain about you
- Abide by the terms of this notice
- Notify you if we are unable to agree to a request or restriction
- Accommodate reasonable requests you may have to communicate health information by alternative means or alternative locations
We reserve the right to change our practices and to make the new provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain. Should our information practices change, we will mail a revised notice to the address you've supplied us, or if you agree, we will e-mail the revised notice to you.
We will not use or disclose your health information without your authorization, except as described in this notice. We will also discontinue to use or disclose your health information after we have received a written revocation of the authorization according to the procedures included in the authorization.
For More Information or to Report a Problem:
If you have questions and would like additional information, you may contact the practice Administrator at 713-947-9509.
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated you can file a complaint with the practice's Administrator or with the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint with either the Privacy Officer or the Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
The address for the OCR is listed below:
Office for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Room 509F, HHH Building
Washington, D.C. 20201
Examples of Disclosures for Treatment, Payment and Health Operations:
We will use your health information for treatment.
For example: Information obtained by a nurse, physician or office member of your healthcare team will be recorded in your record and used to determine the course of treatment that should work best for you. Your physician will document, in your record, his or her expectations of the members of your healthcare team. Members of your healthcare team will then record the actions they took and their observations. In that way, the physician will know how you are responding to the treatment.
We will also provide your physician or a subsequent healthcare provider with copies of various reports that should assist him or her in treating you once you are discharged from the hospital.
Renal Specialists is serious about protecting your online privacy. This Privacy Statement explains our views and practices concerning privacy, and how they may pertain to you as a user of our website.
You or Your means you as a participant in or as a user of the Renal Specialists website. We or Our or Us means Renal Specialists. Our site means RenalSpecialists.com.
SECTION 1 – WHAT DO WE DO WITH YOUR INFORMATION?
When you purchase something from our site or make a payment, as part of the buying and selling process, we collect the personal information you give us such as your name, address and email address. This enables us to both fulfill and support the products you purchase.
When you browse our site, we also automatically receive your computer’s internet protocol (IP) address in order to provide us with information that helps us learn about your browser and operating system so we can better improve the experience for all our users.
Email marketing: With your permission, we may send you emails about new products, free and premium content (i.e. blog posts, YouTube videos, reports/whitepapers, etc.), and special events.
SECTION 2 – CONSENT
When you provide us with personal information to complete a transaction, verify your credit card, place an order, arrange for a delivery or return a purchase, we imply that you consent to our collecting it and using it for that specific reason only.
If we ask for your personal information for a secondary reason (i.e. newsletter subscription and marketing messages), we will ask you directly for your expressed consent and provide you with an opportunity to withdraw your consent.
You may withdraw your consent at any time by clicking on an “unsubscribe” link which is offered at the bottom of every email we send.
You may also withdraw your consent anytime, by contacting us at support@Renal Specialists or mailing us at: Renal Specialists (Address Needed)
SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE
We may disclose your personal information if we are required by law to do so or if you violate our Terms of Service. Also, if our site is acquired or merged with another company, your information may be transferred to the new owners so that they may continue to sell and support our products and services.
IMPORTANT: We do not sell, rent or otherwise disclose your personal information to any third parties, including but not limited to advertisers, strategic partners or vendors. Again, we take your privacy very seriously.
SECTION 4 – DATA STORAGE
Our shopping cart solution is hosted and managed by Infusionsoft. They provide us with the online e-commerce platform that allows us to sell our products and services to you.
Your data is stored through encrypted data storage, your data on a secure server behind a firewall.
Payment:
If you choose a direct payment gateway to complete your purchase, then Infusionsoft stores your credit card data. It is encrypted through the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). Your purchase transaction data is stored only as long as is necessary to complete your purchase transaction. After that is complete, your purchase transaction information is deleted.
All direct payment gateways adhere to the standards set by PCI-DSS as managed by the PCI Security Standards Council, which is a joint effort of brands like Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.
PCI-DSS requirements help ensure the secure handling of credit card information by our store and its service providers.
NOTE: At no point during the transaction does Renal Specialists take custody or store your credit card information. This is process is monitored and managed by Authorize.net, and you can read their terms of service, privacy policy and PCI Compliance information by visiting their site at: Authorize.net
SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES
In general, the third-party providers used by us will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to allow them to perform the services they provide to us.
However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies in respect to the information we are required to provide to them for your purchase-related transactions.
For these providers, we recommend that you read their privacy policies so you can understand the manner in which your personal information will be handled by these providers.
In particular, remember that certain providers may be located in or have facilities that are located a different jurisdiction than either you or us. So if you elect to proceed with a transaction that involves the services of a third-party service provider, then your information may become subject to the laws of the jurisdiction(s) in which that service provider or its facilities are located.
Once you leave our store’s website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or our website’s Terms of Service.
Links: When you click on links on our site, they may direct you away from our site. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites and encourage you to read their privacy statements.
SECTION 6 – SECURITY
To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry best practices to make sure it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.
If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored with a AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional generally accepted industry standards.
SECTION 7 – COOKIES
Renal Specialists utilizes cookies to create a more customized experience for our users and customers. For example, we use a login cookie so members do not have to re-enter their username and password each time they return to our site We also use tracking pixels (i.e. Google Analytics) to aid in measuring and tracking where our website traffic is coming from and to track the performance of our site.
SECTION 8 – AGE OF CONSENT
By using this site, you represent that you are at least the age of majority in your state or province of residence, or that you are the age of majority in your state or province of residence and you have given us your consent to allow any of your minor dependents to use this site.
SECTION 9 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
We reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time, so please review it frequently. Changes and clarifications will take effect immediately upon their posting on the website. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated, so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.
QUESTIONS AND CONTACT INFORMATION
Renal Specialists
713-791-2648
