Telerhythmics - a G Medical Company

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

If you have any questions, please contact the Corporate Compliance & Privacy Officer by calling 800.747.4455.

Effective: 11/01/2010

Each time you visit a healthcare facility, physician, or other healthcare provider, a record of your visit is made. These records are used for your treatment, for payment, or for healthcare operations.

Our Responsibilities: We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your health information. We will abide by these laws. We do not use your medical information for anything other than for treatment, payment and operations.

Uses and Disclosures: The following categories describe examples of the way we use and disclose medical information:

For Treatment: We may use medical information about you to provide treatment or services ordered by your treating provider. We may disclose medical information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, or other healthcare personnel who are involved in performing diagnostic services provided by Digirad under contract with your care provider and involved in your care. We may also provide your physician or a subsequent healthcare provider with copies of your health information to assist him or her in treating you once Digirad has completed its imaging services for you.

For Payment: We may use and disclose minimum medical information to bill and collect payment from the healthcare facility we contract with to perform scans.

For Health Care Operations: Members of the medical staff and/or quality improvement team may use your health information to assess the care and outcomes in your case and others like it. The results will then be used to continually improve the quality of care for all patients we serve. For example, we may disclose information to doctors, nurses, and other students for educational purposes. We may also use and disclose medical information:

  • To vendors we have contracted with to perform the agreed upon service;
  • To remind you that you have an appointment for medical care;
  • To assess your satisfaction with our services;
  • For conducting training programs and reviewing competence of health care professionals.

Vendors: As a healthcare provider there are some services provided in our organization through contracts with vendors. When these services are contracted, we may disclose your health information to our vendors so they can perform the job we’ve asked them to do (e.g. to provide a review of our quality of imaging services). We require these vendors to appropriately safeguard your health information.

Individuals Involved in Your Care: We may need to release medical information about you to a friend or family member who is involved in your medical care, or to an entity assisting in a disaster relief effort so your family can be notified about your condition, status, and location.

Affiliated Healthcare Providers: Protected health information will be made available to your physician as necessary to carry out treatment, payment, and health care operations.

As required by law, we may disclose as follows:

  • Food and Drug Administration (FDA): We may disclose to the FDA health information relative to adverse events with respect to food, supplements, product and product defects, or post marketing surveillance information to enable product recalls, repairs or replacement.
  • Workers Compensation: We may disclose health information to the extent authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with laws relating to workers compensation or other similar programs established by law.
  • Public Health: As required by law, we may disclose your health information to public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability.
  • Correctional Institution: Should you be an inmate of a correctional institution, we may disclose to the institution or its agents, health information necessary for your health, and the health and safety of other individuals.
  • Law Enforcement: We may disclose health information for law enforcement purposes as required by law, or in response to a valid subpoena.

Federal Law makes provision for your health information to be released to an appropriate health oversight agency, public health authority, or attorney provided that a workforce member or business associate believes in good faith that we have engaged in unlawful conduct or have otherwise violated professional standards and are potentially endangering one or more patients, workers, or the public.

Your Health Information Rights

Although your health record is the physical property of the healthcare practitioner or facility that compiled it, you have the right to inspect and copy medical information that may be used to make decisions about your care. Digirad keeps minimal medical information for our operations and does not keep medical information in record form. Your health care provider or treating physician can better serve you by reviewing and copying the information you may need.

Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with Digirad. You may also contact the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. To file a complaint with Digirad, contact the Corporate Compliance & Privacy Officer at the address below. All complaints must be submitted in writing.

Corporate Compliance & Privacy Officer
G Medical Diagnostics
12708 Riata Vista Circle, Suite A103
Austin, TX 78727

You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.