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This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully. The privacy of your health information is important to us.
The following Notice of Privacy Practices describes how we may use and disclose your protected health information (PHI) to carry out treatment, payment, or health care operations and for other purposes that are permitted or required by law. It also describes your rights to access and control your protected health information, and how we use email and artificial intelligence (AI) when we communicate with you.
Federal and state law require us to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information, to give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, and to notify you if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information. We must abide by the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices while it is in effect. We may change the terms of our notice at any time, and the new notice will be effective for all protected health information that we maintain at that time. If we change this notice, we will post the new notice in our office and on our website, www.ProstateLaserCenter.com, and it will be available upon request. You may request a copy of our notice at any time.
Your rights
When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you. To make any of the requests below, contact our Privacy Officer using the contact information at the end of this notice. Requests that must be in writing may be mailed or faxed to our office or emailed to our Privacy Officer. You have the right to:
- Receive an electronic or paper copy of your medical record. You may inspect and obtain your medical record that contains medical and billing records and any other records that your physician's practice uses for making decisions about you. We will provide a copy or summary of your health information within 15 business days after we receive your written request, as required by Texas law. As permitted by federal or state law, we may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for this service.
- Amend or supplement your medical record. You have the right to request that we amend your health information that you believe is incorrect or incomplete. You must make a request to amend in writing, and include the reasons you believe the information is inaccurate or incomplete. We are not required to change your health information, and will provide you with information about this medical practice's denial and how you can disagree with the denial. We may deny your request if we do not have the information, if we did not create the information (unless the person or entity that created the information is no longer available to make the amendment), if you would not be permitted to inspect or copy the information at issue, or if the information is accurate and complete as is. If we deny your request, you may submit a written statement of your disagreement with that decision, and we may, in turn, prepare a written rebuttal. All information related to any request to amend will be maintained and disclosed in conjunction with any subsequent disclosure of the disputed information.
- Request confidential communications. You may request us to contact you by alternative means or at an alternative location. For example, you may ask that we only leave messages on your home phone and not your work phone, or that we not contact you by email. We will not ask you the reason for your request. We will accommodate all reasonable requests submitted in writing which specify how or where you wish to receive these communications.
- Request a restriction of your protected health information. You may ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree with your request, and we may deny the request if it would interfere with your care. However, if you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full and ask us not to share information about that service or item with your health insurer for the purpose of payment or our operations, we will agree to your request unless a law requires us to share that information. You may also request that any part of your protected health information not be disclosed to family members or friends who may be involved in your care or for notification purposes as described in this Notice of Privacy Practices. Your request must state the specific restriction in writing and to whom you want the restriction to apply.
- Receive an accounting of disclosures. You may obtain an accounting list of certain disclosures we have made, if any, of your protected health information during the six years before your request. This right applies to disclosures for purposes other than treatment, payment, or our operations. It does not include disclosures you authorized, disclosures to family members or friends involved in your care as described in this Notice of Privacy Practices, or certain other disclosures. We will provide one accounting a year for free but may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.
- Receive notification of breaches of your unsecured protected health information as required by law.
- Obtain a paper copy of this notice from us, upon request, even if you have agreed to accept this notice electronically.
- File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated. You may contact our Privacy Officer, Nicole Milian, at (713) 904-4014 for further information about the complaint process. You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
Uses and disclosures of protected health information
Your protected health information may be used and disclosed by your physician, our office staff, and others outside of our practice who are involved in your care and treatment for the purpose of providing health care services to you. Your protected health information may also be used and disclosed to pay your health care bills and to support the operation of your physician's practice. We typically share your information in the following ways:
- Treatment: We will use and disclose your protected health information to provide, coordinate, or manage your health care and any related services. This includes the coordination or management of your health care with another provider. For example, your protected health information may be provided to a physician to whom you have been referred to ensure that the physician has the necessary information to diagnose or treat you.
- Health Care Operations: We may use or disclose, as needed, your protected health information in order to support your physician's practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary. For example, we use health information about you to manage your treatment and services, to send you appointment reminders, and to respond to questions you send us.
- Payment: We may use or disclose, as needed, your protected health information to obtain payment for your health care services provided by us or by another provider. This may include certain activities that your health insurance plan may undertake before it approves or pays for the health care services recommended. For example, obtaining approval for a diagnostic procedure may require that your relevant protected health information be disclosed to the health plan.
- Business Associates: We may share your protected health information with companies that perform services for us, such as billing, information technology, email, and artificial intelligence (AI) service providers. These business associates must sign a contract agreeing to protect your information and to use it only as that contract and the law allow.
- Electronic Disclosure: Your protected health information may be disclosed electronically, for example, through our electronic health record system or secure electronic exchanges with other health care providers and health plans. As required by Texas law, we will not disclose your protected health information electronically without your authorization unless the disclosure is for treatment, payment, or health care operations, or is otherwise authorized or required by state or federal law.
We are authorized or required to use or disclose your protected health information without your written authorization in the following situations. We are required to meet certain conditions in the law before we are able to share your protected health information for these purposes. For more information, see: www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/guidance-materials-for-consumers/index.html.
- As Required by Law: We will disclose your protected health information when federal, state, or local law requires it, including to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to confirm that we are complying with federal privacy law.
- Public Health: We may disclose your protected health information for public health purposes to a public health authority that is permitted by law to collect or receive the information. For example, a disclosure may be made for prevention or control of communicable diseases, injury or disability, or reporting information such as adverse reactions to medications or products.
- Abuse, Neglect, or Domestic Violence: We may disclose your protected health information to a government authority authorized by law to receive reports of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.
- Health Oversight: We may disclose your protected health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure.
- Lawsuits and Legal Proceedings: We may disclose your protected health information in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose it in response to a subpoena or other lawful request, but only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information.
- Research: We may disclose your protected health information to researchers when their research has been approved by an institutional review board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your protected health information.
- Law Enforcement: We may also disclose protected health information, so long as it is required by federal or state law, for law enforcement purposes.
- Coroners, Funeral Directors, and Organ Donation: We may disclose protected health information to a coroner or medical examiner for identification purposes, determining cause of death, or for the coroner or medical examiner to perform other duties authorized by the law. We may also disclose your protected health information to a funeral director, as authorized by the law, in order to permit the funeral director to carry out their duties. We may also disclose protected health information to organ procurement organizations to facilitate organ, eye, or tissue donation and transplantation.
- Serious Threat to Health or Safety: We may use or disclose your protected health information when necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to your health or safety or the health or safety of another person or the public.
- Specialized Government Functions: We may disclose your protected health information for military and veterans' activities, national security and intelligence activities, and protective services for the President and others, as authorized by law.
- Workers' Compensation: We may disclose your protected health information as authorized to comply with workers' compensation laws and other similar legally-established programs.
- Inmates and Persons in Custody: If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or in the custody of a law enforcement official, we may disclose your protected health information to the institution or official as necessary for your health care and for the health and safety of others.
- Others Involved in Your Health Care or Payment for Your Care: Unless restricted by request, we may disclose your protected health information to a family member or friend that directly relates to that person's involvement in your health care. If you are unable to agree or disagree to such a disclosure, we may disclose the information as necessary if we determine that it is in your best interest based on our professional judgment. We may use or disclose protected health information to notify or assist in notifying a family member, personal representative or any other person that is responsible for your care of your location, general condition, or death. Finally, we may use or disclose your protected health information to an authorized public or private entity to assist in disaster relief efforts and to coordinate uses and disclosures to family members or other individuals involved in your health care.
Uses and disclosures that require your written authorization
Other uses and disclosures of your protected health information that are not described in this notice will be made only with your written authorization. For example, we will not use or share your information for marketing purposes, and we will not sell your information, unless you give us written authorization. You may revoke an authorization at any time by sending a written request to our Privacy Officer, except to the extent that we have already relied on it.
Email and artificial intelligence (AI)
- Email: If you email us, we may reply by email to the address you used. Regular email is not always encrypted, and there is some risk that it could be read by someone else or sent to the wrong person. If you do not want us to send your health information by regular email, tell us and we will use another method. Please do not use email for emergencies or urgent medical needs. Call 911 or our office at (713) 904-4014 instead.
- Verifying Your Identity: Before we share information about your health or care by email, we may ask you to confirm your identity. We will not share your health information by email with anyone other than you, such as a family member, unless you have told us we may or this notice otherwise permits it. Emails about your care may become part of your medical record.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use artificial intelligence (AI) systems to help us respond to emails from patients. When you email us, the reply you receive may be written in whole or in part by an AI system rather than by a member of our staff, and the reply will tell you when that is the case. Our AI systems do not diagnose conditions or make treatment decisions. Questions about your diagnosis or treatment will be referred to your physician or clinical staff. You may ask to communicate with a member of our staff instead at any time by replying to the email or calling our office.
For additional questions, or to make any of the requests described in this notice, contact our Privacy Officer, Nicole Milian, at (713) 904-4014 or by mail at Prostate Laser Center, PLLC, Attn: Privacy Officer, 3330 Richmond Ave, Suite 101, Houston, TX 77098.
