Privacy Policy [2]

We understand that your health information is personal and private, and we are committed to protecting our patients' health information. Health information provided by our patients is protected under confidentiality laws that protect all physician-patient communications.

Our Responsibilities Regarding Patient Health Information

Southwest Orthopaedic Surgery Specialists is required by law to:

• Maintain the privacy of your health information.
• Provide you with this notice of our privacy practices.
• Notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction.
• Abide by the terms of State and Federal privacy laws including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
• Accommodate reasonable requests you may have to communicate your health information.

We reserve the right to change our privacy policy and to make the new provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain. We will keep a posted copy of the most current privacy notice in our facility containing the effective date. In addition, each time you visit our web site, you may obtain a copy of our privacy practices in Portable Document Format. Download Notice of Privacy Practices (27K pdf).

How we use your Health Information

We will use your health information for treatment, payment, and regular business operations. All other disclosures of your health information will require your written authorization, which you may revoke as defined by federal regulations. We will not use or disclose your health information in a manner other than described in the section of our privacy practices regarding examples of disclosures.

We use your health information for treatment: Information obtained by a nurse, physician, or other member of our health care team will be recorded in your health record and used to determine the course of orthopedic treatment that should work best for you. Your physician will document your diagnosis, treatment procedures, and recommendations. Members of our health care team will then record the actions they took and their observations. We may also provide other physicians or subsequent health care providers (when applicable) with copies of various reports that should assist them in treating you.

We use your health information for payment: A bill may be sent to you or a third-party payer such as an insurance provider. This statement (bill) may include information that identifies you, as well as your diagnosis, procedures, and any supplies used in your treatment.

We use your health information for business operations: Members of our staff, the front office manager, or members of our clinical team may use information in your health record to assess the care and outcomes in your case and others like it. This information will then be used in an effort to continually improve the quality and efficacy of the orthopedic services we provide.

We may disclose health information to business associates: There are some services provided by our organization through contacts with business associates. Examples include physician services in the emergency department of a hospital, certain laboratory tests, and medical transcription services we may use. To protect your health information, when these services are contracted, we require each business associate to appropriately safeguard your health records.

We may disclose your health information as required by law: Federal and local laws make provisions for health information to be released to an appropriate health oversight agency, public health authority, workers compensation entity, or law enforcement agency. We may also disclose your health information to organ procurement organizations (when applicable) or to other entities engaged in the procurement, banking, transplantation, or donation of organs.