Sloan and Sloan Family DentistryNotice of Privacy Practices (NPP)
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.
If you have any questions about the notice please contact the Privacy Officer at (919)258-9321..
Effective Date: April 13, 2003
We are committed to protect the privacy of your personal health information (PHI).
This notice of privacy practices describes how we may use within our practice or network and disclose (share outside of our practice or network) your PHI to carry out treatment, payment or health care operations. We may also share your information for other purposes that are permitted or required by law. This notice also describes your right to access and control of your PHI.
We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your PHI. We will follow the terms outlined in this notice.
We may change our notice, at any time. Any changes will apply to all PHI. Upon your request, we will provide you with any revised notice by: Posting the new notice in our office, posting the revised notice on our website(SloanandSloan.com) or if requested, making copies of the new notice available in our office or by mail
Uses and Disclosures of PHIWe may use or disclose (share) your PHI to provide health care treatment for you.Your PHI may be used and disclosed by your physician, our office staff and others outside of our office that are involved in your care and treatment for the purpose of providing health care services to you. We may also share your PHI with people outside of our practice that may provide medical care for you.We may use and disclose your PHI to obtain payment for services. We may provide your PHI to others in order to bill or collect payment for services. There may be services for which we share information with your health plan to determine if the service will be paid for.PHI may be shared with the following:Billing companies Insurance companies, health plansGovernment agencies in order to assist with qualification of benefitsCollection agenciesWe may use or disclose, as needed, your PHI in order to support the business activities of the practice, which are called health care operations.EXAMPLES: Training students, other health care providers, or ancillary staff such as billing personnel to help them learn or improve their skillsQuality improvement processes which look at delivery of health care and for improvement in processes which will provide safer, more effective care for you.Use of information to assist in resolving problems or complaints within the practice.We may use and disclose your PHI in other situations without your permission:If required by law: The use or disclosure will be made in compliance with the law and will be limited to the relevant requirements of the law. For example, we may be required to report suspected abuse or neglect.Public health activities: The disclosure will be made for the purpose of controlling disease, injury or disability and only to public health authorities permitted by law to collect or receive information. We may also notify individuals who may have been exposed to a disease or may be at risk of contracting or spreading a disease or condition Health oversight agencies: We may disclose protected health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations, and inspections. Oversight agencies seeking this information include government agencies that oversee the health care system, government benefit programs, other government regulatory programs a civil rights laws.Legal proceedings: To assist in any legal proceeding or in response to a court order, in certain conditions in response to a subpoena or other lawful process.Police or other law enforcement purposes: The release of PHI will meet all applicable legal requirements for releaseCoroners, funeral directors: We may disclose PHI 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 law.Medical research: We may disclose your PHI 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.Special government purposes: Information may be shared for national security purposes, or if you are a member of the military, to the military under limited circumstances.Correctional Institutions: Information may be shared if you are an inmate or under custody of law which is necessary for your health or the health and safety of other individuals.Worker’s Compensation: Your protected health information may be disclosing by us as authorized to comply with worker’s compensation laws and other similar legally established programsOther uses and disclosures of your PHIBusiness Associates: Some services are provided through the use of contracted entities called business associates. We will always release only the minimum amount of PHI necessary so that the business associate can perform the identified services. We require the business associates to appropriately safeguard your information. Examples of business associates include software companies and collection agencies.Health information exchange: We may make your health information available electronically to other healthcare providers outside of our facility who are involved in your care.Treatment alternatives: We may provide you notices of treatment options or other health related services they may improve your overall health.Appointment reminders: We may contact you as a reminder about upcoming appointments or treatment.We may use or disclose your PHI in the following situation UNLESS you object:We may share your information with friends or family members, or other persons directly identified by you at the level they are involved in your care or payment of services. If you are not present or able to agree/object, the healthcare provider, using professional judgement, will determine if it is in your best interest to share the information. For example, we may discuss post-procedural care instructions with the person who drove you to the facility unless you tell us specifically not to share information.We may use or disclose PHI 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.  We may use or disclose your PHI to an authorized public or private entity to assist in disaster relief efforts.The following uses and disclosures of your PHI require your written authorization: Marketing or disclosure for any purpose which requires the sale of your information
All other uses and disclosures not recorded in this notice will require a written authorization from your or your personal representative. 
Written authorization simply explains how you want your information used and disclosed. Your written authorization may be revoked at any time, in writing. Except to the extent that your doctor or this practice has used or released information based on the direction provided in the authorization, no further use or disclosure will occur. 
Your privacy rightsYou have certain rights related to your PHI. All requests to exercise your rights must be made in writing by contacting our front desk at 919-258-9321 or in person. You have the right to see and obtain a copy of your PHI. This means you may inspect and obtain a copy of PHI about you that is contained in a designated record set for as long as we maintain the protected health information. If requested we will provide you a copy of your records in an electronic format. There are some exceptions to records which may be copied and the request may be denied. We may charge you a reasonable cost based fee for a copy of the records.You have the right to request a restriction of your PHI. You may request for this practice not to use or disclose any part of your PHI for the purposes of treatment, payment or healthcare operations. We are not required to agree with these requests. If we agree to a restriction request we will honor the restriction request unless the information is needed to provide emergency treatment.There is one exception: We must accept a restriction request to restrict disclosure of information to a health plan if you pay out of pocket in full for a service or product unless it is otherwise required by law.You have the right to request for us to communicate in different ways or in different locations. We will agree to reasonable requests. We may also request alternative addresses or other methods of contact such as mailing information to a post office box. We will not ask for an explanation from you about the request.You have the right to request an amendment of your PHI. You may request an amendment of your health information if you feel that the information is not correct along with an explanation of the reason for the request. In certain cases, we may deny your request for an amendment at which time you will have an opportunity to disagree.You have the right to a list of people or organizations who have received your PHI from use. This right applies to disclosures for purposes other than treatment, payment or healthcare operations. You have the right to obtain a listing of these disclosures that occurred after April 14, 2003.You may request for them for the previous six years or a shorter time frame. If you request more than one list within a 12 month period you may be charged a reasonable fee.Additional privacy rights:You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this notice from us, upon request. We will provide you a copy of this notice the first day we treat you at our facility. In an emergency situation, we will give this notice as soon as possible.You have a right to receive notification of any breach of your PHI.ComplaintsIf you think we have violated your rights or you have a complaint about our privacy practices you can contact the Privacy Officer at 919-258-9321.You may also complain to the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy may have been violated by us. If you file a complaint we will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
This notice was published and became effective on April 13, 2003 and revised on November 1, 2018.