Important information about your rights and our responsibilities
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED, AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY.
When it comes to handling your health information, we follow relevant state laws, which are sometimes stricter than the federal HIPAA privacy law. This notice explains your rights and our duties under state law.
Your state may give you additional rights to limit sharing your health information. Please call CareMore Medical Group Privacy at (562) 741-4521 for more details.
Your nonpublic (private) personal information (PI) identifies you. You have the right to see and correct your PI. We may collect, use and share your PI as described in this notice. Our goal is to protect your PI because your information can be used to make judgments about your health, finances, character, habits, hobbies, reputation, career and credit.
We may receive your PI from others, such as hospitals, insurance companies, or other doctors. We may also share your PI with others outside our company — without your approval, in some cases. But we take reasonable measures to protect your information.
If an activity requires us to give you a chance to opt out, we’ll let you know and we’ll let you know how to tell us you don’t want your PI used or shared for an activity you can opt out of.
We keep the health and financial information of our current and former patients private as required by law, accreditation standards and our own internal rules. We’re also required by federal law to give you this notice to explain your rights and our legal duties and privacy practices.
There are times we may collect, use and share your Protected Health Information (PHI) as allowed or required by law, including the HIPAA Privacy rule. Here are some of those times:
Payment: We collect, use and share PHI to get payment for the medical care you receive from us or share information with the doctors, clinics, and others who bill us for your care.
Healthcare operations: We collect, use and share PHI for our healthcare operations.
Treatment activities: We collect, use and share PHI to provide the care, medicine, and services you need or to help doctors, hospitals, and others get you the care you need. Examples of ways we use your information:
Sharing your PHI with you: We must give you access to your own PHI. We may also contact you about treatment options or other health-related benefits and services. We may also send you reminders about routine medical checkups and tests.
You may get emails that have limited PHI, such as appointment reminders. We’ll ask your permission before we contact you.
Sharing your PHI with others: In most cases, if we use or share your PHI outside of treatment, payment, operations or research activities, we have to get your okay in writing first. We must also get your written permission before:
We may also need your written permission for other situations not mentioned above. You always have the right to cancel any written permission you have given at any time. You have the right and choice to tell us to:
If you can’t tell us your preference, for example in an emergency or if you’re unconscious, we may share your PHI if we believe it’s in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and likely threat to your health or safety.
Other reasons we may use or share your information:
We are allowed, and in some cases required, to share your information in other ways — usually for the good of the public, such as public health and research. We can share your information for these specific purposes:
Authorization: We’ll get your written permission before we use or share your PHI for any purpose not stated in this notice. You may cancel your permission at any time, in writing. We will then stop using your PHI for that purpose. But if we’ve already used or shared your PHI with your permission, we cannot undo any actions we took before you told us to stop.
Race, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation and gender identity: We may receive race, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation and gender identity information about you and protect this information as described in this notice. We may use this information to help you, including identifying your specific needs, developing programs and educational materials and offering interpretation services. We don’t share this information with unauthorized persons.
Under federal law, you have the right to:
We’re dedicated to protecting your PHI, and we’ve set up a number of policies and practices to help keep your PHI secure and private. If we believe your PHI has been breached, we must let you know.
We keep your oral, written and electronic PHI safe using the right procedures, and through physical and electronic ways. These safety measures follow federal and state laws. Some of the ways we keep your PHI safe include securing offices that hold PHI, password-protecting computers, and locking storage areas and filing cabinets. We require our employees to protect PHI through written policies and procedures. These policies limit access to PHI to only those employees who need the data to do their jobs. Employees are also required to wear ID badges to help keep unauthorized people out of areas where your PHI is kept. Also, where required by law, our business partners must protect the privacy of data we share with them as they work with us. They’re not allowed to give your PHI to others without your written permission, unless the law allows it and it’s stated in this notice.
HIPAA, the federal privacy law, generally doesn’t cancel other laws that give people greater privacy protections. As a result, if any state or federal privacy law requires us to give you more privacy protections, then we must follow that law in addition to HIPAA.
We, including our affiliates and/or vendors, may call or text you by using an automatic telephone dialing system and/or an artificial voice. But we only do this in accordance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The calls may be about treatment options or other health-related benefits and services for you. If you don’t want to be contacted by phone, just let the caller know or contact CareMore Medical Group Privacy at (562) 741-4521 to add your phone number to our Do Not Call list. We will then no longer call or text you.
If you think we haven’t protected your privacy, you can file a complaint with us by calling CareMore Medical Group Privacy at (562) 741-4521. You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by visiting hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/. We will not take action against you for filing a complaint.
You may call us at CareMore Medical Group Privacy at (562) 741-4521 to apply your rights, file a complaint or talk with you about privacy issues.
You have the right to get a new copy of this notice at any time. Even if you have agreed to get this notice by electronic means, you still have the right to ask for a paper copy. We reserve the right to change this notice. A revised notice will apply to PHI we already have about you, as well as any PHI we may get in the future. We’re required by law to follow the privacy notice that’s in effect at this time. We may tell you about any changes to our notice through a newsletter, our website or a letter.
The original effective date of this Notice was April 14, 2003. The most recent revision is September 1, 2022.
We follow federal civil rights laws in our health programs and activities. We don’t discriminate, exclude people, or treat them differently based on race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. If you have disabilities, we offer free aids and services. If your main language isn’t English, we offer help for free through interpreters and other written languages. Call your clinic for help (TTY/TDD:711). If you think we failed to offer these services or discriminated based on race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex, you can file a complaint, also known as a grievance. You can file a complaint through one of these ways:
One more right that you have the right to get this information in your language for free. If you’d like extra help to understand this in another language, call the Member Services number on your ID card (TTY/TDD: 711).
Aside from helping you understand your privacy rights in another language, we also offer this notice in a different format for members with visual impairments. If you need a different format, please call the Member Services number on your ID card.