CENTRAL INDIANA SURGICAL SPECIALISTS, P.C.

Est. 1/1/2003

Notice Of Privacy Practices

(As required by the Privacy Regulations created as a result of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 , HIPPA)

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW HEALTH INFORMATION

ABOUT YOU (AS A PATIENT OF THIS PRACTICE) MAY

BE USED AND DISCLOSED, AND HOW YOU CAN

GET ACCESS TO YOUR INDIVIDUALLY

IDENTIFIABLE HEALTH INFORMATION

*PLEASE REVIEW THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY*

A. OUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR PRIVACY

Our practice is dedicated to maintaining the privacy of your individually identifiable health information (IIHI). In conducting our business, we will create records regarding you and the treatment and services we provide to you. We are required by law to maintain the confidentiality of health information that identifies you. We also are required by law to provide you with this notice of our legal duties and the privacy practices that we maintain in our practice concerning your IIHI. By federal and state law, we must follow the terms of the notice of privacy practices that we have in effect at the time.

We realize that these laws are complicated, but we must provide you with the following important information:

· How we may use and disclose your IIHI

· Your privacy rights in your IIHI

· Our obligations concerning the use and disclosure of your IIHI

The terms of this notice apply to all records containing your IIHI that are created or retained by our practice. We reserve the right to revise or amend this Notice of Privacy Practices. Any revision or amendment to this notice will be effective for all of your records that our practice has created or maintained in the past, and for any of your records that we may create or maintain in the future. Our practice will post a copy of our current notice in our offices in a visible location at all time, and you may request a copy of our most current notice at any time.

B. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS NOTICE, PLEASE CONTACT:

SANDY CURTS, COMPLIANCE OFFICER

P.O. BOX 1716

MARTINSVILLE, IN. 46151

C. WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE YOUR IIHI (Individually identifiable health information) IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS

The following categories describe the different ways in which we may use and disclose your IIHI.

1. Treatment Our practice may use your IIHI to treat you, For

example, we may ask you to have laboratory tests (such as blood or

urine tests), and we may use the results to help us reach a diagnosis.

We might use your IIHI in order to write a prescri;tion for you, or we

Might disclose your IIHI to a pharmacy when we order a

prescription for you. Many of the people who work for our practice

including, but not limited to, our doctors and assistants may use or

disclose your IIHI in order to treat you or to assist others in your

treatment. Additionally, we may disclose your IIHI to others who

may assist in your care, such as your spouse, children or parents.

2. Payment Our practice may use and disclose your IIHI in order to

bill and collect payment for the services and items you may receive

from us. For example, we may contact your health insurer to certify

that your are eligible for benefits (and for what range of benefits), and

we may provide your insurer with details regarding your treatment to

determine if your insurer will cover, or pay for, your treatment. We

also may use and disclose your IIHI to obtain payment from third

parties that may be responsible for such costs, such as family

members. Also, we may use your IIHI to bill you directly for services

and items not covered by another party.

3. Health Care Operations Our practice may use and disclose your

IIHI to operate our business. As examples of the ways in which we

may use and disclose your information for our operations, our

practice may use your IIHI to evaluate the quality of care you

received from us, or to conduct cost-management and business

planning activities for our practice.

4. Appointment Reminders Our practice may use and disclose your

IIHI to contact you and remind you of an upcoming appointment.

5. Treatment Options Our practice may use and disclose your IIHI

to inform you of potential treatment options or alternatives.

6. Health Related Benefits and Services Our practice may use and

disclose your IIHI to inform you of health-related benefits or

services that may be of interest to you.

7. Release of Information to Family/Friends Our practice may

release your IIHI to a friend or family member whom you designate

that is involved in your care, or who assists in taking care of you.

Our practice does not treat or examine any minor children without

the presence of a parent or legal guardian.

8. Disclosures Required by Law Our practice will use and disclose

your IIHI when we are required to do so by federal, state or local law.

D. USE AND DISCLOSURE OF YOUR IIHI IN CERTAIN SPECIAL

CIRCUMSTANCES

The following categories describe unique scenarios in which we may use or

disclose your identifiable health information:

1. Public Health Risks Our practice may disclose your IIHI to public

Health authorities that are authorized by law to collect information for the purpose of:

· Maintaining vital records, such as births and deaths

· Reporting child abuse or neglect

· Preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability

· Notifying a person regarding potential exposure to a

communicable disease

· Notifying a person regarding a potential risk for spreading or

contracting a disease or condition

· Reporting reactions to drugs or problems with products or

devices

· Notifying individuals if a product or device they may be

using has been recalled

· Notifying appropriate government agency(ies) and

authority(ies) regarding the potential abuse or neglect

of an adult patient (including domestic violence):

however, we will only disclose this information if the

patient agrees or we are required or authorized by law

to disclose this information

· Notifying your employer under limited circumstances related primarily to workplace injury or illness or medical surveillance

2. Health Oversight Activities Our practice may disclose your IIHI to a

health oversight agency for activities authorized by law. Oversight activities can include for example, investigations, inspections, audits

surveys, licensure and disciplinary actions; civil, administrative and criminal procedures or actions; or other activities necessary for the

government to monitor government programs, compliance with civil

rights laws and the health care system in general.

3. Lawsuits and Similar Proceedings Our practice may use and disclose your IIHI in response to a court or administrative order, if you are involved in a lawsuit or similar proceeding. We also may disclose your IIHI in response to a discovery request, subpoena, or other lawful process by another party involved in the dispute, but only if we have made an effort to inform you of the request or to obtain an order protecting the information the party has requested.

1. Law Enforcement We may release IIHI if asked to do so by a law

enforcement official:

· Regarding a crime victim in certain situations, if we are unable

to obtain the person’s agreement

· Concerning a death we believe has resulted from criminal conduct

· Regarding criminal conduct at our offices

· In response to a warrant, summons, court order, subpoena or similar legal process

· To identify / locate a suspect, material witness, fugitive or missing person

· In an emergency, to report a crime (including the location of victim(s) of the crime, or the description, identity or location of the perpetrator

2. Deceased Patients Our practice may release IIHI to a medical

examiner or coroner to identify a deceased individual or to identify the

cause of death.

6. Organ and Tissue Donation Our practice may release your IIHI

to organizations that handle organ, eye or tissue procurement or transplantation, including organ donation banks, as necessary to facilitate organ or tissue donation and transplantation if you are an organ donor.

7. Research Our practice may use and disclse your IIHI for research

purposes in certain limited circumstances. We will obtain your written

authorization to use your IIHI for research purposes except when the IIHI sought by the researcher only relates to decedents and the researcher agrees either orally or in writing that the use or disclosure is necessary for the research and, if we request it, to provide us with proof of death prior to access to the IIHI of the decedents.

8. Serious Threats to Health or Safety Our practice may use and disclose your IIHI when necessary to reduce or prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of another individual or the public. Under these circumstances, we will only make disclosures to a person or organization able to help prevent the threat.

9. Military Our practice may disclose your IIHI if you are a member of U.S. or foreign military forces (including veterans) and if required by the appropriate authorities.

10. National Security Our practice may disclose your IIHI to federal

officials for intelligence and national security activities authorized

by law. We also may disclose your IIHI to federal officials in order

to protect the President, other officials or foreign heads of state, or to

conduct investigations.

11. Inmates Our practice may disclose your IIHI to correctional

institutions or law enforcement officials if you are an inmate or

under the custody of a law enforcement official. Disclosure for

these purposes would be necessary: (a) for the institution to provide

health care services to you, (b) for the safety and security of the

institution, and /or (c) to protect your health and safety or the health

and safety or the health and safety of other individuals.

12. Workers Compensation Our practice may release your IIHI for

worker’s compensation and similar programs.

E. YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR IIHI

(individually identifiable health information)

You have the following rights regarding the IIHI that we maintain about you:

1. Confidential Communication You have the right to request that our

practice communicate with you about your health and related issues in a particular manner or at a certain location. For instance, you may ask that we contact you at home, rather than at work. In order to request a type of confidential communication, you must make a written request to our privacy officer: Sandy Curts

P.O. Box 1716

Martinsville, In. 46151

Specifying the requested method of contact, or the location where you wish to be contacted. Our practice will accommodate reasonable requests. You do not need to give a reason for your request.

2. Requesting Restrictions You have the right to request a restriction in our use or disclosure of your IIHI for treatment, payment or healthcare operations. Additionally, you have the right to request that we restrict our disclosure of your IIHI to only certain individuals involved in your care or the payment for your care, such as family members and friends. We are not required to agree to your request, however, if we do agree, we are bound by our agreement except when otherwise required by law, in emergencies, or when the information is necessary to treat you.

In order to request a restriction in our use or disclosure of your IIHI, you must make your request in writing to the privacy officer of this practice as named above. Your request must describe in a clear and concise fashion:

(a) the information you wish restricted

(b) whether you are requesting to limit our practice’s use, disclosure or both; and

3. Inspection and Copies You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of the IIHI that may be used to make decisions about you, including patient medical records and billing records, but not including psychotherapy notes. You must submit your request in writing to the privacy officer named above in order to inspect and/or obtain a copy of your IIHI. Our practice will charge a $10 fee for the costs of copying, mailing, labor and supplies associated with your request. Our practice amy deny your request to inspect and/or copy in certain limited circumstance; however, you may request a review of our denial. Another health care professional chosen by us will conduct all reviews.

4. Amendment You may ask us to amend your health information if you believe it is incorrect or incomplete. You may request an amendment for as long as the information is kept by or for our practice. To request an amendment, your request must be in writing and submitted to the practice privacy officer as named above. You must provide us with a reason that supports your request for amendment. Our practice will deny your request if you fail to submit your request (and the reason supporting your request) in writing. Also, we may deny your request if you ask us to amend information that is in our opinion: (a) accurate and complete; (b) not part of the IIHI kept by or for the practice; (c) not part of the IIHI which you would be permitted to inspect and copy; or (d) not created by our practice, unless the individual or entity that created the information is not available to amend the information.

5. Accounting of Disclosures All of our patients have the right to request and accounting of disclosures. An accounting of disclosures is a list of certain non-routine disclosures our practice has made of your IIHI for non-treatment or operations purposes. Use of your IIHI as part of the routine patient care in our practice is not required to be documented. For example, the doctor sharing information with the nurse; or the billing department using your information to file your insurance claim. In order to obtain an accounting of disclosures, you must submit your request in writing to our practice. All requests for an “accounting of disclosures” must state a time period, which may not be longer than (6) six years from the date of the disclosure and may not include dates before April 14, 2003. (HIPPA mandatory) The first list you request within a 12 month period is free of charge, but our practice may charge you for additional lists within the same 12 month period. Our practice will notify you of the costs involved with additional requests, and you may withdraw your request before you incur any costs.

6. Right to Provide an Authorization for Other Uses and Disclosures

Our practice will obtain your written authorization for uses and disclosures that are not identified by this notice or permitted by applicable law. Any authorization you provide to us regarding the use and disclosure of your IIHI may be revoked at any time in writing. After you revoke your authorization, we will no longer use or disclose your IIHI for the reasons described in the authorization. Please note: we are required to retain records of your care.

You are entitled to receive (1) paper copy of our notice of privacy practices. You may ask us to give you a copy of this notice at any time. Additional copies may be purchased for $5.00 To obtain a paper copy of this notice, please contact:

Sandy Curts, Office Manager

COMPLIANCE OFFICER

P.O. Box 1716

Martinsville, In. 46151

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with our practice or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. To file a complaint with our practice, contact the above named privacy officer and submit your complaint in writing. You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.

Again, if you have any questions regarding this notice or our health information privacy policies, please contact the above named privacy officer.

Central Indiana Proctology

Notice Of Privacy Practices

SANDY CURTS, COMPLIANCE OFFICER

D. USE AND DISCLOSURE OF YOUR IIHI IN CERTAIN SPECIAL

CIRCUMSTANCES