Notice of HIPAA Privacy Practices

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 Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) is a federal program that requires that all medical records and other individually identifiable health information used or disclosed by us in any form, whether electronically, on paper or orally, are kept properly confidential. This Act gives you, the patient, significant new rights to understand and control how your health information is used. “HIPAA” provides penalties for covered entities that misuse personal health information.

Uses and Disclosures

Treatment. Your health information may be used by staff members or disclosed to other health care professionals for the purpose of evaluating your health, diagnosing medical conditions, and providing treatment. For example, results of tests and procedures will be available in your medical record to all health professionals who may provide treatment or who may be consulted by staff members.

Payment. Your health information may be used to seek payment from your health plan, from other sources of coverage such as an automobile insurer, or from credit card companies that you may use to pay for services. For example, your health plan may request and receive information on dates of service, the services provided, and the medical condition being treated.

Health care operations. Your health information may be used, as necessary, to support the day-to-day activities and management of Vanguard Home Medical Equipment & Affiliates. For example, information on the services you received that may be used to support budgeting and financial reporting, and activities to evaluate and promote quality.

Business Associates. Your health information may be disclosed to our business associates, such as subcontractors, so they can perform the jobs we have asked them to do. To protect your health information, we require the business associate to appropriately safeguard your health information.

Law enforcement. Your health information may be disclosed to law enforcement agencies to support government audits and inspections, to facilitate law-enforcement investigations, and to comply with government-mandated reporting.

Worker’s Compensation. Your health information may be disclosed to comply with worker’s compensation laws and other similar programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illnesses.

Other uses and disclosures require your authorization. Disclosure of your health information or its use for any purpose other than those listed above requires your specific written authorization. If you change your mind after authorizing a use or disclosure of your information, you may submit a written revocation of the authorization. However, your decision to revoke the authorization will not affect or undo any use or disclosure of information that occurred before you notified us of your decision to revoke your authorization.

Individual Rights

You have certain rights under the federal privacy standards. These include:

• The right to request restrictions on the use and disclosure of your protected health information
• The right to receive confidential communications concerning your medical condition and treatment
• The right to inspect and copy your protected health information
• The right to amend or submit corrections to your protected health information
• The right to receive an accounting of how and to whom your protected health information has been disclosed
• The right to receive a printed copy of this notice

SS Medical & Affiliates Duties

We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information and to provide you with this notice of privacy practices.

We also are required to abide by the privacy policies and practices that are outlined in this notice.

Right to Revise Privacy Practices

As permitted by law, we reserve the right to amend or modify our privacy policies and practices. These changes in our policies and practices may be required by changes in federal and state laws and regulations. Upon request, we will provide you with the most recently revised notice on any office visit. The revised policies and practices will be applied to all protected health information we maintain.

Requests to Inspect Protected Health Information

You may generally inspect or copy the protected health information that we maintain. As permitted by federal regulation, we require that requests to inspect or copy protected health information be submitted in writing. You may obtain a form to request access to your records by contacting Customer Service or the Privacy Officer. Your request will be reviewed and will generally be approved unless there are legal or medical reasons to deny the request.

Complaints\Contact Person

If you would like to submit a comment or complaint about our privacy practices, you can do so by sending a letter outlining your concerns to:

Privacy Officer
SS Medical, Inc.
8240 E 111th Street
Bixby, OK 74008
(918) 369-6067

If you believe that your privacy rights have been violated, you should call the matter to our attention by sending a letter describing the cause of your concern to the same address.

You will not be penalized or otherwise retaliated against for filing a complaint.

You may also use the above name and address to contact us for further information concerning our privacy practices.

Effective Date
This notice is effective on or after January 1, 2005.