Notice of Privacy Practices (HIPAA)

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.

1. Our Legal Duty

Health-Wise Family Care Center is required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to maintain the privacy of your Protected Health Information (PHI). We are required to provide you with this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your PHI, and to abide by the terms of the Notice currently in effect.

2. How We May Use and Disclose Your PHI

We may use and disclose your PHI for the following purposes without your explicit written authorization:

For Treatment: We may use your PHI to provide you with medical treatment or services. We may disclose your PHI to doctors, nurses, technicians, or other personnel who are involved in taking care of you.
For Payment: We may use and disclose your PHI so that the treatment and services you receive may be billed to and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company, or a third party.
For Health Care Operations: We may use and disclose your PHI for health care operations, such as quality assessment, employee review activities, and training programs.
As Required By Law: We will disclose your PHI when required to do so by federal, state, or local law.
Public Health Risks: We may disclose your PHI for public health activities, such as preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability, or reporting adverse reactions to medications.

3. Your Rights Regarding Your PHI

You have the following rights regarding the PHI we maintain about you:

Right to Inspect and Copy: You have the right to inspect and receive a copy of your PHI that may be used to make decisions about your care.
Right to Amend: If you feel that the PHI we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information.
Right to an Accounting of Disclosures: You have the right to request an "accounting of disclosures" of your PHI.
Right to Request Restrictions: You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the PHI we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment, or health care operations.
Right to Request Confidential Communications: You have the right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way or at a certain location.
Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice: You have the right to a paper copy of this Notice at any time.

4. Website Privacy & Electronic Communications

When you use our website (familywisecare.com), please be aware that standard unencrypted email and web contact forms are not entirely secure. Please do not submit sensitive medical records, diagnoses, or PHI through our website contact form. We use analytics and cookies solely for website operation and improvement, not for tracking individual health conditions.

5. Changes to This Notice

We reserve the right to change this Notice. We reserve the right to make the revised or changed Notice effective for PHI we already have about you as well as any information we receive in the future. The current Notice will be available in our office and on our website.

6. Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. To file a complaint with our office, contact our Privacy Officer at:

Health-Wise Family Care Center
Attn: Privacy Officer
32-38 Roosevelt Avenue
Plainfield, NJ 07060
Email: betterhealth@familywisecare.com

You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.