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Notice of Privacy Practices
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THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND
HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
This notice describes the privacy practices of WEBSITE and affiliated websites.
We value all our customers and the private relationship and trust involved.
This notice also describes the privacy practices of the physicians providing
medical consultations and the pharmacies filling prescriptions for customers
of these websites. These companies and physicians have agreed to the terms of
this Notice of Privacy Practices, and are sending you one notice instead of
sending you a separate notice from each of them.
We at are very concerned for our customers and protecting their privacy to the best
of our ability, so we have implemented a very secure process to ensure privacy
protection. will never sell, share, or distribute your
personal, medical, or financial information to any third-party, other than as
necessary in order to fulfill and ship your prescription.
Our website utilizes Secure Sockets Layers (SSL) Encryption Technology, which is the latest
privacy technology available. Through this technology, all sensitive information
is encrypted and/or scrambled before it is transmitted to or from our website,
which renders the information useless to unauthorized parties.
This privacy notice and the privacy practices explained in this notice notify you of our
commitment to protecting private health information, and permitting patients
to exercise their rights concerning health information. No legal relationship
between these physicians and companies is created or implied for any other purpose.
Your Health Care Information is Your Personal Information. We know that information
about your prescriptions and your health care is private. To process prescriptions,
we must create certain records which contain information about your health.
These records include medical questionnaires, prescription profiles, prescriptions,
and billing records.
The law requires that we give you written notice of our privacy practices, and
requires that we follow the terms of our privacy notice currently in effect.
This Notice of Privacy Practices describes our commitment and the commitment
of the physicians and pharmacies to the protection and confidentiality of your
health information. This notice also describes your rights concerning your health
information, including your right to inspect and amend your health information.
We are committed to following the law which requires that protected health information
is kept private subject to legal requirements which authorize or require its
disclosure in limited circumstances.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), provides
you with several rights related to your Personal Health Information. These rights
are summarized below. If you would like more information about your rights,
please ask to speak with our Privacy Officer at the email or telephone number
listed on the website.
HIPAA requires that we give you this "Notice of Privacy Practices" and make
a good faith effort to obtain your acknowledgement that you were given this
notice. Upon giving you this Notice, you will be asked to electronically select
a checkbox and acknowledge that you received this notice. We appreciate your
cooperation in reviewing this notice and in giving us your electronic acknowledgment,
which will serve like a notarized signature.
HIPAA also requires that this Notice, at a minimum, cover the following three
areas.
- Your rights with respect to your personally identifiable health information.
- How we will use and disclose your personally identifiable health information.
- Our legal duties to protect the confidentiality of your personally identifiable
health information.
How We May Use and Disclose Health Information
Unless we have your written authorization, we will not use and disclose your protected
health information, except under the limited circumstances explained below. We
will not disclose protected health information about you for any other reason
without your written authorization. If you give us an authorization permitting
us to release protected health information, you may revoke the authorization in
writing, except to the extent we have already disclosed information pursuant to
the authorization.
Disclosures of your Protected Health Information (PHI) may result under normal pharmacy
activities. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
(HIPAA), requires that this "Notice" describe how we may use and disclose your
protected health information (PHI). These uses and disclosures are summarized
below, but if you would like more information about any of these please contact
our Privacy Officer at the email address or telephone number on our web site.
- Health Information is Used to Allow Us to Fill Your Prescriptions. We may use
or disclose your protected health information for the purpose of providing
treatment to you through the filling of prescriptions and allowing physicians
to evaluate whether prescriptions are appropriate for you. For example, if
you request a prescription, a licensed physician will evaluate whether you
meet the criteria for the issuance of a prescription based upon your health
information provided to the physician. The prescription, along with information
you have provided concerning your health, will be provided to a licensed pharmacy
for the purpose of filling the prescription.
- Limited Information is Used to Obtain Payment for Prescriptions. We obtain payment
for our services through your credit card company or through a check processing
service. The only information we share with your credit card company or check
processing service is your name, billing address and phone number, and credit
card number. For customers paying by check, we also provide your checking
account number to a check processing service. We do not share any information
with your credit card company or check processing service which discloses
the type of medication dispensed to our customers. All personal and credit
card information is submitted using Secure Encryption Technology.
- Information May Be Used for Health Care Operations. We may use or disclose health
care information for our operations. For example, we may use information concerning
your prescriptions to evaluate the quality of care and services our staff
is providing to you. , affiliated websites, the physicians,
and pharmacies involved with your care may also disclose health care information
to each other as necessary to assist them with providing treatment to you,
operating their companies, or to obtain payment.
- Refill Reminders and Information about Treatment Alternatives. We may use health
care information to contact you by e-mail for the purpose of reminding you
of your ability to obtain prescription refills, or inform you about treatment
alternatives or other health related benefits and services that may be of
interest to you. Please advise our Privacy Officer by e-mail or U.S. mail
at the privacy contact address described at the end of this Notice if you
do not wish us to contact you concerning refill reminders, treatment alternatives,
or other health related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.
- Disclosures as Required by Law. We may use or disclose protected health information
if required to do so by federal, state, or local 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 disclose your
health information in relation to cases of suspected abuse, neglect, domestic
violence or certain physical injuries, or to respond to a subpoena, or order
of a court or administrative tribunal.
- Disclosures for Public Health Activities. We may be required to disclose protected
health information for public health activities to a public health authority
authorized by law to collect or receive this information, such as the Food
and Drug Administration, for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease,
injury, or disability.
- Disclosures to Coroners and Medical Examiners. We may be required to disclose health
information about patients who have died to coroners and medical examiners
so they may carry out their duties, such as determining the cause of death.
- Disclosures Concerning Organ Donors. If you are an organ donor, we may be asked to
disclose information concerning your health or drugs we have prescribed to
organ procurement organizations, eye banks, and other similar organizations
for the purpose of facilitating organ, eye or tissue donation and transplantation.
- Disclosures to Avert a Serious Threat to Health. As required by law and standards
of ethical conduct, we are permitted to release your health information to
the proper authorities if we believe, in good faith, that such release is
necessary to prevent or minimize a serious and imminent threat to your, the
public's, or another individual's health or safety.
- Disclosures for Health Oversight Activities. We are permitted to disclose your health
information to a health oversight agency for monitoring and oversight activities
authorized by law. This might include release of information to the state
agency that licenses pharmacies for the purpose of monitoring or inspecting
pharmacies related to that license.
- Disclosures for Workers Compensation Purposes. We may be required to release protected
health information about you to the extent necessary to follow the laws relating
to workers compensation or other similar programs that provide benefits for
work related injuries or illness.
- Disclosures to Business Associates. We may request certain businesses to assist us
with our health care operations. In the event it is necessary to disclose
protected health information pertaining to our customers to these business
associates, we will enter into written contracts with them requiring that
they keep protected health information private and secure.
Your Rights Pertaining to Your Health Care Information
- Right to Request Confidential Communications. We intend to communicate with our
customers primarily by e-mail at the e-mail address which you provided to us
and to ship medications to the shipping address you have provided. You have
the right to request that we communicate with you in a certain way or at a certain
location. For example, you can ask that we only contact you by U.S. mail at
a private post office box. We will not ask you the reason for your request.
To request we communicate with you to a specific location, or in a particular manner,
please obtain our "Request for Communications via Specific Means or at Alternative
Locations" form by contacting our Privacy Officer as described later in this
Notice, and submit the completed form to our Privacy Officer by e-mail or
U.S. mail. We will accommodate all reasonable requests.
- Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to ask for restrictions on how
your health information is used or to whom your information is disclosed, even
if the restriction affects your treatment, our payment, or health care operation
activities. However, we are not required to agree to your requested restriction
and, even if we agree to the requested restriction, we are permitted to use
your information without complying with the restriction if necessary to treat
you in an emergency situation.
To request a restriction, please obtain our "Request for Restrictions on the Use and
Disclosure of Health Information" form by contacting our Privacy Officer as
described later in this Notice, and submit the completed form to our Privacy
Officer by e-mail or U.S. mail.
- Your Right to Inspect and Obtain a Copy of Your Health Information. You have
the right to inspect and obtain a copy of health information that we maintain
about you. This includes prescription records and billing records. To inspect
or request a copy of your health information, please contact and obtain our
"Request to Copy or Inspect Records" form from our Privacy Officer as described
later in this Notice, and submit the completed form to our Privacy Officer specifying
the records you would like to inspect or to have us copy for you. If you request
a copy of the records, we may charge a fee for the cost of copying, mailing,
or services associated with your request. In certain very limited circumstances,
the law provides that we may deny your request to inspect or copy these records.
If you are denied access to health information, you may request that the denial
be reviewed by a licensed health care professional chosen by us who did not
participate in the original decision to deny your access to review your request
and the reasons for the denial.
- Your Right to Request an Amendment to Your Health Information. If you believe
the health information within your medical record is incorrect, you may ask
us to amend the information. Please submit such requests in writing by e-mail
or U.S. mail to our Privacy Officer at the address listed below, and include
the requested amendment along with a reason you believe your health information
should be amended. We are not required, however, to honor your request if we
did not create the information you are requesting be amended or if the information
in your record is correct. We will respond to your request in writing within
60 days of the date of receipt of your written request for amendment of your
information, unless we advise you we require an additional 30 days.
- Right to an Accounting of Disclosures. You have the right to request a list accounting
for any disclosures of your protected health information we have made, except
for uses and disclosures for a) treatment, payment, and health care operations,
b) disclosures to you, c) disclosures pursuant to your authorization, and d)
disclosures for certain other limited reasons specified by law. To request a
list of disclosures, please contact our Privacy Officer by e-mail or U.S. mail
at the address listed below, and obtain our "Request for an Accounting of Disclosures
of Protected Health Information" form, and submit the completed form to the
Privacy Officer. Your request must state a time period which may not be longer
than six years, and may not include dates before April 14, 2003. The first list
you request within a 12 month period will be free. For additional lists, we
may charge you for the costs of providing the list. We will mail you a list
of disclosures within 60 days of your request, unless we advise you we require
a period of up to an additional 30 days to comply with your request.
- Right to a Paper Copy of this Notice. You have the right to obtain a paper copy
of this notice at any time. To obtain a paper copy, please request it from our
Privacy Officer at the address listed below. You may also view and print a copy
of our Notice of Privacy Practices at http://www. or this
website.
- Effective Date. This revised Notice of Privacy Practices is effective on May 1, 2003;
and pertains to all protected health information we maintain.
- Changes to this Notice. We reserve the right to change this notice, and we may make
the revised or changed notice effective for all protected health information
we already have about you as well as any information we receive in the future.
We will post a copy of the current notice on our website. The notice will contain
an effective date. In addition, each time you request medications from us, our
current Notice of Privacy Practices will be available to you. Our current Notice
of Privacy Practices may be viewed on the website or this
website, and may be obtained by requesting it by telephone, by e-mail, or in
writing from our Privacy Officer.
- Complaints.
We are committed to safeguarding your protected health information. Despite
our good faith efforts, questions, concerns, mistakes, and misunderstandings
may arise. If you have a concern or believe that we may have violated your privacy
rights, we encourage you to bring that to our attention.
You may bring any complaints or concerns regarding your privacy rights to our attention
by calling our corporate offices and requesting to speak with our Privacy
Officer or their authorized representative. If you prefer, you may submit
a complaint by e-mail to privacy@. You also may complain
to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services or his or
her authorized representative if you believe your privacy rights have been
violated.
We take all concerns and complaints very seriously and will investigate each one promptly.
If we made a mistake, we will do what we can to correct it and take steps
to prevent mistakes in the future. Under no circumstances will we retaliate
against you for expressing a concern or filing a complaint relating to your
privacy rights.
- Privacy Officer and Privacy Contact Person. If you have any questions about this
notice or wish to exercise any of your privacy rights, please contact PrescriptionAmerica's
Privacy Officer, or their authorized representative, by e-mail to privacy@
, or by calling our corporate offices at the number on the contact us page.
- Acknowledgment of Receipt of this Notice. We will request you electronically acknowledge
you have received a copy of this notice when you first request we provide services
to you by checking a box acknowledging your receipt of this Notice of Privacy
Practices. Please check this box only if you have received this Notice.
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