CPAPtalk.com PHI Privacy Policy

Use and Disclosure of Your Personal Health Information

U.S. Expediters, Inc. (CPAPtalk.com) may use and disclose your 'Personal Health Information', or 'PHI' for short, for many different reasons. PHI includes information that can be used to identify you that we have created or received about your past, present, or future health condition, such as a prescription. We must provide you with this notice about our privacy practices regarding use and disclosure of your PHI. With some exceptions, we may not use or disclose any more of your PHI than is necessary to accomplish the purpose of the use or disclosure. Below, we describe the different categories of uses and disclosure.

We may use and disclose your PHI without your authorization for the following reasons:

• When required by federal, state or local law, judicial or administrative proceedings, or law enforcement. We may disclose PHI of military personnel and veterans in certain situations.
  
  
• For health oversight activities. For example, we will provide information to assist the government when it conducts an investigation.
  
  
• To avoid harm. In order to avoid a serious threat to the health or safety of a person or the public, we may provide PHI to law enforcement personnel or persons able to prevent or lessen such harm.
  
  
• For workers compensation purposes. We may provide PHI in order to comply with workers compensation laws.
  
  
• To make targeted merchandising offers or send pertinent information about our services directly to you.
  

Opportunities to Object.

We may provide your PHI to a family member, friend, or other person that you indicate is involved in your care or the payment for your health care, unless you object in whole or in part.

When We Require Written Authorization.

In any other situation not described above, we will ask for your written authorization before using or disclosing any of your PHI. If you choose to sign an authorization to disclose your PHI, you can later revoke that authorization in writing to stop any future uses and disclosures (to the extent that we have not taken any action relying on the authorization).

Incidental Uses and Disclosures.

Incidental uses and disclosures of information may occur. An incidental use or disclosure is a secondary use or disclosure that cannot reasonably be prevented, is limited in nature, and that occurs as a by-product of an otherwise permitted use or disclosure. However, such incidental uses or disclosure are permitted only to the extent that we have applied reasonable safeguards and do not disclose any more of your PHI than is necessary to accomplish the permitted use or disclosure.

Your Rights Requesting Limits on Uses and Disclosure of Your PHI.

You have the right to ask that we limit how we use and disclose your PHI. We will consider your request but are not legally required to accept it. If we accept your request, we will put any limits in writing and abide by them except in emergency situations. You may not limit the uses and disclosures that we are legally required or allowed to make.

Choices on How We Send Your PHI to You.

You have the right to ask that we send information to you to an alternate address or by alternate means (for example, e-mail instead of regular mail). We must agree to your request so long as we can easily provide it in the format you requested.

To Receive and View Copies of Your PHI.

In most cases, you have the right to look at or receive copies of your PHI. If we do not have your PHI but we know who does, we will tell you how to reach the entity that does have it. We will respond to you within 30 days after receiving your request, which must be in writing. In certain situations, we may deny your request with an explanation of our reasons for such denial and your rights to have the denial reviewed. If you request copies of your PHI, we may charge you $1.00 for each page, at our sole discretion. Instead of providing the PHI you requested, we may provide you with a summary or explanation of the PHI as long as you agree to that and to the cost in advance.

List of the Disclosures We Have Made.

You have the right to get a list of instances in which we have disclosed your PHI. The list will not include uses or disclosures made for treatment, payment, or health care operations, directly to you, to your family, or in our facility directory, or pursuant to a valid authorization. The list also will not include uses and disclosures made for national security purposes, to corrections or law enforcement personnel, or before April 1st, 2003. We will respond within 60 days of receiving your request. The list provided will include disclosures made in the last six years unless you request a shorter time. The list will include the date of the disclosure, to whom PHI was disclosed (including their address, if known), a description of the information disclosed, and the reason for the disclosure. We will provide the list to you at no charge, but if you make more than one request in the same year, we will charge you $25 for each additional request.

Correcting or Updating Your PHI.

If you believe that there is a mistake in your PHI or that a piece of important information is missing, you have the right to request that we correct the existing information or add the missing information. We will respond within 60 days of receiving your request which you must provide in writing along with the reason for your request. We may deny your request in writing if the PHI is (i) correct and complete, (ii) not created by us, (iii) not allowed to be disclosed, or (iv) not part of our records. Our written denial will state the reasons for the denial and explain your right to file a written statement of disagreement with the denial. If you do not file written statement of disagreement, you have the right to ask that your request and our denial be attached to all future disclosures of your PHI. If we approve your request, we will make the change to your PHI and inform you, or others, if required, about the changes.

Complaints Regarding Your PHI

If you have any questions or any complaints about our privacy practices regarding your PHI, or would like to know how to file a complaint with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, please contact: Dan Fawvor, Compliance Officer, U.S. Expediters, Inc., 9100 SW Freeway, Suite 114, Houston, TX 77074. 713-541-2727, ext. 22. You can request a copy of this notice from the contact person listed above at any time.

You also may send a written complaint to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services at 200 Independence Ave., S.W.; Room 615F; Washington, DC 20201. We will take no retaliatory action against you if you file a complaint about our privacy practices.

General

We reserve the right to modify this PHI Privacy Policy at any time by posting the changes on CPAPtalk.com. In the event that we make any significant material change to this PHI Privacy Policy, we may attempt to notify you by email, but are not required to do so. The above PHI Privacy Policy only covers your Personal Health Information and is incorporated as a portion of our complete Privacy Policy.