Notice of Privacy Practices

Our legal duties

Murray Chiropractic, LLC, doing business as Hunterdon Back Pain Center, is required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information ("PHI"), to give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, and to follow the terms of the notice currently in effect.

PHI is information about you, including demographic information, that may identify you and that relates to your past, present, or future physical or mental health condition, the care you receive, or payment for that care.

How we may use and disclose your health information

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

Treatment

We use your information to provide chiropractic care. For example, your doctor of chiropractic reviews your history, examination findings, and X-rays to build your care plan. Because three doctors practice here, any of them may review your record to treat you when your regular doctor is unavailable. We may also share information with other providers involved in your care, such as your primary care physician, an orthopedist, or an imaging center.

Payment

We may use and disclose your information to bill and collect payment. For example, we may send your diagnosis and the services provided to your health plan so it will pay for your care, or to verify benefits and obtain prior authorization.

Health care operations

We may use your information to run our practice — for example, for quality review, staff training and evaluation, licensing, accreditation, and business planning.

Appointment reminders and health information

We may contact you to remind you of an appointment, including by phone, voicemail, text message, or postcard. We may also tell you about treatment alternatives or health-related services that may be of interest to you.

People involved in your care

We may share information with a family member, relative, friend, or other person you identify, to the extent it relates to that person's involvement in your care or payment for your care. If you are not present or are unable to agree, we will use our professional judgment to decide whether disclosure is in your best interest.

As required or permitted by law

We may use or disclose your information when required or permitted by federal, state, or local law, including for:

• Public health activities, such as reporting disease or reactions to products
• Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
• Health oversight activities such as audits, inspections, and licensure investigations
• Judicial and administrative proceedings, in response to a court order, subpoena, or other lawful process
• Law enforcement purposes as permitted by law
• Coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors
• Organ and tissue donation
• Workers' compensation claims, as authorized by law
• Research, where an institutional review board has approved a waiver of authorization
• Averting a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public
• Specialized government functions, including military, veterans, and national security activities

Uses and disclosures that require your written permission

Other than the situations described above, we will not use or disclose your health information without your written authorization. In particular, your written authorization is required for:

• Most marketing communications
• Any sale of your health information
• Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes, if any are maintained

If you give us an authorization, you may revoke it in writing at any time. A revocation does not affect information we already used or disclosed while the authorization was in effect.

Your rights regarding your health information

Right to inspect and copy

You have the right to inspect and receive a copy of your health and billing records, including your X-rays. If we keep the information electronically, you may ask for an electronic copy. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for copies.

Right to request an amendment

If you believe information in your record is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us in writing to amend it. We may deny your request if the information was not created by us, is not part of the records we keep, or is accurate and complete. If we deny your request, you may submit a statement of disagreement to be included with your record.

Right to an accounting of disclosures

You may request a list of certain disclosures we made of your health information. This list does not include disclosures made for treatment, payment, or health care operations, disclosures you authorized, or certain other disclosures permitted by law.

Right to request restrictions

You may ask us to limit how we use or disclose your information. We are not generally required to agree to a requested restriction. However, we must agree to your request not to disclose information to your health plan if the disclosure is for payment or health care operations and you have paid for that service in full, out of pocket.

Right to request confidential communications

You may ask us to contact you in a specific way or at a specific location — for example, only at a particular phone number, or by mail rather than by voicemail. We will accommodate reasonable requests.

Right to a paper copy of this notice

You may request a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically. Ask at our front desk or call us and we will provide one.

Right to be notified of a breach

You have the right to be notified if we discover a breach of your unsecured protected health information.

To exercise any of these rights, please submit your request in writing to the address at the bottom of this page.

New Jersey record rules that apply to our practice

In addition to federal law, chiropractic practices in New Jersey follow record rules set by the State Board of Chiropractic Examiners (N.J.A.C. 13:44E-2.2):

• Retention. Patient records, including radiographs and other diagnostic findings, are kept for at least seven years from the date of the last entry. For a patient who was a minor, records are kept for seven years from the last entry or seven years from the date the patient reaches majority, whichever is later.
• Turnaround. On written request from you or your authorized representative, we provide legible copies of your record — including radiographs, if requested — within 30 days.
• Fees. We may charge a reasonable fee for copying or transcription, no greater than the cost of producing the copies.
• Unpaid balances. We will not refuse to release your record because of an unpaid balance when another health care professional needs it to provide you care.

Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with our practice, with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or both.

To complain to us, contact our Privacy Officer using the information below. To complain to the federal government, write to:

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

Changes to this notice

We reserve the right to change this notice and to make the revised notice effective for health information we already have as well as information we receive in the future. The current notice is posted in our office and on this page, with its effective date shown at the top.

Contact

To exercise your rights, ask questions, or file a privacy complaint, contact our Privacy Officer: