Notice of Privacy Practices

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED & DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

ENTITY COVERED BY THIS NOTICE: This notice applies to the privacy practices of AMAC Pharmacy Services that may share your Protected Health Information as needed for treatment, payment and health care operations. Our Pharmacy is committed to providing quality customer service and keeping you informed. At this time, we want to tell you all about a federal requirement for privacy. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services set standards for ensuring the privacy of personal health information. These regulations went into effect on April 14, 2003. We are committed to keeping your health care information confidential.

Protected Health Information (PHI) may be used and disclosed by us in the following manners:

  • Your PHI will be used for treatment. Information obtained by the Pharmacist will be used to dispense prescription medications to you. We will document in your record information related to the medications dispensed to you and services provided to you.
  • Your PHI will be used for payment purposes. If you have insurance coverage, we will contact your insurer or pharmacy benefit manager to determine whether it will pay for your prescription and the amount of your co payment. We will bill you or a third-party payor for the cost of the prescription medications dispensed to you. The information on or accompanying the bill may include information that identifies you, as well as the prescriptions you are taking.
  • Your PHI will be used for health care operations. The Pharmacy may use information in your health record to monitor the performance of the pharmacists providing treatment to you. This information will be used in an effort to continually improve the quality and effectiveness of the health care and service we provide.
  • Your PHI may likely be disclosed to our business associates. There are some services provided by us through contracts with business associates. Examples include: pharmacy franchise corporation, pharmacy computer software vendor, prescription insurance companies or pharmacy benefit managers, claim processing vendors, our legal counsel in cases of litigation. To protect PHI about you, we require the business associate to appropriately safeguard the PHI.
  • Your PHI may likely be disclosed to individuals involved in your care or payment for your care. Health professionals, such as Pharmacists, using their professional judgment, may disclose to a family member, other relative, close personal friend or any person you identify, PHI relevant to that person’s involvement in your care or payment related to your care.
  • Your PHI may likely be disclosed to provide health-related communications.We may contact you with refill reminders or information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.
  • Your PHI may likely be disclosed to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). We may disclose to the FDA, or persons under the jurisdiction of the FDA, PHI relative to adverse events with respect to drugs, foods, supplements, products and product defects, or post marketing surveillance information to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacements.
  • Your PHI may likely be disclosed in Worker’s Compensation cases. We may disclose PHI about you as authorized by and as necessary to comply with laws relating to worker’s compensation or similar programs established by law.
  • Your PHI may likely be disclosed to Public Health authorities. As required by law, we may disclose PHI about you to public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability.
  • Your PHI will be disclosed as required by law. We must disclose PHI about you when required to do so by law.
  • Your PHI may likely be disclosed for law enforcement purposes. We may disclose PHI about you for law enforcement purposes as required by law or in response to a valid subpoena or other legal process.
  • We are permitted to disclose your PHI for research purposes. We may disclose PHI about you to researchers when an institutional review board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your information has approved their research.
  • We are permitted to disclose your PHI to coroners, medical examiners and funeral directors. We may release PHI about you to a coroner or medical examiner. This may be necessary, for example, to identify a deceased person or determine the cause of death. We may also disclose PHI to funeral directors consistent with applicable law to carry out their duties.
  • We are permitted to disclose your PHI to organ or tissue procurement organizations. Consistent with applicable law, we may disclose PHI about you to organ procurement organizations or other entities engaged in the procurement, banking or transplantation of organs for the purpose of tissue donation and transplant.
  • We are permitted to disclose your PHI for purposes of notification. We may use or disclose PHI about you to notify or assist in notifying a family member, personal representative, or another person responsible for your care, your location, and your general condition.
  • We are permitted to disclose your PHI to correctional institutions. If you are or become an inmate of a correctional institution, we may disclose PHI to the institution or its agents when necessary for your health or the health and safety of others.
  • We are permitted to disclose your PHI to avert a serious threat to health or safety. We may use or disclose PHI about you when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person.
  • We are permitted to disclose your PHI to the military. If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release PHI about you as required by military command authorities. We may also release PHI about foreign military personnel to the appropriate military authority.
  • We are permitted to disclose your PHI for National Security and Intelligence activities. We may release PHI about you to authorized federal officials for intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities authorized by law.
  • We are permitted to disclose your PHI to protective services for the President and others. We may disclose PHI about you to authorized federal officials so they may provide protection to the President, other authorized persons or foreign heads of state or conduct special investigations.
  • We are permitted to disclose your PHI in cases of abuse, neglect or domestic violence. We may disclose PHI about you to a government authority, such as a social service or protective services agency, if we reasonably believe you are a victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence. We will only disclose this type of information to the extent required by law, if you agree to the disclosure, or if the disclosure is allowed by law and we believe it is necessary to prevent serious harm to you or someone else or the law enforcement or public official that is to receive the report represents that it is necessary and will not be used against you.

You have the following rights with respect to Protected Health Information (PHI) about you:

  • You may obtain a paper copy of this notice upon request at any time. Contact Andrew Mac at (734) 744-4070.
  • You may request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of PHI. To request addition restrictions on uses or disclosure of your PHI, send a written request to Andrew Mac at 15115 Farmington Rd, Livonia, Michigan 48154. We are not required to agree to those restrictions.
  • You may inspect and obtain a copy of your PHI. You have the right to access and have copies made of the PHI about you contained in a designated record set for as long as we maintain the PHI. The designated record set will usually include prescription and billing records. To inspect or request copies of PHI about you, you must send a written request to Andrew Mac at 15115 Farmington Rd, Livonia, Michigan 48154. We may charge you a fee for the costs of copying, mailing, labor and supplies that are necessary to fulfill your request. We may deny your request to inspect and copy in certain limited circumstances. If you are denied access to PHI about you, you may request that the denial be reviewed.
  • You may request an amendment of your PHI. If you feel the PHI we maintain about you is incomplete or incorrect, you may request that we amend it. You may request this as long as we maintain the PHI. To request an amendment, send a written request to Andrew Mac at 15115 Farmington Rd, Livonia, Michigan 48154. You must include a reason that supports your request. In certain cases, we may deny your request for amendment. If we deny your request for amendment, you have the right to file a statement of disagreement with the decision and we may give a rebuttal to your statement.
  • You may receive an accounting of disclosures of your PHI. You have the right to request an accounting of most disclosures made after April 14, 2003 (other than those relating to treatment, payment, or health care operation). The accounting will exclude certain disclosures, such as disclosures made directly to you, disclosures you authorize, disclosures to family members or friends involved in your care, and disclosures for notification purposes. The right to receive an accounting of disclosures is subject to certain other exceptions, restrictions, and limitations. To request an accounting, submit a written request to Andrew Mac at 21118 Bridge Street, Southfield, Michigan. Your request must specify the time period, but may not be longer than six years. The first accounting you request within a 12 month period will be provided free of charge, but you may be charged for the cost of providing additional accountings. We will notify you of the cost involved and you may choose to withdraw or modify your request at that time.
  • You may request PHI communication by alternative mean or alternative locations. For instance, you may request that we contact you about medical matters in writing or at a different address or post office box. To request alternative communication of PHI about you, send a written request to Andrew Mac at 15115 Farmington Rd, Livonia, Michigan 48154. Your request must state how or where you would like to be contacted. We will attempt to accommodate all reasonable requests. The Pharmacy will obtain your written authorization before using or disclosing PHI about you for purposes other than those provided for above or as otherwise permitted or required by law. You may revoke authorization in writing at any time. Send written request to Andrew Mac at 15115 Farmington Rd, Livonia, Michigan 48154. Upon receipt of the written request for revocation, we will stop using or disclosing information about you, except to the extent that we have already taken action in reliance on the authorization. For more information about the Pharmacy’s privacy practices or to report a problem, you may contact Andrew Mac at 15115 Farmington Rd, Livonia, Michigan 48154. If you believe your rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with Andrew Mac (privacy officer) or with the Secretary of Health and Human Services. There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint.

Effective Date: September 28, 2017.