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Notice of Privacy Practices 
Parker College of Chiropractic 
Chiropractic and Wellness Clinics 
 
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.  If you have any questions about this Notice please contact our Privacy Contact who is Dr. Ken Thomas, (214) 902-2443 

“Protected health information” is information about you, including demographic information, that may identify you and that relates to your past, present or future physical or mental health or condition and related health care services.  We are required by law to maintain the privacy of protected health information. 
We are required to abide by the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices. We may change the terms of our notice, at any time. The new notice will be effective for all protected health information that we maintain at that time. Upon your request, we will provide you with any revised Notice of Privacy Practices when you call the office and request that a revised copy be sent to you in the mail or ask for one at the time of your next appointment.  
 
1. Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information  
Treatment: We may use and disclose protected health information about you to provide, coordinate or manage your health care and related services. For example, your student intern will share medical information about you with the Staff Doctor who supervises the intern. 
Payment: Generally, we may use and give your medical information to others to bill and collect payment for the treatment and services provided to you by us or by another provider.  For example, before you receive scheduled services, we may share information about these services with your health plan(s) to ask for coverage under your plan or policy and for approval of payment before we provide the services.  
Healthcare Operations: We may use and disclose protected health information in performing business activities called “health care operations”. Examples of the way we may use or disclose protected health information about you for “health care operations” include the following: 
	• Appointment Reminders.  We may use and disclose health information to contact you as a reminder of your appointments. 
	• Reviewing and evaluating the skills, qualifications, and performance of health care providers taking care of you 
	• Providing training programs for students, trainees, health care providers or non-health care professionals (for example, billing clerks or assistants, etc.) to help them practice or improve their skills. 
	• Cooperating with outside organizations that assess the quality of the care we and others provide.  These organizations might include government agencies or accrediting bodies such as the Council on Chiropractic Education. 
	• Reviewing activities and using or disclosing protected health information in the event that we sell our business, property or give control of our business or property to someone else. 
Written Authorization:  
Other uses and disclosures of your protected health information will be made only with your written authorization, unless otherwise permitted or required by law as described below. You may revoke this authorization, at any time, in writing, except to the extent that we have taken an action in reliance on the use or disclosure indicated in the authorization.  

Uses and Disclosures That May Be Made With Your Consent, Authorization or Opportunity to Object  
We may use and disclose your protected health information in the following instances. You have the opportunity to agree or object to the use or disclosure of all or part of your protected health information. If you are not present or able to agree or object to the use or disclosure of the protected health information, then we may, using professional judgment, determine whether the disclosure is in your best interest. In this case, only the protected health information that is relevant to your health care will be disclosed.  
Others Involved in Your Healthcare: Unless you object, we may disclose to a member of your family, a relative, a close friend or any other person you identify, your protected health information that directly relates to that person’s involvement in your health care. If you are unable to agree or object to such a disclosure, we may disclose such information as necessary if we determine that it is in your best interest based on our professional judgment. We may use or disclose protected health information to notify or assist in notifying a family member, personal representative or any other person that is responsible for your care of your location, general condition or death.  
Emergencies: We may use or disclose your protected health information in an emergency treatment situation. If this happens, we shall try to obtain your consent as soon as reasonably practicable after the delivery of treatment.  
Communication Barriers: We may use and disclose your protected health information if your intern or another health care provider in the clinic attempts to obtain consent from you but is unable to do so due to substantial communication barriers and we determine, using professional judgment, that you intend to consent to use or disclosure under the circumstances.  
Other Permitted and Required Uses and Disclosures That May Be Made Without Your Consent, Authorization or Opportunity to Object  
We may use or disclose your protected health information in the following situations without your consent or authorization. 
Required By Law: We may use or disclose your protected health information to the extent that the use or disclosure is required by law.  
Public Health: We may disclose your protected health information for public health activities and purposes to a public health authority that is permitted by law to collect or receive the information. 
Health Oversight: We may disclose protected health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations, and inspections. Oversight agencies seeking this information include government agencies that oversee the health care system, government benefit programs, other government regulatory programs and civil rights laws.  
Abuse or Neglect: We may disclose your protected health information to an appropriate government agency that is authorized by law to receive reports of abuse or neglect of a child, an elderly person or a disabled person. In addition, we may disclose your protected health information if we believe that you have been a victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence to the governmental entity or agency authorized to receive such information.  
Legal Proceedings: We may disclose protected health information in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding, in response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal (to the extent such disclosure is expressly authorized), in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process, subject to certain conditions.  
Law Enforcement: We may also disclose protected health information, so long as applicable legal requirements are met, for law enforcement purposes. Consistent with applicable federal and state laws, we may disclose your protected health information, if we believe that the use or disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public. We may also disclose protected health information if it is necessary for law enforcement authorities to identify or apprehend an individual. 
Coroners, Funeral Directors, and Organ Donation: We may disclose protected health information to a coroner or medical examiner for identification purposes, determining cause of death or for the coroner or medical examiner to perform other duties authorized by law.  
Research: We may disclose your protected health information to researchers when their research has been approved by an institutional review board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your protected health information.  
Military Activity and National Security: When the appropriate conditions apply, we may use or disclose protected health information of individuals who are Armed Forces personnel.  We may also disclose your protected health information to authorized federal officials for conducting national security and intelligence activities.  
Workers’ Compensation: Your protected health information may be disclosed by us to comply with workers’ compensation laws and other similar legally established programs.  
Inmates: We may use or disclose your protected health information if you are an inmate of a correctional facility and your health care provider created or received your protected health information in the course of providing care to you.  
Required Uses and Disclosures: Under the law, we must make disclosures to you and when required by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate or determine our compliance with the requirements of 45 C.F.R. Section 164.500 et. seq.  
 
2. Your Rights  
Following is a statement of your rights with respect to your protected health information and a brief description of how you may exercise these rights.  
You have the right to inspect and copy your protected health information. With limited exceptions, you may inspect and obtain a copy of protected health information about you that is contained in a designated record set for as long as we maintain the protected health information. A “designated record set” contains medical and billing records and any other records that your health care provider and the clinic uses for making decisions about you.  
You have the right to request a restriction of your protected health information. You may ask us to place additional restrictions on the use or disclosure of any part of your protected health information.  
We are not required to agree to a restriction that you may request.  
You have the right to request to receive confidential communications from us by alternative means or at an alternative location. We will accommodate reasonable requests. We may also condition this accommodation by asking you for information as to how payment will be handled or specification of an alternative address or other method of contact. We will not request an explanation from you as to the reason for the request. Please make this request in writing to our Privacy Contact.  
You have the right to ask us to amend your protected health information. You may request an amendment of protected health information about you in a designated record set for as long as we maintain this information. In certain cases, we may deny your request for an amendment. If we deny your request for amendment, you have the right to file a statement of disagreement with us and we may prepare a rebuttal to your statement and will provide you with a copy of any such rebuttal. Please contact our Privacy Contact if you have questions about amending your medical record.  
You have the right to receive an accounting of certain disclosures we have made, if any, of your protected health information. You may request a list of disclosures we have made after April 14, 2003.  This list does not include disclosures for treatment, payment or healthcare operations, disclosures we may have made to you, to family members or friends involved in your care, or for notification purposes.  The right to receive this information is subject to certain exceptions, restrictions and limitations.  
You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this notice from us, upon request, even if you have agreed to accept this notice electronically.  
 
3. Complaints  
You may complain to us or to the Secretary of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy rights have been violated by us. You may file a complaint with us by notifying our privacy contact of your complaint. We will not retaliate or treat you any differently for filing a complaint.  
You may contact our Privacy Contact, Dr. Ken Thomas at (214) 902–2443 or  Kthomas@parkercc.edu  for further information about the complaint process.  
This notice was published and becomes effective on April 14, 2003.