HIPAA
Last updated: August 1, 2024
NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
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.
We at Kind Health are required by law to maintain the privacy of Protected Health Information ("PHI") and to provide you with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to PHI. PHI is information that may identify you and that relates to your past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition, the provision of healthcare products and services to you, or payment for such services. This notice describes how we may use and disclose PHI about you, as well as how you can obtain access to such PHI. This notice also describes your rights with respect to your PHI. We are required by HIPAA to provide this notice to you.
Kind Health is required to follow the terms of this notice or any changes to it that are in effect. We reserve the right to change our practices and this notice and to make the new notice effective for all PHI we maintain. If we do so, the updated notice will be posted on our website. Upon request, we will provide any revised notice to you.
How We May Use or Disclose Your PHI
The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose your PHI. We have provided examples in certain categories; however, not every permissible use or disclosure will be listed in this notice. Note that some types of PHI, such as HIV information, genetic information, alcohol and/or substance abuse records, and mental health records may be subject to special confidentiality protections under applicable state or federal law, and we will abide by these special protections.
Uses and Disclosures of PHI That Do Not Require Your Prior Authorization
Except where prohibited by federal or state laws that require special privacy protections, we may use and disclose your PHI for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations without your prior authorization as follows:
Treatment. We may use and disclose your PHI to provide and coordinate the treatment, medications, and services you receive. For example, we may disclose PHI to pharmacists, doctors, nurses, technicians, and other personnel involved in your healthcare. We may also disclose your PHI with other third parties, such as hospitals, other pharmacies, and other healthcare facilities and agencies to facilitate the provision of healthcare services, medications, equipment, and supplies you may need. This helps to coordinate your care and make sure that everyone who is involved in your care has the information that they need about you to meet your healthcare needs.
Payment. We may use and disclose your PHI in order to obtain payment for the healthcare products and services that we provide to you and for other payment activities related to the services that we provide. For example, we may contact your insurer, pharmacy benefit manager, or other healthcare payor to determine whether it will pay for healthcare products and services you need and to determine the amount of your co-payment. We will bill you or a third-party payor for the cost of healthcare products and services we provide to you. The information on or accompanying the bill may include information that identifies you, as well as information about the services that were provided to you or the medications you are taking. We may also disclose your PHI to other healthcare providers or HIPAA-covered entities who may need it for their payment activities.
Healthcare Operations. We may use and disclose your PHI for our healthcare operations. Healthcare operations are activities necessary for us to operate our healthcare businesses. For example, we may use your PHI to monitor the performance of the staff and pharmacists providing treatment to you. We may use your PHI as part of our efforts to continually improve the quality and effectiveness of the healthcare products and services we provide. We may also analyze PHI to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare, for example, to assess and improve outcomes for healthcare conditions. We may also disclose your PHI to other HIPAA-covered entities that have provided services to you so that they can improve the quality and effectiveness of the healthcare services that they provide. We may use your PHI to create de-identified data, which is stripped of your identifiable data and no longer identifies you.
Additional Uses and Disclosures of PHI Without Prior Authorization
Business Associates. We may contract with third parties to perform certain services for us, such as billing services, copy services, or consulting services. These third-party service providers, referred to as Business Associates, may need to access your PHI to perform services for us. They are required by contract and law to protect your PHI and only use and disclose it as necessary to perform their services for us.
To Communicate with Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care. We may disclose to a family member, other relative, close personal friend, or any other person you identify, PHI directly relevant to that person's involvement in your care or payment related to your care. Additionally, we may disclose PHI to your "personal representative." If a person has the authority by law to make healthcare decisions for you, we will generally regard that person as your "personal representative" and treat him or her the same way we would treat you with respect to your PHI.
Worker's Compensation. To the extent necessary to comply with the law, we may disclose your PHI to worker's compensation or other similar programs established by law.
Public Health. We may disclose your PHI to public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability, including the FDA. In certain circumstances, we may also report work-related illnesses and injuries to employers for workplace safety purposes.
Law Enforcement. We may disclose your PHI for law enforcement purposes as required or permitted by law, for example, in response to a subpoena or court order, in response to a request from law enforcement, and to report limited information in certain circumstances.
As Required by Law. We will disclose your PHI when required to do so by federal, state, or local law.
Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose your PHI to an oversight agency for activities authorized by law. These oversight activities include audits, investigations, inspections, and credentialing, as necessary for licensure and for the government to monitor the healthcare system, government programs, and compliance with civil rights laws.
Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. If you are involved in a lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose your PHI in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose your PHI in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process instituted by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made, either by the requesting party or us, to first tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.
Research. We may use your PHI to conduct research and we may disclose your PHI to researchers as authorized by law. For example, we may use or disclose your PHI as part of a research study when the research has been approved by an institutional review board or privacy board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your information.
Coroners, Medical Examiners, and Funeral Directors. We may release your PHI to coroners or medical examiners so that they can carry out their duties. 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 enable them to carry out their duties.
Organ or Tissue Procurement Organizations. Consistent with applicable law, we may disclose your PHI to organ procurement organizations or other entities engaged in the procurement, banking, or transplantation of organs for the purpose of tissue donation and transplant.
Notification. We may use or disclose your PHI to notify or assist in notifying a family member, personal representative, or another person responsible for your care, regarding your location and general condition.
Disaster Relief. We may use and disclose your PHI to organizations for purposes of disaster relief efforts.
Correctional Institution. If you are or become an inmate of a correctional institution, we may disclose to the institution, or its agents, PHI necessary for your health and the health and safety of other individuals.
To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety. We may use and disclose your PHI when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person.
Military and Veterans. 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 foreign military authority.
National Security, Intelligence Activities, and Protective Services for the President and Others. We may release PHI about you to federal officials for intelligence, counterintelligence, protection of the President, and other national security activities authorized by law.
Victims of Abuse or Neglect. We may disclose PHI about you to a government authority if we reasonably believe you are a victim of abuse or neglect. 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.
Uses and Disclosures of PHI that Require Your Prior Authorization
Specific Uses or Disclosures Requiring Authorization. We will obtain your written authorization for the use or disclosure of psychotherapy notes, use or disclosure of PHI for marketing, and for the sale of PHI, except in limited circumstances where applicable law allows such uses or disclosure without your authorization.
Other Uses and Disclosures. We will obtain your written authorization before using or disclosing your PHI for purposes other than those