About HIPAA

HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This act, approved by Congress in 1996, provides patients with uniform access to their medical records and more control over how their personal health information is used and disclosed. It also requires health care providers to safeguard the security and confidentiality of medical records. Full information about the Act is provided on the US Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Civil Rights web site.

Our office has taken all required steps to be in compliance with HIPAA regulations. We have adopted a privacy plan and trained our employees on its procedures. We have identified an employee who is responsible for ensuring that the procedures are implemented and up-to-date with current regulations. We have adopted an Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system that is certified in compliance with the Act. In short, we take our obligations very seriously.

An important aspect of HIPAA is patient notification. When you first visit our offices, you will be asked to read and acknowledge receiving a copy of the following guidelines. Please read them carefully and feel free to ask any questions about how your child's medical records will be maintained.

Please read our complete Notice of Privacy Practices for complete details related to privacy of Protected Health Information (PHI).

Our office is committed to protecting our patients’ privacy. The confidentiality of our patients is of greatest concern to our physician and employees alike. Our Privacy Notice details how our practice collects, handles, and protects personal information about our patients. This policy is offered on your first visit to our office, upon request (oral or written), and is also available for viewing on our web site (linked here). We will review this policy on an annual basis and monitor our compliance with this policy. Should it be necessary to revise this policy more often due to circumstances, we will do so in a timely fashion. Our policy may be changed without notice.

Some of the information we collect and maintain includes:
* Past medical history
* Review of Systems
* History of the present illness/complaint
* Family and social history
* Drug, Alcohol, Tobacco use
* Medications and allergies
* Insurance and billing information
* Patient demographics (although some information may be in the public domain, i.e. address and phone number listed in phone books)

Information we may disclose and purpose

No PHI will be released without proper written consent from the patient or parent or guardian of the minor patient, except as outlined and provided in our Notice of Privacy Practices or unless the request is made from another healthcare provider during an emergency (per Texas Board of Medicine rules and regulations).

Any privacy issue complaints should be directed to the . If satisfaction is not received, the patient may notify the Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Civil Rights.