Privacy Policy
I. PURPOSE
The purpose of this policy is to ensure that confidentiality of protected health
information is maintained for all
amerimedrx.com
members, and to provide
amerimedrx.com
members with notice of
amerimedrx.com's information practices.
II. DEFINITIONS
- Protected Health Information means any information that is created or received by
amerimedrx.com
which identifies an individual and relates to the past, present or future physical
or mental health or condition of that individual.
- Eligibility Information means information, whether written or oral, which describes
a member or a member's eligibility for past or future
amerimedrx.com
services and the extent to which those services are covered under the member's plan.
Eligibility information does not include Protected Health Information.
III. SCOPE/POLICY
- amerimedrx.com shall not disclose any Protected Health Information about a member
collected or received in connection with a amerimedrx.com transaction unless the
disclosure is permitted or required by law, and is:
- To the member or the member's legal representative or guardian, upon presentation
to AMERIMEDRX of a valid Social Security or Member Identification number.
- With the written authorization of the member, or the member's legal representative
or guardian, provided the authorization is:
- Dated.
- Signed by the member or the member's legal guardian.
- Obtained one (1) year or less prior to the date a disclosure is sought.
- To a group policyholder for the purpose of reporting claims experience or conducting
an audit of AMERIMEDRX¡¯s operations or services, provided the information disclosed
is reasonably necessary for the group policyholder to conduct the review or audit.
- To a medical care institution or medical professional for the purpose of:
- Verifying coverage or benefits.
- Informing an individual of a medical problem of which the individual may not be
aware.
- Conducting an operations or services audit to verify the members treated by the
medical professional or at the medical care institution; provided only such information
is disclosed as is reasonably necessary to accomplish the foregoing purposes.
- To an insurance institution, health care organization, or self-insurer, provided
the information disclosed is limited to that which is reasonably necessary:
- To detect or prevent criminal activity, fraud, material misrepresentation or material
nondisclosure in connection with insurance transactions.
- For either the disclosing or receiving entity to perform its function in connection
with an insurance transaction involving the member.
- To an insurance or healthcare regulatory authority.
- To a law enforcement or other governmental authority:
- To protect the interests of AMERIMEDRX in preventing or prosecuting the perpetration
of fraud upon it.
- If AMERIMEDRX reasonably believes that illegal activities have been conducted by
the member.
- Made for the purpose of conducting actuarial or research studies, provided:
No member may be identified in any actuarial or research report.
- To an internal or external professional peer review organization for the purpose
of reviewing the service or conduct of a medical care institution or provider.
- To a governmental authority for the purpose of determining the member’s eligibility
for vision or health benefits for which the governmental authority may be liable.
- In response to a facially valid administrative or judicial order, including a search
warrant or subpoena.
- To a health maintenance organization, health plan, or insurer, when AMERIMEDRX is
acting as a subcontractor to that organization, and the member is covered by AMERIMEDRX
pursuant to his/her enrollment in that organization. In that circumstance, all Protected
Health Information maintained by AMERIMEDRX by virtue of the contract with the organization
will be made available to the organization.
- Otherwise permitted or required by law.
- In addition to those circumstances described in Section III(A), Eligibility Information
will be provided in the following circumstances where permitted or required by law:
- To a member doctor, a member, a member's current spouse, a member's eligible dependent,
or the legal guardian of an eligible dependent, upon presentation to AMERIMEDRX
of a member's valid Social Security or identification number.
IV. PROCEDURE
- All
amerimedrx.com
employees, upon employment, agree to abide by
amerimedrx.com’s policy and procedure of "Confidentiality
of Information" which details the importance of confidentiality of medical records,
personal information, insurance claims and other materials. The consequences of
violating this policy includes disciplinary action up to and including dismissal
from employment.
- Medical Directors, Admin Directors, Clinical Consultants and Clinical Committee
Members must sign a Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Statement.
- Any patient specific information or medical record will be considered confidential
and will be shared only with those parties who have the authority to receive such
information, as provided for in Section II, above.
- If disclosure is required through a court order or subpoena, the order or subpoena
will first be reviewed by the
amerimedrx.com
Legal Department to determine the legitimacy of the order, the purpose for the disclosure,
and limitations on the information disclosed.
- All patient specific medical information will be stored for the appropriate length
of time as required by legal statutes and company policy, in files that are locked
and made accessible only for the purposes stated above.
- System stored patient specific medical and personal information will be protected
through system security measures designed to protect against access by unauthorized
staff. Additionally,
amerimedrx.com
is monitoring the status of proposed regulations pursuant to the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act, and will implement such security measures mandated
by the final regulations.
amerimedrx.com
currently employs industry standard system security measures to protect electronically
stored and transmitted information.
-
amerimedrx.com’s Provider Policy states that
amerimedrx.com
contracted doctor’s offices shall maintain the integrity and confidentiality of
Protected Health Information in the record against loss, defacement, tampering or
use by unauthorized persons. The contracted doctor’s office shall maintain a policy
of confidentiality regarding patient medical record information.
- If
amerimedrx.com
becomes aware of a confidentiality violation by a member doctor, either through
an on-site visit or through a complaint/grievance, the Quality Assurance Committee
and
amerimedrx.com
staff will determine the proper steps needed to restore confidentiality. Human Resources
will be consulted if the violation was perpetrated through a
amerimedrx.com
employee.
- This policy shall be provided to any member, group, or member doctor upon request.
V. Confidentiality and Security on
amerimedrx.com
amerimedrx.com
respects the privacy of its Web site users. Simply by visiting the
amerimedrx.com
Web site, personal information is not collected.
amerimedrx.com
members who enter personal information should know all communication between your
computer and
amerimedrx.com’s Web servers is encrypted using
secured server technology (SSL).
amerimedrx.com’s secure server software is the
industry standard and among the best software available today for secure transactions.
Why do you need to enter personal information?
Some features, such as
amerimedrx.com’s Doctor Group and the Member
Eligibility area, are tied directly to your personal information. We want to make
sure we’re providing services to the right person. At
amerimedrx.com, we understand the privacy concerns
surrounding one's medical information. Rest assured your medical information will
only be used to administer and provide safe and effective health care.
amerimedrx.com
does not release any information to unauthorized individuals.
VI. The Use of Cookies
Cookies are pieces of information that are stored on a user’s PC when the user accesses
a Web site.
amerimedrx.com
uses temporary cookies to help you access some of the special functions within the
database driven areas of
amerimedrx.com's site. Once you leave our Web
site, these cookies expire. Cookies do not collect personal identifying information
about the user.
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