HIPPA Policy

Your Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities. (HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices)

 

Your Information

Patient privacy is just as important for children under the age of 18 as it is for adults. Here at One Potato Two Tomato we follow and abide by certain provisions and stipulations under the HIPAA Privacy rule when handling the protected health information of these individuals. This notice describes how medical information about you/your child and/or adolescent may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. 
 

How does the HIPAA Privacy Rule apply to minors?

Answer: Before a child reaches the age of majority, which is 18 years old in most states, he/she cannot legally exercise his/her rights granted by the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Minors’ parents or guardians act as personal representatives under special patient considerations. The most important thing to note is that the Privacy Rule grants parents access to their children’s medical records. As such, a health care provider handing over sensitive information about a patient under the age of 18 to his parent would not be in violation of the law.

Generally, covered entities should treat parents - and all personal representatives - as they would the individual whom the person represents. The guardians of minors have the same rights as the patient. As such, beyond granting access to the patient’s medical record, health care providers must also let these representatives know about the release of PHI, authorize disclosures and make decisions on the patient’s behalf.

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There are certain circumstances in which a child’s parent is not his personal representative, and release of information to the parent in this situation would constitute a violation. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a doctor or other healthcare provider should not consider a parent the personal representative when:

• A parent agrees that the minor and health care provider may have a confidential relationship.

• Parental consent for care is not required under law.

• A court provides direction for care or appoints an individual to care for the minor.
   

Additionally, as with all personal representatives, a doctor can use his discretion in determining whether passing on information to a parent would be beneficial to the patient. If the health care provider suspects the guardian neglects the child or subjects him to abuse, for example, the physician may refuse to continue treating the parent as a personal representative.
 

Your Rights

When it comes to your child or adolescent’s health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.
 

Get an electronic or paper copy of your Child or Adolescent’s medical record

• You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you. Ask us how to do this.

• We will provide a copy or a summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.
   

Request confidential communications

• You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or work) by phone call, or electronically by sending an email to your private personal email address or a different physical home address via U.S. Mail as provided by you.

• We will say “yes” to all reasonable requests.
   

Ask us to limit what we use or share

• You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care.

• If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer. We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information.

Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared information

• We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We have a Business Agreement (BAA) policy in place to further protect your Private Health Information (PHI).
   

Get a copy of this privacy notice

• You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.
   

Choose someone to act for you

• If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information.

• We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.
   

File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated

• You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us using the information on page 1.

• You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/.

• We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Your Choices

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions.

In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to:

• Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care

• Share information with your child/adolescent’s Pediatrician, physician or other healthcare provider as directed by you.
   

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

In these cases, we never share your information unless you give us written permission:

• Marketing purposes

• Sale of your information
   

Our Uses and Disclosure

How do we typically use or share your health information?

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.

To Treat your child/adolescent and assist you as the parent/caregiver

• We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating your child/adolescent.

• Example: A doctor treating you for an injury asks another doctor about your overall health condition.

• In the course of your child or adolescent’s Nutrition care plan we may request that we be allowed to review your child/adolescent’s medical chart, growth charts, lab reports etc. from your child’s/adolescent’s Pediatrician. If yes, we ask that you send us copies that we ask for/request. If not, you can say just say No. However, understand that this may limit our ability to provide the most accurate nutrition assessment and best nutrition care plan for your child/adolescent.

• We follow Tele-Health HIPPA privacy laws in using proper HIPPA compliant platforms and security to communicate electronically with you via video conference/calls and HIPPA-compliant patient information forms. For more information about our Tele-Nutrition &/or Tele-health practices visit our Tele-Nutrition/Health Policy
   

Run our organization

• We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary.

• Example: We use health information about you to manage your treatment and services.

Bill for your services

• We currently do not accept health insurance all services are self-pay at time of service or product is ordered/purchased.
   

How else can we use or share your health information?

We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html.

Help with public health and safety issues

We can share health information about you for certain situations such as:

• Preventing disease

• Helping with product recalls

• Reporting adverse reactions to medications

• Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence

• Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety

• Educating and Mentoring RDE’s/dietetic interns who are enrolled in an accredited RD Internship program and doing a pediatric nutrition education rotation with us.

 

Do research.

We can use or share your information for health research.

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Comply with the law.

We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.

Respond to lawsuits and legal actions.

We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.

Our Responsibilities

• We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.

• We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.

• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it. Should you request it.

• By using our website constitutes that you have read our/this website HIPPA policy

• We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.

For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/noticepp.html.

Changes to the Terms of this Notice

We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice and any changes will be available and posted on our web site.

Effective Date: May 2024
This notice applies to the following organization: 
One Potato Two Tomato.com/1potato2tomato.com
Email Contact: info@1potato2tomato.com