HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices

Our responsibilities

Pines Drug Store is required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information (PHI), to provide you with this Notice, to follow the terms of this Notice, and to notify you promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.

Your rights

You have the right to:

• Get a copy of your pharmacy records. Ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your PHI that we maintain. We will provide a copy or a summary, usually within 30 days of your request, and may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.
• Request a correction. If you think your PHI is incorrect or incomplete, ask us to correct it. We may deny your request in certain circumstances, but we’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days.
• Request confidential communications. You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or work phone) or to send mail to a different address. We will agree to reasonable requests.
• Ask us to limit what we use or share. You can ask us not to use or share certain PHI for treatment, payment, or health care operations. We are not required to agree, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care.
• Get a list of disclosures. You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your PHI, for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why.
• Get a copy of this Notice. You can ask for a paper copy of this Notice at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically.
• 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 PHI.
• File a complaint. You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights (see How to contact us).

How we use and disclose PHI

For treatment

We can use your PHI and share it with other professionals who are treating you. For example, we may contact your prescriber to clarify a prescription or discuss potential drug interactions.

For payment

We may use and disclose your PHI to bill and obtain payment from you, your health plan, or other payors.

For health care operations

We may use and share your PHI to run our pharmacy, improve your care, and contact you when necessary. For example, we use PHI to monitor the quality of our services and for staff training.

To help with public health and safety issues

We can share PHI about you for certain situations such as reporting adverse events, preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety, reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, and helping with product recalls.

For law enforcement and other legal purposes

We can share PHI about you in response to a court or administrative order, subpoena, or as otherwise required by law.

For health oversight

We can share PHI with health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure.

For research

We can use or share your PHI for health research when permitted by law and approved by an institutional review board or privacy board, or when your authorization is obtained.

To comply with other laws

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

Your privacy choices

You have choices in the way that we use and share information as we:

• Contact you for refill reminders or to discuss alternatives related to your current therapy.
• Tell family and friends involved in your care about your condition or your prescriptions.
• Provide disaster relief information.

If you have a preference for how we share your information in these situations, tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions when we can.

Uses and disclosures that require authorization

We will never share your PHI for marketing purposes, sell your PHI, or use or disclose psychotherapy notes unless you give us written authorization, or unless the use or disclosure is permitted by law without authorization. If you give authorization, you may revoke it at any time in writing.

Other uses and disclosures

Other uses and disclosures of your PHI not covered by this Notice or applicable law will be made only with your written authorization.

How to contact us or file a complaint

If you have questions, want to exercise your rights, or want to file a complaint, contact us:

You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Changes to this Notice

We may change this Notice, and the changes will apply to all PHI we have about you. When we make significant changes, we will post the updated Notice here and in our pharmacy. The revised Notice will include a new effective date at the top of this page.