The Health Insurance Portability and Accounting Act (“HIPAA”) Privacy Rule controls the use and disclosure of what is known as Protected Health Information (“PHI”).

Implementation of and compliance with this rule is not optional for our practice.

We are bound to provide you with the attached information and require you to read through the material thoroughly. Please feel free to print out a copy for your records.

For parents or legal guardians of patients, a consent form signed by you will be required for the patient.

Uses and Disclosures of Your Health Care Information

Your Protected Health Information (PHI) may be disclosed or used, with your consent based on your signing of our Consent Forms, for the following purposes:

• Treatment Purposes: Your PHI may be disclosed to other healthcare professionals to provide you with the best healthcare services. This also includes contacting your previous healthcare providers to know your entire medical history. For example, we may have to ask your previous doctors for your medical history to understand the underlying problems.
• Healthcare Operations: We may use or disclose medical information about you in order to support the quality services provided by Welby MD. These activities include, but are not limited to, reviewing our treatment of you, employee performance reviews, billing services, further information about alternative treatment services that may be beneficial to you. We may also use and disclose your medical information for certain marketing activities which may be beneficial to you. For example, your name and address may be used to send you a newsletter about Welby MD and some new services we may be offering. You can opt-out from the mailer list or request that these materials not be sent to you.

Your Protected Health Information (PHI) may be disclosed or used, based on your opportunity to agree or disagree, for the following purposes:

• Communicating With Family Members: Your PHI may be disclosed to notify a family member or a legal guardian or a personal representative who is responsible for your overall health and conditions.
• Patient Index: Your PHI may be updated in a patient index with information such as name, address, general information, and health issues. These may be disclosed during emergencies or natural calamities to ensure your complete medical healthcare is met.

Your Protected Health Information (PHI) may be disclosed or used, without your consent or authorization, for the following purposes:

• Required By Law: We may have to disclose your PHI when federal, state or local law asks us for the information. If such a situation occurs we assure you that we will inform you of such disclosure and will try to keep the information provided to the bare minimum.
• During Emergencies: In case of an emergency, then your PHI may be disclosed without your consent before getting your consent. But your authorization will be obtained once the emergency dissipates.
• Public Health Authorities: As required by law, we have to disclose your PHI to the legal authorities or the public health organizations. For example, for reporting and communicable diseases, reporting suspected abuse and neglect, reporting births or deaths.
• Food and Drug Administrative Bodies: We may have to provide your PHI to a person or a company as required by the Food and Drug Administration Authorities to report defects in their products or to make repairs or replacements or to bring up product defects or malfunctions.
• Organ Procurement Organizations: According to the laws applicable, we must disclose your PHI to organ procurement organizations for the purpose of organ donation, tissue cultivation, and transplants.
• Research: We may have to disclose your information for researchers where protocols have been established by institutional review boards to ensure that your privacy is protected during and after the research is complete.
• Coroners, Medical Examiners, and Funeral Directors: Your PHI may be disclosed to coroners and medical examiners to carry out their functions in determining the underlying cause during the time of death. We may disclose information to funeral directors required to carry out their duties.
• Disputes and Lawsuits: If you are involved in a lawsuit or dispute, we may disclose medical information about you in response to a court or administrative order, a subpoena, a discovery request, but only if efforts to inform you about the request.
• Law Enforcement Officials: We may disclose medical information, so long as applicable legal requirements are met, for law enforcement purposes. These law enforcement purposes include: (i) to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness or missing person; (ii) pertaining to victims of a crime; (iii) suspicion that death has occurred as a result of criminal conduct; (iv) in the event that a crime occurs on the premises of the practice; and (v) medical emergency.
• Military: For personnel who have been or are a member of the armed forces, we may have to disclose your PHI as required by the command authorities.

The following are statements of your rights with respect to your medical information and details of how you may exercise these rights:

• You have the right to request a restriction of use and disclosure of your PHI: You have the right to request a restriction of disclosure of your medical information to family members or caregivers, who may be involved in your care as described in this Notice of Privacy Practices. You must state in writing the specific restriction requested and to whom you want the restriction to apply.
• You have the right to inspect your medical records and make copies of them: You have the right to request for a copy of your medical records so that you can inspect them yourself. To get a copy of your PHI, you must submit your request to your Privacy Officer.
• You have the right to request confidential communications to be sent to a different address: You have the right to request that we send all our communications in regard to your PHI in a certain way or to a certain address. Please make sure to send all such requests to our Privacy Officer, and we will try our best to accommodate your request.
• Right to amend information: You have the right to amend any information in your PHI if you feel that certain information is incomplete or incorrect.
• Right to receive an accounting of disclosures: you have the right to request any other uses and disclosures of your medical information not covered by this notice or required by law will be made only with your written authorization. You may revoke this authorization at any time, except to the extent that our practice has taken an action in reliance on the use or disclosure indicated by prior authorization.
• You have the right to file a complaint: If for any reason you believe that your privacy or your rights have been violated by us then you have the right to complain to us or directly to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Your complaint will remain anonymous and we will try to make sure that we can take care of your grievances.

Disclaimer Warranties

You agree that the use of the website is at your sole risk and the second opinions are provided on an ‘as is’ and ‘as available’ basis.

You Expressly Agree that the 2nd Opinion is intended for the diagnosis of medical issues and cannot be used in any legal action or proceeding of any kind.

All of the Radiologists on the Site or the Platform are independent medical practitioners who use the Site or the Platform as a way to communicate with you. Any information or advice received from a Radiologist comes from them alone, and not from the website.

Any advice provided to you by the medical practitioners via the website should not take the place of your regular health care practitioner.

We at Welby MD do not endorse any specific tests, physicians, medications, products or procedures that are recommended by the medical practitioners who may use the website to communicate with you.