HIPAA Policy

AbleNet has put into place many measures to certify its information technology program is compliant with the regulations and conditions set forth in the Health Insurance Portability and Availability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). We are committed to preserving the privacy of your personal health information. In fact, we are required by law to protect the privacy of your medical information and to provide you with this notice describing the following how your medical information is used and disclosed for your treatment, to obtain payment for treatment, administrative purposes and to evaluate the quality of care that you receive.

Uses and Disclosures: We use and disclose elements of your Protected Health Information (PHI) in the following ways:

• Treatment: including, but not limited to, inpatient, outpatient or psychiatric care.
• To your treating physician(s).
• Payment: including, but not limited to, asking you about your health care plan(s), or other sources of payment; preparing and sending bills or claims; and collecting unpaid amounts, either ourselves or through a collection agency or attorney.
• Health care operations: including, but not limited to, financial or billing audits; internal quality assurance; personnel decisions; participation in managed care plans; defense of legal matters; business planning; and outside storage of our records.
• Disclosures when release is authorized by law: including, but not limited to, judicial settings and to health oversight regulatory agencies, law enforcement and correctional institutions.
• Uses or disclosures for specialized government functions: including, but not limited to, the protection of the President or high-ranking government officials; for lawful national intelligence activities; for military purposes; or for the evaluation and health of members of the foreign services.
• In emergency situations or to avert serious health / safety situations.
• If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release medical information about you and your dependents as requested by military command authorities.
• Disclosures of de-identified information.
• Disclosures relating to worker’s compensation claims.
• To medical examiners, coroners or funeral directors to aid in identifying you or to help them in performing their duties.
• To organizations that handle organ and tissue donations.
• To public health organizations or federal organizations in the event of a communicable disease or to report a defective device or untoward event to a biological product (food or medication).
• Disclosures to “business associates” who perform health care operations for us and who commit to respect the privacy of your health information.
• We may be required or permitted by certain laws to use and disclose your medical information for other purposes without your consent or authorization.
• We will notify you by e-mail or US Mail of any breaches of your PHI

You have the following rights concerning your protected health information (PHI):
Restrictions: To request restricted access to all or part of your PHI, contact the organization’s HIPAA Privacy and Security Officer. We are not required to grant your request and you do not have the right to restrict disclosures required by law. If we do agree, we must honor the restrictions you request.