Notice of Privacy Practices

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

Who we are

DNAK Healthcare Services, LLC is a licensed private home care provider in Georgia, permit number PHCP042907, issued by the Georgia Department of Community Health, Healthcare Facility Regulation Division.

We keep records about the care we give you. The law calls that information protected health information. This Notice explains what we may do with it, what we may not, and what rights you have over it.

It applies to everyone who works for us: our employees, our nursing staff, anyone working under contract for us, and our volunteers.

Our promise to you

We are required by law to keep your health information private, to give you this Notice explaining our legal duties and our privacy practices, to follow the terms of the Notice currently in effect, and to tell you if your information is ever improperly disclosed.

For your care

We use your information to plan and provide your care, and we share it with the people involved in giving it. For example, your caregiver reads your service plan before a visit, and our RN Supervisor reviews the notes written afterwards. If your doctor asks how you are managing at home, we may share what we have observed.

To be paid for your care

We use your information to bill and to be paid. For example, if you use a long-term care insurance policy, we send your insurer the dates and hours of service so your claim can be paid.

To run the agency properly

We use your information to manage and improve our services. For example, our RN Supervisor reviews records to check the quality of care being given, and we use records when training our caregivers.

When the law requires or allows it

We may share your information without your permission when:

the law requires it, including reporting to the Georgia Department of Community Health
we are required to report suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation of an elderly or disabled adult, which Georgia law requires us to do
there is a serious and immediate threat to your health or safety, or to someone else’s
a court orders it, or we receive a lawful subpoena or warrant
a coroner, medical examiner or funeral director needs it
it is needed for public health activities, such as reporting a communicable disease
a government agency is overseeing the health care system, or checking that we are following the law
it concerns workers’ compensation
it concerns military service, national security, or a person in lawful custody

To people involved in your care

Unless you tell us not to, we may share information relevant to your care with a family member, a friend, or anyone else you have involved in your care. If you are not able to tell us what you want, we will use our best judgement about what is in your interest.

You may tell us at any time not to share your information with a particular person, and we will follow that instruction.

To remind you about your care

We may contact you to remind you of a scheduled visit, or to talk with you about your care.

What we will never do without your written permission

We will not use or share your information for any of the following without asking you first, in writing.

Marketing. We will not use your information to sell you anything, or to let anybody else sell you anything.

Selling your information. We will never sell it. Not to anyone, for any price.

Psychotherapy notes, if any were ever made, beyond the narrow uses the law allows.

Anything else this Notice does not describe.

If you give us written permission, you may take it back at any time. Tell us in writing and we will stop, except where we have already acted on it.

Your rights

These are yours by law. Using them costs you nothing and will never affect the care you receive.

You may see and get a copy of your record

Ask us and we will let you see your record, or give you a copy, including an electronic copy if that is what you want. We will respond within thirty days. We may charge a reasonable fee based on what copying actually costs.

You may ask us to correct your record

If you think something in your record is wrong or incomplete, tell us in writing and say why. We will respond within sixty days. If we do not agree, we will tell you why in writing, and you may add a statement of your own to the record. Your statement stays with it.

You may ask for a list of who we shared it with

You may ask for an accounting of certain disclosures we made in the six years before your request. The list will not include disclosures for your care, for billing, for running the agency, or ones you authorised. The first list in any twelve months is free.

You may ask us to restrict what we use or share. We do not have to agree, and if we do not, we will tell you. Where we do agree, we will keep to it.

There is one restriction we must always honour: if you pay in full, out of your own pocket, for a service, you may tell us not to share information about that service with your health plan, and we will not.

You may ask us to contact you differently

You may ask us to reach you at a particular number or address, or only in a particular way. You do not have to say why, and we will accommodate any reasonable request.

You may have a paper copy of this Notice

At any time, for the asking, even if you have already had one.

You will be told if your information is ever exposed

If your unsecured information is ever breached, we will notify you, as federal law and Georgia law both require.

If you think we have got it wrong

Tell us. You may complain to our Privacy Officer, whose details are below.

Or tell the federal government. You may complain to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:

Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20201. Telephone 1-877-696-6775. hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints

Nothing bad will happen to you for complaining. We will not retaliate against you in any way, and your care will not change. That is a promise and it is also the law.

Changes to this Notice

We may change this Notice, and any change may apply to information we already hold as well as to information we receive later. If we change it, we will post the new Notice at our office, put it on this page, and give you a copy at your next visit or on request. The Notice in effect is always the one displayed at our office.

Who to contact

Privacy Officer Anyi Nkuche, Administrator DNAK Healthcare Services, LLC 1600 Parkwood Circle SE, Suite 500 Atlanta, GA 30339

Telephone: 470-941-9985 Email: info@dnakhealthcare.com

Please do not send health information by ordinary email. Email is not a secure way to send private information. Call us, or ask us and we will arrange a safer way.