Bear Medical Primary Care, LLC

Effective Date: 6/1/2024

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.

Our Responsibilities

Bear Medical Primary Care, LLC ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your health information. We are required by law to:

• Follow the Privacy Rule, a Federal law, giving you rights over your health information and sets rules and limits on who can look at and receive your personal health information ("PHI"). The Privacy Rule applies to all forms of individuals' protected health information, whether electronic, written, or oral. This information includes:
  • Information your doctors, nurses, and other health care providers put in your medical record
  • Conversations your doctor has about your care or treatment with nurses and others
  • Information about you in your health insurer’s computer system
  • Billing information about you at your clinic
  • Most other health information about you held by those who must follow these laws
• Follow the Security Rule, a Federal law that requires security for health information in electronic form.
• Provide you with this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices regarding your PHI.
• Follow the terms of this Notice currently in effect.

How We May Use and Disclose Your Health Information

We may use and disclose your PHI in the following ways:

For Treatment

We may use and share your PHI to provide, coordinate, or manage your healthcare and related services. For example, we may share your information with other healthcare providers involved in your care. Example: A doctor treating you for a broken leg may need to know if you have diabetes because diabetes may slow the healing process.

We may use and disclose medical information about you in order to communicate with you about available treatment. Example: to send you appointment or prescription refill reminders, offer wellness and other educational programs, or to recommend possible treatment options or alternatives that may be of interest to you.

We may also disclose medical information about you to people outside the Health System who provide services that are related to your care Example: home health agencies or medical equipment suppliers We may disclose medical information to health care professionals who have cared or currently are caring for you, for them to use in treating you, seeking, payment for treatment, and certain health care operations, such as evaluating the quality of their care and the performance of their staff, providing training, and licensing and accreditation reviews.

For Payment

We may use and disclose your PHI to obtain payment for the healthcare services we provide to you. This includes billing and collection activities. While routine care is covered under membership of Bear Medical Primary Care, this can include non-covered treatments. Example: Prior approvals for imaging, medication, or treatment

For Healthcare Operations

We may use and share your PHI for our healthcare operations, such as quality assessment and improvement activities, and for training purposes. Information about your identity will be removed if used for this purpose.

For Public Health and Safety

We may disclose your PHI for public health activities, such as reporting disease outbreaks, and to prevent or reduce a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety. These activities generally include the following:

• To prevent or control disease, injury or disability
• To report births and deaths
• To report endangering disabilities of drivers and pilots
• To report abuse or neglect of children, the elderly and incompetent patients
• To report reactions to medications or problems with products
• To notify people of recalls of products they may be using.

As Required by Law

Legal Proceedings, Lawsuits and Disputes

If you are involved in a lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose medical information about you in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose medical information about you in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.

Law Enforcement

We will disclose your PHI when required to do so by federal, state, or local law In response to a court order, subpoena, warrant, summons or similar process

• About a death we believe may be the result of criminal conduct
• About criminal conduct at the hospital
• About wounds made by certain weapons

For Medical Examiners and Funeral Directors

We may release medical information to a medical examiner. This may be necessary, for example, to identify a deceased person or determine the cause of death. We may also release medical information about a deceased patient to funeral directors as necessary to carry out their duties.

Military and Veterans

If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release medical information about you as required by military command authorities. We may also release medical information about foreign military personnel to the appropriate foreign military authority if necessary under current law.

For Research

We may use or disclose your PHI for research purposes, subject to certain conditions.

For Organ and Tissue Donation

We may share your PHI with organizations involved in organ donation and transplantation.

For Workers' Compensation

We may use or disclose your PHI to comply with workers' compensation laws and other similar programs.

Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your PHI:

Right to Inspect and Copy

You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of your PHI. This includes medical and billing records.

Right to Amend

If you believe that your PHI is incorrect or incomplete, you have the right to request an amendment.

Right to an Accounting of Disclosures

You have the right to request a list (accounting) of the times we have shared your PHI for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why.

Right to Request Restrictions

You have the right to request restrictions on how we use or disclose your PHI. We are not required to agree to your request, but if we do, we will comply with it.

Right to Request Confidential Communications

You have the right to request that we communicate with you in a certain way or at a certain location.

Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice

You have the right to a paper copy of this Notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive it electronically.

Changes to This Notice

We reserve the right to change this Notice and our privacy practices. The new terms will apply to all PHI we maintain. We will post a copy of the current Notice on our website and in our office.

Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

To file a complaint with us, please contact:

Bear Medical Primary Care, LLC
845-605-7692 1511 Route 22, Suite 170 Brewster, NY 10509

You may also submit a written complaint to the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Office for Civil Rights
Centralized Case Management Operations 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 
200 Independence Avenue, S.W. 
Room 509F HHH Bldg. 
Washington, D.C. 20201 1-877-696-6775​