Notice of Privacy Practices

Your rights

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.

• Get a copy of your health and claims records. You can ask to see or get a copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you. We will provide a copy or a summary, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.
• Ask us to correct your records. You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. We may say no to your request, but we will 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 office phone) or to send mail to a different address. We will say yes to all reasonable requests.
• Ask us to limit what we use or share. You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree if it would affect your care. If you pay for a service or item out of pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer. We will say yes unless a law requires us to share it.
• Get a list of those with whom we have shared information. You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we have shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why. We will include all disclosures except those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures such as any you asked us to make. We will provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another within 12 months.
• Get a copy of this notice. You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive it electronically. We will give you a paper copy promptly.
• 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 health information. We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.
• File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated. You can complain to us using the contact information at the end of this notice, or to the federal government (see “Filing a complaint” below). We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Your choices

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions.

In these cases, you have both the right and the choice to tell us to:

• Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care or payment for your care
• Share information in a disaster relief situation

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

In these cases we never share your information unless you give us written permission:

• Marketing purposes
• Sale of your information
• Most sharing of psychotherapy notes

In the case of fundraising, we may contact you for fundraising efforts, but you can tell us not to contact you again.

Our uses and disclosures

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.

• Treat you. We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you. Example: a doctor treating you for an injury asks another doctor about your overall health condition.
• Run our organization. We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary. Example: we use health information about you to manage your treatment and services.
• Bill for your services. We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities. Example: we give information about you to your health insurance plan so it will pay for your services.

We are also allowed or required to share your information in other ways, usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. We may share your information to:

• Help with public health and safety issues, such as preventing disease, helping with product recalls, reporting adverse reactions to medications, reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, and preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety
• Do research, under conditions set by law
• Comply with the law, including sharing information with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we are complying with federal privacy law
• Respond to organ and tissue donation requests
• Work with a medical examiner or funeral director
• Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests, including health oversight agencies and special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services
• Respond to lawsuits and legal actions, in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena

Our responsibilities

• We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
• We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.
• We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.

For more information see hhs.gov/hipaa (opens in a new tab).

Changes to this notice. We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, at each of our clinics, and on this website.

Full notice. A printed copy of our complete Notice of Privacy Practices, in English and Spanish, is available at the front desk of every clinic and is given to you when you register as a patient.

Filing a complaint

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with our Privacy Officer:

Privacy Officer
Nuestra Clinica del Valle, Inc.
Administration Office
801 W 1st Street, San Juan, TX 78589
Phone: 956-787-8915
Email: admin@nuestraclinicadelvalle.org

You can also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue SW, Room 509F, HHH Building, Washington, DC 20201, by calling 1-800-368-1019, or by visiting hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint (opens in a new tab). We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

This website

The notice above covers your health information as a patient. This section covers the website itself.

• Contact form. If you send us a message through the Contact page, we receive the name, email address, phone number, and message you type. Submissions are delivered to our staff through JotForm, a form service. The form uses Google reCAPTCHA to block spam. reCAPTCHA collects information about your device and how you use the page, and sets a security cookie (_GRECAPTCHA). Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Please do not include health information, symptoms, or medical questions in the form. Call your clinic instead.
• Cookies and tracking. This website does not use advertising cookies and does not sell or share visitor information. We use Google Analytics only if you agree to it in the cookie banner. It collects information about how pages are used, such as which pages are visited and from what kind of device. If you clear this site’s data in your browser, the banner appears again and you can choose again.
• Server logs. Like most websites, our hosting provider records technical information about each visit, such as the IP address, browser type, and pages requested. We use it to keep the site running and secure.
• Links to other sites. The Patient Portal is operated by eClinicalWorks under its own privacy policy. Directions open in Google Maps. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other websites.
• Children. This website is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.

Questions about this website’s privacy practices can be sent to admin@nuestraclinicadelvalle.org.