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.
Neil J Patel MD PLLC is a New York professional limited liability company operating a concierge sports-neurology practice, serving patients in the states where Dr. Patel is licensed (New York, California, Georgia, South Carolina, Minnesota, and Kansas), including by telehealth. We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information (PHI), to give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, to notify you if a breach compromises the privacy or security of your unsecured PHI, and to follow the terms of the notice currently in effect (45 CFR 164.520). This notice applies to every record of your care that we maintain, whether created in a visit, through the patient portal, or from records another provider sends us.
How we may use and disclose your health information
Treatment. We use your information to provide your neurological care and may disclose it to other clinicians involved in your care, for example a referring physician, an athletic trainer you designate, or a specialist we refer you to.
Payment. This is a cash-pay practice. We do not bill health insurance. We use your information to bill you directly and to provide you receipts and superbills that you may choose to submit to your own insurer. Because we do not submit claims, disclosures to health plans by us are rare and generally occur only at your request.
Health care operations. We may use your information to run the practice: quality review, security auditing of our patient portal, legal and accounting services, and practice management.
Appointment reminders and care communications. We may contact you to remind you of appointments and to tell you about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may interest you, for example a reminder that a follow-up visit or a repeat assessment is due. Our routine reminder emails and texts are deliberately written to contain no medical details; your record stays behind the portal login. Tell us if you would rather not receive these communications and we will stop.
Other uses permitted or required by law. We may use or disclose your information without your authorization where the Privacy Rule permits or requires it, including: when required by law; for public health activities; to report suspected abuse or neglect; for health oversight; in judicial or administrative proceedings; to law enforcement in limited circumstances; to avert a serious threat to health or safety; and to a coroner or medical examiner. We will disclose your information to the Secretary of Health and Human Services when required to investigate our compliance.
Uses requiring your written authorization. Most uses of psychotherapy notes, uses for marketing, and any sale of your information require your written authorization, and any use or disclosure not described in this notice will be made only with your written authorization. You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time, except to the extent we have already relied on it. We do not sell identifiable patient information.
De-identified data, research, and licensing (planned). The practice is considering using data that has been de-identified to the HIPAA standard (45 CFR 164.514(b)) for the physician's own research and, potentially, for licensing to third parties. De-identified data is not PHI. We will nevertheless ask for your separate, voluntary, written opt-in consent before including your data in either activity; declining does not affect your care in any way.
Extra protection for some information
Some health information carries extra protection under federal or state law, including information about HIV, mental health, genetic testing, and records from substance use disorder treatment programs (42 CFR Part 2). Where a stricter law applies, we follow the stricter law, and where a specific written permission is required before a disclosure, we obtain it first.
Substance use disorder treatment records we receive from a program covered by 42 CFR Part 2, and testimony relaying those records, will not be used or disclosed in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceedings against you unless you consent in writing or a court orders it after giving you notice and an opportunity to be heard, as 42 CFR Part 2 provides.
Please be aware that information we disclose to another person or organization may be redisclosed by the recipient and may no longer be protected by federal privacy law.
Your rights
Access. You may inspect and obtain a copy of your records, including an electronic copy, generally within 30 days of request. Much of your record is available to you at any time through the patient portal, including a full export you can download yourself.
Amendment. You may request that we amend records you believe are incorrect or incomplete. We may deny the request in limited circumstances and will explain why in writing.
Accounting of disclosures. You may request a list of certain disclosures we have made of your information in the prior six years.
Restrictions. You may request restrictions on how we use or disclose your information for treatment, payment, or operations. We are not required to agree to most requested restrictions, but under 45 CFR 164.522(a)(1)(vi) we must agree when you ask us not to disclose information to your health plan for payment or operations purposes and the information pertains to an item or service you (or someone on your behalf) paid for in full out of pocket. Because every service in this practice is paid out of pocket, this restriction applies to your entire record here upon your request: tell us, and we will not send that information to your insurer.
Confidential communications. You may ask us to contact you by alternative means or at alternative locations (for example, portal messages only, or a specific phone number) and we will accommodate reasonable requests.
Someone acting for you. A parent or guardian of a minor patient, a legal guardian, or a person you have given a medical power of attorney may exercise your rights and make choices about your information once we can verify their authority.
Copy of this notice. You may request a paper copy at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically.
Breach notification. We are required to notify you if a breach of your unsecured PHI occurs (45 CFR 164.400 through 164.414).
Complaints
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may complain to us at the contact below and to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Office for Civil Rights, hhs.gov/ocr). We will not retaliate against you in any way for filing a complaint.
Changes to this notice
We reserve the right to change this notice and to make the new terms effective for all PHI we maintain. The current notice is always available at portal.drneilpatelmd.com/privacy, is posted on our website, and is available on paper on request. If we make a material change, we will post the revised notice promptly and make it available to you.
Contact
Privacy Official: Neil J Patel, MD Email: neil@drneilpatelmd.com Phone: to be published at adoption of this notice Mailing address: to be published at adoption of this notice
Acknowledgment of receipt
When you register for the patient portal, we ask you to acknowledge receipt of this notice by typing your legal name; that acknowledgment, with the date and the version of the notice you received, is kept in your record (45 CFR 164.520(c)(2)(ii)). You can read the current notice at any time, without signing in, at portal.drneilpatelmd.com/privacy, and you may ask for a copy whether or not you acknowledge receipt.