Privacy Policy

Introduction

This notice is required by law to inform you of how Oregon Teledermatology (“OTD”) and its affiliates protect the confidentiality of your health care information in our possession. As a general rule, OTD does not collect your personal information unless you chose to provide that information to us. When you choose to provide us with your personal information, you are giving OTD your permission to use that information for the stated purposes listed in this privacy policy. If you choose not to provide us with that information, it might limit the features and services that you can use on this website. Protected Health Information ("PHI") collected from a new consult form is defined as individually identifiable information regarding a patient’s health care history, mental or physical condition, or treatment. Some examples of PHI include your name, address, telephone and/or fax number, electronic mail address, social security number or other identification number, date of birth, date of treatment, treatment records, and enrollment records. OTD receives, uses and discloses your PHI as permitted or required by law. Any other disclosure of your PHI without your authorization is prohibited.

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Some of the services on OTD allow you to send us an email. We will use the information you provide, such as an email address or phone number, only to respond to your inquiry. Keep in mind that email transmissions from you to OTD are not encrypted by default, so we suggest you do not send sensitive information such as PHI, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, or bank account information via such emails. If such information is required, it will be via a consult form that clearly states the page and its transmission of information is secure and encrypted. All electronic messages sent from OTD to you are encrypted and HIPAA-compliant. All electronic messages received from patients are deleted when no longer needed.

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We follow the privacy practices described in this notice and federal and state privacy requirements that apply to your PHI. OTD takes the security of your PHI very seriously. We take many precautions to ensure that the information we collect is secure and inaccessible by anyone outside of our organization. These precautions include advanced access controls to limit access to that information to only internal personnel who require access to that information. We also use numerous security technologies to protect all data stored on our servers and related systems. Our security measures are regularly upgraded and tested to ensure they are effective. OTD utilizes HIPAA-compliant software and services for both new consult forms and treatment form replies to secure your collected PHI. OTD reserves the right to change our privacy practice effective for all PHI maintained.  We will update this notice if there are material changes and redistribute it to you within 60 days of the change to our practices. We will also promptly post a revised notice on our website. A copy may be requested anytime by contacting the address at the end of this notice.

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Permitted Uses & Disclosures:

Your explicit authorization is not required to disclose information about yourself for purposes of health care treatment, payment of claims, and other health care operations. Your usage of OTD requires the collection of PHI. Opting-out of OTD prohibits you from filing a new consult.

Examples of disclosure and use for treatment, payment or operations include: processing your consults, reviewing the quality of health care you receive, providing customer service, resolving your grievances, and referring you to other physicians. Some other examples are:

• Uses and/or disclosures of PHI in facilitating treatment

• Uses and/or disclosures of PHI for payment. OTD requires payment upon submission of any new consult form.

• Uses and/or disclosures of PHI for health care operations.

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We use third-party services to store PHI for processing new consults. We also use third-party services to measure the number of visitors to our website, to interact with visitors on the site, and to make our website more useful to visitors. OTD has no control over or access to specific login information or any other sensitive personal information provided to third-party websites.

OTD will not use or disclose your PHI without your prior written authorization unless permitted by law. You can later revoke that authorization, in writing, to stop the future use and disclosure. The authorization will be obtained from you by OTD.

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Your Rights

You have the right to request an inspection of and obtain a copy of your PHI.

You may access your PHI by contacting OTD at the email address at the bottom of this notice. You must include (1) your name, address, telephone number and date of birth, and (2) the PHI you are requesting. OTD will not charge a fee for providing you copies of your PHI. OTD will only maintain that PHI that we obtain or utilize in providing your health care benefits. You may need to contact your health insurance company to obtain authorization regarding prescriptions made by OTD. You may not inspect or copy PHI compiled in reasonable anticipation of, or use in, a civil, criminal, or administrative action or proceeding, or PHI that is otherwise not subject to disclosure under federal or state law. In some circumstances, you may have a right to have this decision reviewed. Please contact OTD at the email address at the bottom of this page if you have questions about access to your PHI.

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You have the right to request a restriction of your PHI.

You have the right to ask that we limit how we use and disclose your PHI, however, you may not restrict our legal or permitted uses and disclosures of PHI. While we will consider your request, we are not legally required to accept those requests that we cannot reasonably implement or comply with during an emergency. If we accept your request, we will put our understanding in writing.

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You have the right to correct or update your PHI.

You may request to make an amendment of PHI we maintain about you. In certain cases, we may deny your request for an amendment. If we deny your request for amendment, you have the right to file a statement of disagreement with us and we may prepare a rebuttal to your statement and will provide you with a copy of any such rebuttal. If your PHI was sent to us by another person, we may refer you to that person to amend your PHI.

 

You can do the following at any time by contacting us via the email address given on our website:

(1) Ask for a list of personal information we have about you, if any.
(2) Request a change, correction, or deletion of your personal information.

 

You have rights related to the use and disclosure of your PHI for marketing.

OTD will not market your PHI to any third party.

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You have the right to request or receive confidential communications from us by alternative means or at a different address.

Alternate or confidential communication is available if disclosure of your PHI to the address on file could endanger you. You may be required to provide us with a statement of possible danger, as well as specify a different address or another method of contact. Please make this request in writing to the email stated at the end of this notice.

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You have the right to receive an accounting of certain disclosures we have made, if any, of your PHI.

You have a right to an accounting of disclosures with some restrictions. This right does not apply to disclosures for purposes of treatment, payment, or health care operations or for information we disclosed after we received a valid authorization from you. Additionally, we do not need to account for disclosures made to you, to family members or friends involved in your care, or for notification purposes. We do not need to account for disclosures made for national security reasons, certain law enforcement purposes or disclosures made as part of a limited data set. Please contact us at the number at the end of this notice if you would like to receive an accounting of disclosures or if you have questions about this right.

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You have the right to get this notice by email.

A copy of this notice is posted on the OTD website. You may also request an email copy or paper copy of this notice by calling our Customer Service number listed at the bottom of this notice.

 

You have the right to be notified following a breach of unsecured protected health information.

OTD will notify you in writing, to the email kept on file, if we discover the compromised privacy of your PHI.

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Complaints:

You may file a complaint to OTD and/or to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services if you believe OTD has violated your privacy rights. Complaints to OTD may be filed by notifying the contact below. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

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Contacts:

Oregon Teledermatology

Email for technical questions only: Questions@oregonteledermatology.com

This email is NOT for medically-sensitive information