Notice of Privacy Practices

Date Effective: March 7, 2020
Version: 1.7

This Notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed, and how you can gain access to this information. Please review this Notice of Privacy Practices carefully.

OUR DUTIES

We are required by law to protect the privacy of your health information and to notify you of any breaches of your unsecured health information. We are also required by law to give you a copy of and follow the terms of this Notice, which sets forth our legal duties and privacy practices with regard to your health information.

WHO IS SUBJECT TO THIS NOTICE

  • Molecular Testing Labs, which includes its employees, interns, contractors, and all workforce members who do not fall into a specific category.

LABORATORY
Molecular Testing Labs
14401 SE 1st Street
Vancouver, WA 98684
360-693-8850

BILLING
Molecular Testing Labs
PO Box 790
Meridian, ID 83680-4044
855-685-5227 (855-MTL-LABS)

  • Medical staff members when providing services at or through Molecular Testing Labs.
  • This Notice covers only the health information collected, created and maintained by, through or at Molecular Testing Labs. “We,” “us,” and “our” in this Notice refer to the parties listed above. This Notice does not cover the care that you may receive from independent providers outside Molecular Testing Labs or actions by any health plan.
  • Molecular Testing Labs is not responsible for the acts of the other entities that may provide information to us that become a part of your health information.

QUESTIONS

If you have questions, please contact our Privacy Officer at 855-685-5227 (855-MTL-LABS).

USES AND DISCLOSURES OF YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION

The following categories describe different ways we use and disclose health information. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. Generally, except as allowed by law, we restrict access to your information, including nonpublic financial information, to those workforce members who need to know that information. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to protect your information.

USES AND DISCLOSURES OF YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION FOR TREATMENT, PAYMENT, AND OPERATIONS

Treatment: We may use and disclose your health information to give you care, and to coordinate and manage your treatment or other services. For example, we also may disclose your health information to a healthcare provider, who is not employed by Molecular Testing Labs, who requested the laboratory test.

Payment: We may use and disclose your health information to bill and collect payment from you or your health plan for services you received. For example, we may give information about your test to your health plan so that your health plan will pay us or reimburse you for the treatment.

Health care operations: We may use and disclose your health information for our operations. These uses and disclosures are necessary, for example, to evaluate the quality of our laboratory testing, accuracy of results, accreditation functions, and for Molecular Testing Labs operation and management purposes. Molecular Testing Labs may also disclose PHI to other healthcare providers or health plans that are involved in your care for their healthcare operations. For example, Molecular Testing Labs may provide PHI to manage disease, or to coordinate healthcare or health benefits.

USES AND DISCLOSURES THAT WE MAY MAKE UNLESS YOU OBJECT

Directory: Molecular Testing Labs does not create or maintain a directory.

Individuals involved in your care or for notification: We may disclose your PHI to a family member, close personal friend, or other person you identify certain health information that is needed for that person’s involvement in your care or payment for your care. Except in limited situations, such as an emergency, we will ask you or determine if you object. We also may disclose your health information, directly or through a disaster relief entity, to find and tell those close to you of your location or condition.

USES AND DISCLOSURES WE MAY MAKE WITHOUT YOUR AUTHORIZATION

As required by law: We will disclose your health information when required to do so by federal, state, or local law.

Business associates: We may disclose your health information to “business associates” with whom we contract to perform services on our behalf.

Public health activities: We may disclose your health information for public health activities, including: to a public health authority authorized by law to collect information to prevent or control disease, injury, or disability; to report actual or suspected child abuse or neglect; for certain federal Food and Drug Administration activities; to a person who may have been exposed to a communicable disease or may be at risk for contracting or spreading a disease or condition, as authorized by law; and to an employer about an employee, in certain situations.

Victims of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence: As allowed or required by law, we may disclose health information about an individual we reasonably believe to be the victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence to a government authority authorized to receive such reports.

Health oversight: We may disclose your health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure.

Lawsuits and disputes: We may disclose your health information in response to a court or administrative order, subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process, as allowed or required by law.

Law enforcement activities: We may disclose your health information if asked to do so by a law enforcement official: as required by laws that mandate certain types of reporting; in response to court orders, subpoenas, warrants, summonses, grand jury subpoenas, certain administrative requests, or similar processes; to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person (but we will give only limited information); about the victim of a crime in certain circumstances; about a death we believe may be the result of criminal conduct; about criminal conduct on our premises; and, in emergencies, to report a crime, the location of the crime or victims, or the identity, description, or location of the person who committed the crime.

Coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors: We may disclose your health information to a medical examiner or coroner as necessary or required to identify a deceased person or determine the cause of death. We also may disclose your health information to funeral directors so they can perform their duties.

Organ and tissue donations: We may disclose health information to authorized organizations as required or needed for organ, eye, or tissue donation and transplants.

Research: Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose your health information for research purposes. Most of the time, the provider conducting the research or Molecular Testing Labs will ask for your authorization.

To avert a serious or imminent threat to health or safety: We may use and disclose your health information when we reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent a serious or imminent threat to the health and safety of you, the public, or another person. The disclosure would be only to someone who is likely to help prevent the threat such as law enforcement.

Workers’ compensation: We may disclose your health information for workers’ compensation or similar programs.

National security, intelligence activities, protective services, and military personnel: We may disclose your health information to authorized federal officials for intelligence, counterintelligence, special investigations, and other national security activities authorized by law or to protect the president or other authorized persons. If you are a member of the armed forces, we may disclose health information about you as required by your military command authorities.

Inmates: We may disclose health information about an individual who is an inmate or is in custody to a correctional institution or law enforcement official.

Affiliated covered entities: We may share health information with providers who are “affiliated covered entities” of Molecular Testing Labs. These are entities with which Molecular Testing Labs has common ownership or control.

Incidental Disclosures: Certain incidental disclosures of your health information may occur as a by-product of permitted uses and disclosures.

De-identified information and limited data sets: We may use and disclose your health information that has been “de-identified” by removing certain identifiers (such as name and address), making it unlikely that you could be identified. We also may disclose limited health information, contained in a “limited data set,” as allowed by law.

Personal representatives: Minors and incapacitated adults may have “personal representatives.” These personal representatives may be able to act on the individual’s behalf and exercise the individual’s privacy rights.

USES AND DISCLOSURES WE MAY MAKE WITH YOUR AUTHORIZATION

Your authorization: Other uses and disclosures of your health information not covered by this Notice or permitted by law will be made only with your written authorization. These types of uses and dis- closures include psychotherapy notes, or uses or disclosures for the purposes of marketing or for the sale of your health information. You may revoke your authorization, in writing, at any time (unless you are told otherwise at the time you sign the authorization). If you revoke your authorization, then we will no longer use or disclose your health information for the reasons covered by your authorization, except to the extent that we already have relied on your authorization. We are unable to take back any disclosures we already have made based on your authorization, and we are required to retain our records of the care that we provided to you.

Specially protected health information: Unless otherwise required or permitted by law, we may need your authorization to disclose your health information regarding treatment for AIDS/HIV/ARC, mental health, drug addiction, alcoholism, and other substance abuse treatment, developmental disabilities, and/or genetic information or records.

YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION RIGHTS

You have the rights described below:

Right to inspect and copy: You have the right to inspect and obtain copies of health information that we may use to make decisions about your care. You also have the right to inspect and obtain copies of completed laboratory reports or results directly from Molecular Testing Labs laboratories in Molecular Testing Labs networks and at Molecular Testing Laboratories. We may deny your request in certain limited circumstances. To inspect or obtain a copy of your health information, you must submit your request in writing to the Privacy Officer at Molecular Testing Labs.

Right to amend: If you feel that health information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, then you have the right to request an amendment for as long as we keep this information. Molecular Testing Labs cannot amend records we did not create or author. We may deny your request in certain situations. To request an amendment, you must submit your request on a designated form to the Privacy Officer. You will be notified in writing within 60 days of your request if we do not agree to your request.

Right to an accounting of disclosures: You have the right to request an accounting of certain disclosures of your health information made by us. To request this list or accounting, you must submit your request on a designated form to the Privacy Officer.

Right to request restrictions: You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the health information we use about you for treatment, payment or healthcare operations. You also have the right to request a limit on the health information we disclose about you to someone who is involved in your care or the payment for your care. To request a restriction, you must submit your request on a designated form to the Privacy Officer. You are entitled to a restriction, upon request, to not disclose information to your health plan for health care services we provided and for which you paid us directly in full when the purpose of the disclosure is for the health plan’s payment or health care operations and is not otherwise required by law and the health information pertains solely to the health care item or service for which you or a person on your behalf of has paid us in full. We are not required to agree to other types of request. If we do agree, we will comply with your request unless the information is needed to provide you with emergency treatment.

Right to request confidential communications: You have the right to request that we communicate with you about health matters in a certain way or at a certain location. To request confidential communications regarding billing, you must submit our designated form to the Accounting Department or the Privacy Officer. We will agree to the request if it is reasonable for us to do so.

Right to a copy of this Notice: You have the right to receive a written copy of this Notice (even if you agreed to receive this Notice electronically). Copies of the Notice are available at the Reception Desk or by the Privacy Officer. You may print a copy of this Notice from our website at www.moleculartestinglabs.com.

CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE

We reserve the right to change this Notice. The revised Notice will be effective for information we already have about you as well as any information we receive in the future. Unless required by law, the revised Notice will be effective on the new effective date of the Notice. The current Notice will be available in lab locations or on our websites and will be posted in our facilities. The Notice will state an effective date.

COMPLAINTS

If you believe that your privacy rights have been violated, you may complain to the Privacy Officer by calling 855-685-5227 (855-MTL-LABS) or the Molecular Testing Labs hotline at 855-400-6002, or at www.lighthouse-services.com/moleculartestinglabs. You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Ave. S.W., Washington, DC 20201, calling 877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.