Privacy Practices Overview
THE FOLLOWING OUTLINES HOW YOUR MEDICAL DETAILS MAY BE UTILIZED AND SHARED, AND THE METHODS THROUGH WHICH YOU CAN ACCESS THEM. KINDLY EXAMINE THIS THOROUGHLY.
Effective Date
The Privacy Practices Overview (referred to as “this Overview”) became effective on October 24, 2023. MedCare Link Link will adhere to this Overview until a newer version is introduced.
MedCare Link’s Dedication to Preserving Your Privacy
We at MedCare Link value and prioritize the confidentiality of your medical data. In the course of offering our services, we will access, generate, and share your confidential health data (“CHD”). By law, we are bound to preserve the confidentiality of your CHD and to inform you about our obligations and practices concerning your CHD. For details on how we handle personal data aside from CHD, kindly refer to our privacy guidelines at www.medclk.com/privacy-policy/ and the privacy statements on our affiliate websites mentioned earlier.
Your Data. Your Privileges. Our Duties.
Within this Overview, we clarify:
– The Data We Gather From You
– The Circumstances Under Which We Utilize and Distribute Your Data
– Situations When We Are Obliged to Share Your Data
– Instances Requiring Your Consent to Access or Distribute Your Data
– Your Rights Pertaining to Your Data
– Measures We Take to Safeguard Your Data
– Any Modifications to This Overview’s Provisions
– The Nature of Data We Obtain From You
– As part of offering you MedCare Link Link’s services, we source CHD about you from various channels, including directly from you. CHD embodies data that can identify you (like your name), and pertains to:
– Your past, ongoing, or upcoming health status,
– The medical care provided to you, and
– Your previous, current, or future payments for receiving healthcare.
CHD Collected From You
When utilizing MedCare Link Services, it’s essential for you to furnish MedCare Link with details about your medical background, prior treatments, and potential upcoming treatment possibilities. Interactions with us, encompassing phone calls, emails, and other correspondence with MedCare Link or its affiliated service providers, might be documented and cataloged. Thus, we will accumulate and preserve all details shared in these interactions, encompassing your identification, the timestamp of the dialogue, and the substance of the messages.
CHD Collected from Third Parties
While providing MedCare Link Services, we might gather data about you from external sources. These can include:
– Previous or present medical care providers
– Health insurance entities and pharmacy benefit management firms
– Employers or other institutions that have partnered with MedCare Link to offer you the Services. They might supply us with your name and demograCHDc details to confirm your eligibility for the Services.
CHD Collected Automatically
As you sign up and access our protected websites and mobile applications, MedCare Link captures data about you. It’s essential for MedCare Link to associate your actions with your identity to implement system adjustments and monitor the Services you’ve engaged with. Therefore, during your usage of our protected digital platforms, we automatically log details such as:
– IP location
– Device specifics
– Broad geographical data
– Timestamps of your access and utilization, functionalities you interacted with, and the duration spent on the protected websites/mobile applications.
When We Use and Share Your Information
To furnish you with the Services, it becomes necessary for us to access and share your CHD for these purposes:
Care Procedures
We utilize your CHD within MedCare Link for your treatment and to offer medical services. Additionally, your CHD might be shared with other doctors or health care professionals to ensure they can also provide you with the necessary treatment and services. As an illustration, electronic prescriptions issued by MedCare Link might be accessible to your attending doctor to uphold the standard of care. In the process of using our Services, for the sake of maintaining seamless and high-quality care, providers within MedCare Link can access your CHD to deliver treatment and medical services to you. For instance, records of your previous consultations will be on hand for the provider during a subsequent consultation.
Transaction Procedures
We have the ability to access and disseminate your CHD for billing purposes and other related payment tasks. As an instance, we will forward a billing request to your health insurance provider for compensation. Your CHD might also be provided to entities compliant with HIPAA, like health insurance plans, to support their billing processes.
Medical Management Objectives
MedCare Link has the authority to utilize and share your CHD for our operational needs. This might include enhancing medical offerings, ensuring quality customer support, undergoing quality evaluations, informing you about accessible Services and health advantages, overseeing provider qualifications, and conducting other medical management tasks. Your CHD might be disseminated to entities compliant with HIPAA, like health plans, solely for their operational purposes, provided they have, or once had, an affiliation with you.
We may also use CHD to:
Certainly. Here’s the revised policy:
Join health data exchange platforms (JHDE) enabling us to distribute, solicit, and obtain electronic medical records from other healthcare entities for the reasons of treatment, payment, and medical management as previously detailed.
Collaborate with external entities to support MedCare Link in our billing and medical administrative tasks. If these entities necessitate access to CHD to deliver their services for MedCare Link, we will mandate them to formalize a written commitment ensuring the protection of the CHD. We furnish only the necessary minimum of CHD to fulfill the specific objective of its usage and distribution.
Interact with relatives and acquaintances who partake in your care and its associated payments.
Generate anonymized and collective data.
Circumstances Mandating the Release of Your Data
There are specific instances where MedCare Link might be legally allowed or obligated to access or disseminate your CHD without acquiring your consent. These instances encompass:
– During public health initiatives, like reporting particular ailments
– To safeguard individuals from harm or misconduct, such as cases of child maltreatment or elderly exploitation
– In legal and administrative scenarios, like answering to legal orders
– Relating to workers’ compensation claims
– To deter or mitigate an immediate and significant threat to an individual or society at large
– When mandated by legislation or for the sake of law enforcement
– For regional and national healthcare oversight actions, for example, physician certification and corrective measures
– To post-mortem examiners, coroners, and funeral service providers under certain conditions
– Pertaining to organ donations and transplants
– For research, sanctioned by a governing review committee
– For distinct governmental roles, including national defense measures
When Consent is Imperative for Accessing or Distributing Your Data
MedCare Link will refrain from disseminating your CHD for reasons not covered in this document, barring the reception of your formal approval. Specifically, your written consent is imperative for us to access and share your CHD:
– For promotional activities
– In cases involving the sale of your CHD
– To mobilize funds
– With your workplace
Should MedCare Link decide to access or distribute your CHD for reasons mentioned above or for any other reason not outlined in this document, we will procure your approval utilizing the designated HIPAA Consent for Releasing Protected Medical Data Form available here. You retain the privilege to retract any previously granted consent.
Entitlements Pertaining to Your Medical Data
With regard to your CHD held by MedCare Link, you possess the subsequent rights. Furthermore, individuals with your medical power of attorney or a legal custodian can act upon these rights on your behalf and make determinations concerning your medical details.”
Access to Your CHD
You can readily view the majority of your CHD retained by MedCare Link by logging into the Member Portal. This provides you with access to your medical consultations and records. For information not accessible online, you must submit a written request to Teladoc via our provided Webform located here. There might be fees associated with duplication and postal services. In some specific situations, MedCare Link might decline your access request and will provide reasons for such denial.
Amendment Rights Concerning Your CHD
Should you find discrepancies in your CHD, you can request MedCare Link to make the necessary corrections. The Member Portal allows you to make certain modifications to your CHD directly. For other amendments, submit your request in writing via our Webform accessible here. If we decline the amendment request, you have the option to attach a differing statement to your records.
Setting Limitations on Uses and Disclosures of Your CHD
You hold the right to request certain limitations concerning the use or revelation of your CHD, particularly in regards to treatment, payment, or operational procedures. Direct such requests in writing via our Webform here. Although MedCare Link isn’t obligated to fulfill every restriction request, if you’re seeking non-disclosure of your CHD to insurers or health plans, you’ll need to bear service expenses directly.
Right to Confidential Interactions
Should you prefer an alternative mode or location for communication, you can request such from MedCare Link. Place your request for confidential interactions in writing using our designated Webform here. While we’re not bound to comply with every request, we commit to accommodating feasible ones.
Disclosure History Request Right
You can request a detailed record of how your CHD has been shared by MedCare Link. To seek this record, submit your request in writing using our Webform here. This disclosure record will not cover details shared for treatment, payment, operational activities, information shared post your consent, and some other specific instances. The first record provided to you will be complimentary.
You also possess rights to: 1) Request and obtain a physical copy of this Notice anytime from MedCare Link; 2) Raise concerns with both MedCare Link and/or the Secretary of Health and Human Services (via www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/) if you feel there’s been an infringement of your privacy rights; 3) Learn more about how MedCare Link ensures your privacy by reaching out to our Privacy Officer in the ways mentioned:
Write:
MedCare Link
Privacy Department
1 PARK PLZ STE 600
IRVINE, CA 92614
Email:
privacy@medclk.com
Phone:
949-688-1116
Ensuring the Safety of Your CHD
Protecting your CHD is a top priority for us. At MedCare Link, any CHD you provide is shielded by rigorous security measures. We employ administrative, technological, and physical barriers to shield your CHD from unauthorized access and various other potential security and integrity risks. Our security practices align with both state and federal guidelines, including adherence to the HIPAA Security Regulations, and are informed by recognized industry standards. We continuously ensure the efficacy of our controls through annual evaluations and audits, including those related to SOC II, Type Two, and HITRUST certification. Here are some specific steps we take to safeguard your CHD:
– Our data storage systems use encryption at both the physical level and within the individual data columns.
– Database access is strictly regulated and is granted only to a select group of technical administrators.
– Regularly, every quarter, we assess and verify that access rights remain relevant and correctly assigned to staff roles.
– Annually, our staff undergo training on best practices to uphold the confidentiality and security of member information.
– If, against our efforts, an unauthorized individual gains access to your unsecured CHD, we will alert you promptly if this breach may have affected the privacy or security of your information.
Modifications to This Notice
MedCare Link retains the authority to revise the stipulations of this Notice whenever necessary, provided such alterations adhere to the relevant legal requirements. If MedCare Link modifies this Notice, the revised terms will pertain to all the CHD under our care. When changes are made to this Notice, we will update the Notice on our website and will provide the revised Notice upon request.”