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.
Effective Date: July 1, 2025
Who Will Follow This Notice This Notice describes the privacy practices of the following entities (collectively, “Harbor Health Enterprise”):
- The Harbor Health Medical Group
- Harbor Health Insurance Company
- The Harbor Health Team, Inc.
- Harbor Health Services, Inc.
- Their affiliates, and any related health care providers or business associates that use or disclose Protected Health Information (PHI) under this Notice.
Our Pledge Regarding Medical Information
We understand that medical information about you and your health is personal. We are committed to protecting medical information about you. This Notice applies to all of the records of your care generated or received by Harbor Health Enterprise, whether made by Harbor Health Enterprise personnel or your personal doctor. Your records are our physical property; the information in it, however, belongs to you. We are required by law to:- Make sure that medical information that identifies you is kept private;
- Give you this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to medical information about you; and
- Follow the terms of the Notice that is currently in effect.
- How We May Use and Disclose Medical Information About You
The following categories describe the different ways that we use and disclose medical information. For each category of uses or disclosures, we will explain what we mean and give some examples. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of these categories.
For Treatment
We may use medical information about you to provide you with health care treatment or services. We may disclose medical information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students, or other Harbor Health personnel who are involved in taking care of you. For example, your physician may need to know if you have diabetes in order to prescribe the correct medication.
For Payment
We may use and disclose medical information about you so that the treatment and services you receive at Harbor Health may be billed to, and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company, or a third party. For example, we may need to give your health plan information about surgery you received so your health plan will pay us or reimburse you for the surgery.
For Health Care Operations
We may use and disclose medical information about you for health care operations. These uses and disclosures are necessary to run Harbor Health and make sure that all of our patients receive quality care. For example, we may use medical information to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you.
Appointment Reminders
We may use and disclose medical information to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for treatment or medical care at Harbor Health.
Treatment Alternatives and Health-Related Benefits and Services
We may use and disclose medical information to tell you about or recommend possible treatment options, alternatives, or health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.
Research
Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose medical information about you for research purposes. For example, a research project may involve comparing the health and recovery of all patients who received one medication to those who received another for the same condition.
As Required By Law
We will disclose medical information about you when required to do so by federal, state, or local law.
To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety
We may use and disclose medical information about you when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of another individual or the public.
Business Associates
There are some services provided in our organization through contracts with business associates. Examples include certain billing, transcription, and consulting services. When these services are contracted, we may disclose your health information to our business associate so that they can perform the job we have asked them to do. To protect your health information, however, we require the business associate to appropriately safeguard your information.
Public Health Risks
We may disclose medical information about you for public health activities, such as preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability; reporting abuse, neglect, or domestic violence; or reporting to the Food and Drug Administration problems with FDA-regulated products.
Health Oversight Activities
We may disclose medical information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure.
Legal Proceedings
We may disclose medical information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process.
Law Enforcement
We may release medical information if asked to do so by a law enforcement official for certain law enforcement purposes.
Coroners, Medical Examiners, and Funeral Directors
We may release medical information to a coroner or medical examiner to identify a deceased person or determine the cause of death. We may also release medical information to funeral directors as necessary to carry out their duties.
Organ or Tissue Donation
We may release medical information to organizations that handle organ procurement or organ, eye, or tissue transplantation or to an organ donation bank, as necessary to facilitate organ or tissue donation and transplantation.
Military and Veterans If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release medical information about you as required by military command authorities.
Workers’ Compensation We may release medical information about you for workers’ compensation or similar programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness.
Inmates If you are an inmate of a correctional institution, we may release medical information about you to the correctional institution or law enforcement official.
Special Government Functions We may disclose medical information about you for national security purposes or for intelligence activities.
Fundraising We may contact you for our own fundraising efforts, but you have the right to opt out of receiving these communications.
Your Rights Regarding Medical Information About You
- Right to Inspect and Copy: You have the right to inspect and copy medical information that may be used to make decisions about your care. To inspect and copy medical information, you must submit your request in writing to the Compliance Team at compliance@harborhealth.com. We may charge a reasonable fee for copying, mailing, or other costs associated with your request.
- Right to Amend: If you feel that medical information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information. To request an amendment, submit your request in writing to the Compliance Team at compliance@harborhealth.com. We may deny your request under certain circumstances.
- Right to an Accounting of Disclosures: You have the right to request an accounting of disclosures of your Protected Health Information (PHI) that we have made, except for disclosures made for treatment, payment, health care operations, pursuant to your authorization, or as otherwise permitted or required by law. To request this list or accounting of disclosures, you must submit your request in writing to our Privacy Officer at the address listed above. Your request must state a time period, which may not be longer than six (6) years and may not include dates before April 14, 2003. The first list you request within a 12-month period will be provided free of charge; for additional lists within the same 12-month period, we may charge you a reasonable, cost-based fee. We will notify you in advance of the cost and you may choose to withdraw or modify your request at that time.
- Right to Request Restrictions: You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the PHI we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment, or health care operations, or the PHI we disclose about you to someone who is involved in your care or the payment for your care. We are not required to agree to your requested restriction, except that we must honor a request to restrict disclosure of PHI to a health plan if the disclosure is for payment or health care operations and the PHI pertains solely to a health care item or service for which you (or someone on your behalf, other than the health plan) have paid us in full. To request a restriction, you must submit your request in writing to our Privacy Officer at the address listed above. Your request must state what information you want to restrict, whether you want to limit our use, disclosure, or both, and to whom you want the restriction to apply.
- Right to Request Confidential Communications: You have the right to request that we communicate with you about your PHI by alternative means or at alternative locations (for example, you may request that we only contact you at work or by mail). We will accommodate reasonable requests. To request confidential communications, you must make your request in writing to our Privacy Officer at the address listed above and specify how or where you wish to be contacted.
- Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice: You have the right to receive a paper copy of this Notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive this Notice electronically. To obtain a paper copy, please contact our Privacy Officer at the address listed above.
- Right to Breach Notification: You have the right to be notified in the event that there is a breach of your unsecured PHI. We will provide notification in accordance with the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and its implementing regulations.
Changes to this Notice
We reserve the right to change this Notice and the revised Notice will be effective for medical information we already have about you as well as any information we receive in the future. We will post a copy of the current Notice in our facilities and on our website. The Notice will contain the effective date on the first page.
Complaints
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with Harbor Health Enterprise by contacting:
Privacy Officer
Harbor Health Enterprise 3908 Avenue B, Suite 204, Austin, TX 78751 Phone: Toll Free 833-352-8868 Email: compliance@harborhealth.comYou may also file a complaint with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
For More Information If you have any questions about this Notice or our privacy practices, please contact our Privacy Officer at the contact information above.