Advanced Therapy Surfaces, Inc. Advanced Therapy Surfaces, Inc. has created this statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy.

Online Privacy Policy: www.ats-hme.com

Advanced Therapy Surfaces, Inc. believes that strong electronic privacy is crucial. Therefore, unless you designate otherwise, any information you enter within these publications will be known only to you and Advanced Therapy Surfaces, Inc.

We pledge that Advanced Therapy Surfaces, Inc. will not release your personal data to anyone else without your consent - period. Contact information may be used occasionally by Advanced Therapy Surfaces, Inc. to notify users of new services, events or the like, but will not be given or sold to third parties.

You may change the status of any subscriptions you may have to our publications at any time. Information for doing so is detailed on the main section page for each publication, as well as within every email discussion or newsletter posting.

Financial information that is collected is used only to bill for products and services, but is never released to anyone without a “need to know” for any reason. Our site contains links to other websites. Advanced Therapy Surfaces, Inc. is not responsible for the privacy ractices or the content of other websites.

HIPAA PRIVACY POLICY

This notice describes how medical information and other private information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please read carefully.

You have privacy rights under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act and the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA). These laws protect your privacy but also let us give information about you to others if the law requires it. We may tell you before we give the information. These laws require us to keep your health information private and to give you notice of our legal duties and practices to protect private information. We must follow the terms that we have agreed to in this notice. However, we can choose to change the terms of this notice. If we change the terms of this notice, those changes will be applied to all present and future information that we collect about you. We will tell you if we change the terms of this notice.

Why do we ask you for this information?

  • To tell you apart from people with the same or similar name.
  • To decide what you are eligible for.
  • To help you get medical, mental health, financial or social services.
  • To decide if you can pay for some of your services.
  • To make reports, do research, do audits, and evaluate our programs.
  • To investigate reports of people who may lie about the help they need.
  • To collect money from other agencies, like insurance companies, if they should pay for your care.
  • To collect money from the state or federal government for help we give you.

Do you have to answer the questions we ask?
Generally, the law does not say you have to give us this information.

What will happen if you do not answer the questions we ask?
We need the information about you to tell if you can get help. Without the information, we may not be able to help you. If you give us wrong information on purpose, you can be investigated and charged with fraud.

How we may use and disclose health information.
Described as follows are the ways we may use and disclose Health Information that identifies you. Except for the following purposes, we will use and disclose Health Information only with your written permission. You may revoke such permission at any time by writing our practice’s privacy officer.

Treatment. We may use and disclose Health Information for your treatment and to provide you with treatment-related health care services. For example, we may disclose Health Information to doctors, nurses, technicians, or other personnel, including people outside our office, who are involved in your medical care and need the information to provide you with medical care.

Payment. We may use and disclose Health Information so that we or others may bill and receive payment from you, an insurance company, or a third party for the treatment and service you received. For example, we may give your health plan information, so that they will pay for your treatment.

Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose Health Information for health care operation purposes. These uses and disclosures are necessary to make sure that all of our patients receive quality care and to operate and manage our office.

Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care. When appropriate, we may share Health Information with a person who is involved in your medical care or payment for your care, such as your family or a close friend. We may also notify your family about your location or general condition or disclose such information to an entity assisting in a disaster relief effort.

Research. Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose Health Information for research. For example, a research project may involve comparing the health of patients who receive one treatment to those who received another for the same condition.

Public Health Risks. We may disclose Health Information for public health activities. These activities generally include disclosures to prevent or control disease, injury, or disability; report births and deaths, report child abuse or neglect; report reactions to medications or problems with products; notify people of product recalls of product they may be using; inform a person who may have been exposed to a disease or may be at high risk for contracting or spreading a disease or condition and to report to the appropriate government authority if we believe a patient has been the victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.

National Security and Intelligence Agency. We may release Health Information to authorized federal officials for intelligence, counter intelligence and other national security activities authorized by the law.

Organ and Tissue Donation. If you are an organ donor, we may use or release Health Information to organizations that handle procurement or other entities engaged in procurement of organs or tissue to facilitate transplantation.

Additional Entities Requiring Your Health Information

  • Minnesota Department of Human Services
  • US Department of Health and Human Services
  • Other Human Service offices, including child support enforcement offices
  • Mental Health centers
  • Health care providers
  • Ombudsman for mental health and mental retardation.
  • Insurance companies to check benefits you or your dependants may get
  • Hospitals, friends or family if you have an emergency and we need to contact someone
  • Internal Revenue Service
  • County Human Service Boards
  • Fraud prevention and control units
  • State or Federal Auditors
  • Local and State Health Departments
  • Anyone under contract with the Minnesota Department of Human Services or
    U. S. Department of Health and Human Services or the county social service agency
  • Social Security Administration
  • Minnesota Department of Economic Security
  • Minnesota Department of Revenue
  • Minnesota Department of Veteran Affairs
  • Minnesota Department of Human Rights
  • County attorney, attorney general or other law enforcement officials
  • Local and state health departments
  • Local collaborative agencies
  • Guardian, conservator or person who has power of attorney for you
  • Ombudsman for families
  • American Indian tribes if your family is in need of Human Services at a tribal reservation
  • Employees or volunteers of any welfare agency who need the information to do their jobs
  • People who investigate child or adult protection
  • Coroner/medical examiner if you expire and they investigate your death
  • Court officials
  • Immigration and Naturalization Service
  • Anyone else the law allows us to give the information to

You have the right to the information we have about you:

  • You may ask if we have any information about you and get copies. You may have to pay for the copies.
  • You may give other people permission to see and have copies of private information about you.
  • If we have collected health information about you, we may use it only for the purposes that we have listed in this notice.
  • You may question the accuracy of any information we have about you.
  • You have the right to ask us to share health information with you in a certain way or in a certain place. For example, you may ask us to send health information to your work address instead of your home address. You must make the request in writing, but are not required to explain the basis for the request. If we find it reasonable, we will grant it.
  • You can ask us to restrict uses or disclosures of your health information. Your request must be in writing. You must explain what information you want restricted from being disclosed and to whom you want the restrictions to apply. You can request to end the restrictions any time by calling us or by writing us. We are not required to agree to your restrictions.
  • You have the right to receive a record of the people or organizations that we have shared your health information with. We must keep a record of each time we share your health information for six years from the date it was shared. This record will be started on April 14th, 2003. It will not include those times when we have shared your information in order to treat you, pay or bill for your Health care services, or to run our programs. If you want a copy of this record, you must send a request in writing to our Privacy Official.
  • If you do not understand this information, you may request to have it explained.

What if you believe the information we have about you is wrong?
Send your concerns in writing, telling us why the information is not accurate or complete. You may send your own explanation of the facts you disagree with. Your explanation will be attached any time that information is shared with another agency. (Find our current mailing address at www.ats-hme.com or by calling 651.762.1717.)

What privacy rights do children have?
If you are under 18, parents may see information about you and allow others to see this information, unless you have asked that this information not be shared with your parents or it involved medical treatment for which parental consent was not required. You must make this request in writing and say what information you want withheld and why. If the agency agrees that sharing the information is not in your best interest, the information will not be shared with your parents. If the agency disagrees, it will be shared with your parents if they request it. When parental consent for treatment is not required, information is not shared with your parents unless health care providers believe that failing to do so will jeopardize your health.

Filing Complaints about your Health Information Privacy Rights.
If you believe that your health information rights have been violated, you may file a complaint. Write to the Minnesota Department of Human Services, or the U.S. Department of Human Services at the address below. We cannot deny you services or treat you badly because you filed a complaint against us.

Privacy Official
MN Dept Of Human Services
444 Lafayette Rd N
St. Paul MN 55155-3813
Phone: 651-296-5764

Office of Civil Rights
Medical Privacy Complaint Division
US Dept. of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Ave SW HHH Building Room 509H
Washington DC 20201
Phone 888-627-7748
TTY 866-788-4989

This notice was published and becomes effective on April 13, 2003.