DAVID T. YEE, MD, LLC
Notice of Privacy Practices
PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: The intention of this office is to keep your medical information private and confidential.
FURTHER DETAILS: Pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA"), codified as 45 CFR Part 160 and 164, this notice is required by federal law to state in capital letters “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.”
These regulations are applicable for personal health information (“PHI”) transmitted in electronic form. This office may use or disclose protected health information (PHI) for treatment, payment, or health care operations. (See footnotes)
Federal law grants patients certain rights with respect to PHI including to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of protected health information, the right to inspect, copy, amend, and accounting of disclosures of protected health information, the right to obtain a paper copy of this notice upon request. Federal law requires the following notifications. This office notifies you that Privacy of PHI is to be maintained, notifies you of PHI related privacy practices, notifies you that if there is a breach of unsecured PHI, notifies you that we abide by the terms of the privacy notice, notifies you that a change in the terms of its notice is permissible, and notifies you that this office may provide you with any revisions of this notice.
We may contact you, by phone or in writing, to provide appointment reminders or information about treatments that may be of interest to you. You may have the following rights with respect to your PHI. The right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of PHI, including those related to disclosures of family members, other relatives, close personal friends, or any other person identified by you. HIPAA, however, does not require honoring such a request restriction except in limited circumstances.
If you have paid for services "out of pocket", in full, and you request that we not disclose PHI related solely to those services to a health plan, we will accommodate your request, except where we are required by law to make a disclosure.
This notice, published in December 2022, is effective as of January 1, 2023. You have recourse if you feel that your protections have been violated by our office. You have the right to file a formal, written complaint with the office (attn: Privacy Officer, 14505 Bel Red Road, Suite 100, Bellevue, WA 98007, 425-283-1920) and with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights. Federal law does not permit any retaliation for filing such a complaint. Feel free to contact the Privacy Officer for more information, in person or in writing.
FOOTNOTES
The federal government defines treatment as “the provision, coordination, or management of health care and related services by one or more health care providers, including the coordination or management of health care by a health care provider with a third party consultation between health care providers relating to a patient or the referral of a patient for health care from one health care provider to another.” An example is the provision of health care by this office. The federal government defines payment as “A health care provider or health plan to obtain or provide reimbursement for the provision of health care”. An example is determinations of eligibility or coverage. The federal government defines health care operations as “activities of the covered entity to the extent that the activities are related to covered functions”. An example is conducting quality assessment and improvement activities. HIPAA allows disclousre of your PHI for law enforcement and other legitimate reasons and to federal officials for the conduct of lawful intelligence, counter-intelligence, and other national security activities authorized by the National Security Act although we shall do our best to assure its continued confidentiality to the extent possible.
