Notice of Non-discrimination
Discrimination is Against the Law
Frenchtown Dental
- Complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.
Frenchtown Dental
- Does not exclude people or treat them differently because of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.
Frenchtown Dental:
- Provides free aids and services to people with disabilities to communicate effectively with us, such as:
- Qualified sign language interpreters
- Written information in other formats (large print, audio, accessible electronic formats)
- Provides free language services to people whose primary language is not English, such as:
- Qualified interpreters
- Information written in other languages
If you need these services, contact Frenchtown Dental
If you believe that Frenchtown Dental has failed to provide these services or discriminated in another way on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex, you can file a grievance with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, electronically through the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Portal, available at https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/portal/lobby.jsf, or by mail or phone at:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW
Room 509F, HHH Building
Washington, D.C. 20201
1-800-368-1019, 800-537-7697 (TDD)
Complaint forms are available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/office/file/index.html.
Frenchtown Dental 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.
- Dental Practice Covered by this Notice
This Notice describes the privacy practices of Frenchtown Dental (“Dental Practice”). “We” and “our” means the Dental Practice. “You” and “your” means our patient.
- How to Contact Us/Our Privacy Official
If you have any questions or would like further information about this Notice, you can contact Frenchtown Dental’s Privacy Official at:
Amber Ishler-Petersen
16350 Beckwith Street
Frenchtown, MT 59834
406-626-4337
406-626-3357
III. Our Promise to You and Our Legal Obligations
The privacy of your health information is important to us. We understand that your health information is personal and we are committed to protecting it. This Notice describes how we may use and disclose your protected health information to carry out treatment, payment or health care operations and for other purposes that are permitted or required by law. It also describes your rights to access and control your protected health information. Protected health information is information about you, including demographic information, that may identify you and that relates to your past, present or future physical or mental health or condition and related health care services.
We are required by law to:
- Maintain the privacy of your protected health information;
- Give you this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to that information; and
- Abide by the terms of our Notice that is currently in effect.
- Last Revision Date
This Notice was last revised on June 16th, 2014.
- How We May Use or Disclose Your Health Information
The following examples describe different ways we may use or disclose your health information. These examples are not meant to be exhaustive. We are permitted by law to use and disclose your health information for the following purposes:
- Common Uses and Disclosures
- Treatment. We may use your health information to provide you with dental treatment or services, such as cleaning or examining your teeth or performing dental procedures. We may disclose health information about you to dental specialists, physicians, or other health care professionals involved in your care.
- Payment. We may use and disclose your health information to obtain payment from health plans and insurers for the care that we provide to you.
- Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose health information about you in connection with health care operations necessary to run our practice, including review of our treatment and services, training, evaluating the performance of our staff and health care professionals, quality assurance, financial or billing audits, legal matters, and business planning and development.
- Appointment Reminders. We may use or disclose your health information when contacting you to remind you of a dental appointment. We may contact you by using a postcard, letter, phone call, voice message, text or email.
- Treatment Alternatives and Health-Related Benefits and Services. We may use and disclose your health information to tell you about treatment options or alternatives or health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.
- Disclosure to Family Members and Friends. We may disclose your health information to a family member or friend who is involved with your care or payment for your care if you do not object or, if you are not present, we believe it is in your best interest to do so.
- Disclosure to Business Associates. We may disclose your protected health information to our third-party service providers (called, “business associates”) that perform functions on our behalf or provide us with services if the information is necessary for such functions or services. For example, we may use a business associate to assist us in maintaining our practice management software. All of our business associates are obligated, under contract with us, to protect the privacy of your information and are not allowed to use or disclose any information other than as specified in our contract.
- Less Common Uses and Disclosures
- Disclosures Required by Law. We may use or disclose patient health information to the extent we are required by law to do so. For example, we are required to disclose patient health information to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services so that it can investigate complaints or determine our compliance with HIPAA.
- Public Health Activities. We may disclose patient health information for public health activities and purposes, which include: preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability; reporting births or deaths; reporting child abuse or neglect; reporting adverse reactions to medications or foods; reporting product defects; enabling product recalls; and notifying a person who may have been exposed to a disease or may be at risk for contracting or spreading a disease or condition.
- Victims of Abuse, Neglect or Domestic Violence. We may disclose health information to the appropriate government authority about a patient whom we believe is a victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence.
- Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose patient health information to a health oversight agency for activities necessary for the government to provide appropriate oversight of the health care system, certain government benefit programs, and compliance with certain civil rights laws.
- Lawsuits and Legal Actions. We may disclose patient health information in response to (i) a court or administrative order or (ii) a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process that is not ordered by a court if efforts have been made to notify the patient or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.
- Law Enforcement Purposes. We may disclose your health information to a law enforcement official for a law enforcement purposes, such as to identify or locate a suspect, material witness or missing person or to alert law enforcement of a crime.
- Coroners, Medical Examiners and Funeral Directors. We may disclose your health information to a coroner, medical examiner or funeral director to allow them to carry out their duties.
- Organ, Eye and Tissue Donation. We may use or disclose your health information to organ procurement organizations or others that obtain, bank or transplant cadaveric organs, eyes or tissue for donation and transplant.
- Research Purposes. We may use or disclose your information for research purposes pursuant to patient authorization waiver approval by an Institutional Review Board or Privacy Board.
- Serious Threat to Health or Safety. We may use or disclose your health information if we believe it is necessary to do so to prevent or lessen a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety.
- Specialized Government Functions. We may disclose your health information to the military (domestic or foreign) about its members or veterans, for national security and protective services for the President or other heads of state, to the government for security clearance reviews, and to a jail or prison about its inmates.
- Workers’ Compensation. We may disclose your health information to comply with workers’ compensation laws or similar programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness.
- Your Written Authorization for Any Other Use or Disclosure of Your Health Information
Uses and disclosures of your protected health information that involve the release of psychotherapy notes (if any), marketing, sale of your protected health information, or other uses or disclosures not described in this notice will be made only with your written authorization, unless otherwise permitted or required by law. You may revoke this authorization at any time, in writing, except to the extent that this office has taken an action in reliance on the use of disclosure indicated in the authorization. If a use or disclosure of protected health information described above in this notice is prohibited or materially limited by other laws that apply to use, we intend to meet the requirements of the more stringent law.
VII. Your Rights with Respect to Your Health Information
You have the following rights with respect to certain health information that we have about you (information in a Designated Record Set as defined by HIPAA). To exercise any of these rights, you must submit a written request to our Privacy Official listed on the first page of this Notice.
- Right to Access and Review
You may request to access and review a copy of your health information. We may deny your request under certain circumstances. You will receive written notice of a denial and can appeal it. We will provide a copy of your health information in a format you request if it is readily producible. If not readily producible, we will provide it in a hard copy format or other format that is mutually agreeable. If your health information is included in an Electronic Health Record, you have the right to obtain a copy of it in an electronic format and to direct us to send it to the person or entity you designate in an electronic format. We may charge a reasonable fee to cover our cost to provide you with copies of your health information.
- Right to Amend
If you believe that your health information is incorrect or incomplete, you may request that we amend it. We may deny your request under certain circumstances. You will receive written notice of a denial and can file a statement of disagreement that will be included with your health information that you believe is incorrect or incomplete.
- Right to Restrict Use and Disclosure
You may request that we restrict uses of your health information to carry out treatment, payment, or health care operations or to your family member or friend involved in your care or the payment for your care. We may not (and are not required to) agree to your requested restrictions, with one exception: If you pay out of your pocket in full for a service you receive from us and you request that we not submit the claim for this service to your health insurer or health plan for reimbursement, we must honor that request.
- Right to Confidential Communications, Alternative Means and Locations
You may request to receive communications of health information by alternative means or at an alternative location. We will accommodate a request if it is reasonable and you indicate that communication by regular means could endanger you. When you submit a written request to the Privacy Official listed on the first page of this Notice, you need to provide an alternative method of contact or alternative address and indicate how payment for services will be handled.
- Right to an Accounting of Disclosures
You have a right to receive an accounting of disclosures of your health information for the six (6) years prior to the date that the accounting is requested except for disclosures to carry out treatment, payment, health care operations (and certain other exceptions as provided by HIPAA). The first accounting we provide in any 12-month period will be without charge to you. We may charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost for each subsequent request for an accounting within the same 12-month period. We will notify you in advance of this fee and you may choose to modify or withdraw your request at that time.
- Right to a Paper Copy of this Notice
You have the right to a paper copy of this Notice. You may ask us to give you a paper copy of the Notice at any time (even if you have agreed to receive the Notice electronically). To obtain a paper copy, ask the Privacy Official.
- Right to Receive Notification of a Security Breach
We are required by law to notify you if the privacy or security of your health information has been breached. The notification will occur by first class mail within sixty (60) days of the event. A breach occurs when there has been an unauthorized use or disclosure under HIPAA that compromises the privacy or security of your health information.
The breach notification will contain the following information: (1) a brief description of what happened, including the date of the breach and the date of the discovery of the breach; (2) the steps you should take to protect yourself from potential harm resulting from the breach; and (3) a brief description of what we are doing to investigate the breach, mitigate losses, and to protect against further breaches.
VIII. Special Protections for HIV, Alcohol and Substance Abuse, Mental Health and Genetic Information
Certain federal and state laws may require special privacy protections that restrict the use and disclosure of certain health information, including HIV-related information, alcohol and substance abuse information, mental health information, and genetic information. For example, a health plan is not permitted to use or disclose genetic information for underwriting purposes. Some parts of this HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices may not apply to these types of information. If your treatment involves this information, you may contact our office for more information about these protections.
- Our Right to Change Our Privacy Practices and This Notice
We reserve the right to change the terms of this Notice at any time. Any change will apply to the health information we have about you or create or receive in the future. We will promptly revise the Notice when there is a material change to the uses or disclosures, individual’s rights, our legal duties, or other privacy practices discussed in this Notice. We will post the revised Notice on our website (if applicable) and in our office and will provide a copy of it to you on request. The effective date of this Notice is 6/16/2014.
- How to Make Privacy Complaints
If you have any complaints about your privacy rights or how your health information has been used or disclosed, you may file a complaint with us by contacting our Privacy Official listed on the first page of this Notice.
You may also file a written complaint with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. We will not retaliate against you in any way if you choose to file a complaint.
Notice of Language Services
We will take reasonable steps to provide free-of-charge language assistance services to people who speak languages we are likely to hear in our practice and who don’t speak English well enough to talk to us about the dental care we are providing.
Spanish: Tomaremos acciones razonables para proporcionar servicios de asistencia lingüística gratuitos a aquellas personas cuyo lenguaje escuchemos frecuentemente en nuestro consultorio y que no hablen un inglés lo suficientemente bueno como para hablar con nosotros sobre el servicio odontológico que suministramos.
German: Wir werden angemessene Schritte unternehmen, um denen eine gebührenfreie Sprachunterstützung zu bieten, die Sprachen sprechen, die wir möglicherweise in unserer Praxis hören, die aber kein Englisch sprechen, das gut genug ist, um mit uns über die Zahnpflege zu sprechen, die wir anbieten.
Chinese: 我们将有序地做到提供免费的语言服务使我们能听懂英语不好的人向我们咨询有关牙齿护理
Japanese: 実際に練習の中で耳にするく可能性がある言語を話す人々で、弊社が提供している歯科治療について、英語がそ れほど上手でない人々に、無償の言語支援サービスを提供するために合理的な措置を講じるつもりです。
Tagalog: Gagawin namin ang mga makatwirang hakbang para maibigay namin ng walang bayad ang mga tulong na serbisyo sa wika para sa mga taong nagsasalita ng mga wikang karaniwan naming naririnig sa aming pagsasagawa at sa mga hindi bihasa sa pagsasalita ng Ingles na sasangguni sa amin tungkol sa pangangalaga ng ngipin na ibinibigay namin.
French: Nous prendrons les mesures raisonnables pour fournir des services d’assistance linguistique gratuits pour les individus qui parlent des langues que nous sommes susceptibles d’entendre durant nos séances et qui ne parlent pas suffisamment bien l’anglais pour discuter avec nous concernant les soins dentaires que nous fournissons.
Russian: Мы принимаем необходимые меры, чтобы предоставить бесплатные услуги переводчика для общения на языках, с которыми мы сталкиваемся в нашей практике с клиентами, которые не владеют английским языком достаточно, чтобы обсудить с нами стоматологическое обслуживание, которое мы предоставляем.
Korean: 저희는 적절한 조치를 통하여 언어 지원 서비스를 무료로 제공할 것입니다. 다만, 실제로 저희에게 관심이 있는 언어를 쓰지만 저희 치아 관리 서비스에 대해 의견을 줄 수 있을 만큼 영어로 의사소통이 원활하지 않는 경우로 한정합니다
Arabic: سوف نقوم باتخاذ خطوات معقولة من أجل توفیر خدمات المساعدة اللغویة بدون تكلفة للأشخاص الذین یتحدثون لغات أخرى من المرجح أن نستمع إلیھا خلال ممارستنا والذین لا یتقنون تحدث الإنجلیزیة بشكل جید یمكنھم من التحدث إلینا فیما یتعلق برعایة الأسنان التي نقدمھا.
Thai: เราได ้ก ้าวไปอีกขั้นด ้วยการให ้บริการผู้ชวยด ้านภาษาโดยไม่ ่ มีค่าบริการ ให ้กับผู้ที่ไม่สามารถสอสารด ้วยภาษาอังกฤษเกี่ยวกับการดูแลทันตกรรมที่เราให ้บริการได ้ดีพอและใช ื่ ภาษ ้ าที่เรามักจะได ้ยินบ่อยในศูนย์ทันตกรรมของเรา
Norwegian: Vi vil ta rimelige skritt for å gi gratis språk assistanse tjenester til mennesker som snakker språk vi er sannsynlig å høre i vår praksis og som ikke snakker engelsk godt nok til å snakke med oss om tannpleie vi leverer.
Vietnamese: Chúng tôi sẽ thực hiện các bước cần thiết để cung cấp dịch vụ hỗ trợ ngôn ngữ miễn phí cho những người giao tiếp bằng những ngôn ngữ mà chúng tôi có thể nghe thấy tại phòng khám của mình và cho những người không có đủ trình độ tiếng Anh để thảo luận về dịch vụ chăm sóc nha khoa mà chúng tôi đang cung cấp.
Ukrainian: Ми вживаємо необхідні заходи, щоб надати безкоштовні послуги перекладача для спілкування мовами, з якими ми стикаємось в нашій практиці з клієнтами, які не володіють англійською мовою достатньо, щоб обговорити з нами стоматологічні послуги, які ми надаємо. Pennsylvanian
Dutch: Mir zelle unser Beschtes browiere fer Hilf griege fer ennich ebber as Druwwel hett fer verschtehe was mer an schwetze is in Englisch weeich Zaahdokteres do. Die Hilf, as mer aabiede kennt, deet nix koschte.
Italian: Adotteremo le misure ragionevoli per fornire servizi di assistenza linguistica gratuiti a coloro che parlano lingue che sentiamo spesso sul posto di lavoro e che non parlano inglese abbastanza bene da poter discutere della cura dentale che stiamo fornendo.