Notice of Privacy Practices

Your rights

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. We will help you exercise them.

Get an electronic or paper copy of your record

• You may ask to inspect or receive an electronic or paper copy of prescription records and other health information we maintain about you.
• We will provide a copy or summary, usually within 30 days. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee as permitted by law.

Ask us to correct your record

• You may ask us to correct health information that you believe is incorrect or incomplete.
• We may deny the request in certain circumstances, but we will explain the reason in writing, generally within 60 days.

Request confidential communications

You may ask us to contact you in a particular way, such as at a specific telephone number, or to send mail to a different address. We will accommodate reasonable requests.

Ask us to limit what we use or disclose

• You may ask us not to use or disclose certain information for treatment, payment, or health care operations. We are generally not required to agree, and we may deny a request if it could affect your care.
• If you pay out of pocket in full for a health care item or service, you may ask us not to disclose information about that item or service to your health plan for payment or health care operations. We will agree unless a law requires disclosure.

Get a list of disclosures

You may request an accounting of certain disclosures made during the six years before your request. The accounting excludes disclosures for treatment, payment, and health care operations and certain other disclosures. One accounting in a 12-month period is free; a reasonable, cost-based fee may apply to additional requests.

Get a copy of this notice

You may request a paper copy at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically. We will provide one promptly.

Choose someone to act for you

If a person has legal authority to act for you, such as a health care agent, guardian, or other personal representative, that person may exercise your rights after we verify the authority.

File a complaint without retaliation

You may complain to our Privacy Officer using the contact information below. You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by writing to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Your choices

In certain situations, you may tell us your preferences about how we disclose your information. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions when the law gives you that choice.

• Disclosing information to family, close friends, or others involved in your care or payment for care.
• Disclosing information in a disaster-relief situation.

If you cannot tell us your preference, we may disclose information when we believe it is in your best interest or when necessary to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

We will obtain your written authorization before using or disclosing your information for:

• Most marketing purposes not otherwise permitted by law.
• The sale of your protected health information.
• Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes, if we maintain them.

We do not sell protected health information. We do not conduct fundraising using protected health information.

How we typically use and disclose your information

Treatment

We may use and disclose your health information to dispense prescriptions, counsel you, coordinate care, identify potential medication issues, and communicate with prescribers, other pharmacies, caregivers, and health professionals involved in your care.

Payment

We may use and disclose your information to bill and obtain payment from you, health plans, pharmacy benefit managers, government programs, or other responsible parties, and to determine coverage or benefits.

Health care operations

We may use and disclose your information to operate the pharmacy, improve quality, train staff, conduct audits, manage inventory and recalls, perform accreditation and compliance activities, prevent fraud, and contact you about prescriptions, refill reminders, treatment alternatives, or health-related services as permitted by law.

Other uses and disclosures permitted or required by law

We may use or disclose health information when legal conditions are met for purposes including:

• Public health and safety activities, including disease prevention, product recalls, adverse-event reporting, and reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.
• Health oversight activities, inspections, audits, investigations, and professional or pharmacy-board proceedings.
• Research that is approved or otherwise permitted under applicable privacy law.
• Compliance with federal, state, and local laws and requests from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Organ and tissue donation requests.
• Coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors when an individual dies.
• Workers' compensation, law enforcement, national security, military, and other government functions permitted by law.
• Judicial and administrative proceedings, court orders, and subpoenas when applicable legal requirements are satisfied.
• Preventing or reducing a serious and imminent threat to a person's health or safety.

Substance use disorder records

To the extent we receive or maintain substance use disorder patient records protected by 42 CFR part 2, we will not use or disclose those records in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative investigations or proceedings against you unless you provide written consent or a qualifying court order and subpoena authorize the use or disclosure. If Part 2 information is used for fundraising, we will provide clear advance notice and a meaningful opportunity to opt out.

Additional protections under New York law

Some New York laws provide protections that are more restrictive than HIPAA for particular information, including certain HIV-related information, mental health clinical records, and genetic test information. When those laws apply, we follow the more protective rule and obtain authorization or consent when required.

Our responsibilities

• We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
• We will notify you promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information, as required by law.
• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in the current notice and provide you a copy.
• We will not use or disclose your information other than as described here unless you authorize us in writing. You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time, except to the extent we already relied on it.

Changes to this notice

We may change this notice and make the revised terms effective for all information we maintain, including information created or received before the revision. The current notice will be available at the pharmacy, upon request, and on this website.

Privacy contact

Do not send a privacy complaint containing medication names, diagnoses, insurance identifiers, or other sensitive health information through general email. Call the Privacy Officer for an appropriate submission method.