Uses and Disclosures of Health Information Without Authorization:
When you obtain services from BFM, certain uses and disclosures of your health information are necessary and permitted by law in order to treat you, to process payments for your treatment and to support the operations of the entity and other involved providers. The following categories describe ways that BFM uses or discloses your information, and some representative examples are provided in each category. All of the ways your health information is used or disclosed should fall within one of these categories.
Your health information will be used for treatment.
For example: Disclosure of medical information about you may be made to doctors, nurses, technicians and others who are involved in taking care of you at BFM. This information may be disclosed to other physicians who are treating you or other healthcare facilities involved in your care. Information may be shared with pharmacies, laboratories or radiology centers for the coordination of different treatments.
Your health information will be used for payment.
For example: Health information about you may be disclosed so that services provided to you may be billed to an insurance company or third party. Information may be provided to your health plan about treatment you are going to receive in order to obtain prior approval or to determine if your health plan will cover the treatment.
Your health information will be used for healthcare operations.
For example: The information in your health record may be used to evaluate and improve the quality of the care and services we provide.
Business Associates:
There are some services that we provide through contracts with third party business associates. Examples include external laboratories, transcription agencies and copy services. To protect your health information, BFM requires these business associates to appropriately protect your information.