HIPPA

 HIPAA Privacy Practices and Policies for the Website

As required by the privacy regulations created as a result of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), this notice describes how medical information about you, as a subscriber and/or client of OVA Sanctum Virtual Midwifery Guidance and Telehealth WomanCare, may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to your individually identifiable information. 

The midwives, providers, and administrative staff  of OVA Sanctum are required by law to maintain the privacy of your Protected Health Information (PHI), Non-Personally Identifiable Information, and Personally Identifiable Information, and to provide you with this notice of our duties and privacy practices. If OVA Sanctum changes this notice, we will provide a copy of the revised notice by sending a copy to you through the client portal or by mail.  

The purpose of this privacy policy is to describe and inform you of the types of information we may collect from you and how we may use that information in relation to our services. 

This notice also explains how we collect information from visitors and users of the OVA Sanctum website, and the various ways in which you (collectively, “You,” “Your,” “User”) may interact with our website. 

By using our website and providing any information to us through the website or our encrypted and protected health charting system, AthenaHealth, you consent to our collection and use of your information as outlined in this Privacy Policy and agree to be bound by the OVA Sanctum Terms of Use.


USES AND DISCLOSURES

As a Visitor the OVA Sanctum website:

Ova Sanctum collects “Non-Personally Identifiable Information” from you regarding your usage of the OVA Sanctum Site.  Non-Personally Identifiable Information may include, without limitation 

  • pages viewed in our website

  • websites visited prior to accessing our site

  • browser type and operating system

  • web pages clicked and time spent viewing pages 

  • frequency of visits to our Site

  • connection speed and date(s) and time(s) of visits to the Site

We collect this information using various technologies. We may use analytics programs and service providers, which can use first party cookies to report on your interactions with the Site.   

As a Member of OVA Sanctum: The Circle

When you register for our Membership subscription or purchase services/products through the OVA Sanctum website you will be voluntarily providing us “personally identifiable information”(PII)  such as your first and last name, your email, postal, or physical address and well as “personal health information” (PHI) through our electronic health record (EHR) vender, Athena Health. This information does allow us to identify you personally. 

For Midwifery Guidance and Telehealth:: 

OVA Sanctum may use or share your PHI (protected health information) for the purpose of 

  • evaluating your health

  • diagnosing medical conditions 

  • providing treatment. 

For example, results of laboratory tests and procedures will be available in your medical record to all health professionals who may be involved in your care plan . 

For Payments made to OVA Sanctum:

If you purchase a service, a subscription, or products from the Website you will be providing a valid form of payment. This information is collected directly by our payment vendors and is not stored or shared by OVA Sanctum.

If you purchase telehealth services, OVA Sanctum may use or disclose PHI (protected health information) to make decisions on payment through AthenaHealth and Quilted Health . This may include:

  • Claims submissions

  • Treatment approvals

  • decisions about medical need

For example, your health plan may request and receive information on date of service, the services provided and the medical condition being treated. 

Healthcare operations: OVA Sanctum may use or share PHI (protected health information) necessary to support the day-to-day activities and management of our practice. For example, information on the services you received may be used to support budgeting and financial reporting, and activities to evaluate and promote quality. 

All electronic communications, which may contain pieces of Protected Health Information will move through our encrypted and protected Electronic Health Record provider, ATHENAHealth. Electronic communications containing “Non-Personally Identifiable Information” and “Personal Identifiable Information” may travel through unprotected portals like email and text messaging.  

Required by Law: OVA Sanctum will use or share your PHI as required by law, including response to: 

  • Court orders or legal proceedings 

  • Requests by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

  • law enforcement purposes. 

Public Health:  OVA Sanctum may use or share your PHI for public health activities, such as reporting communicable disease to the state health department, as well as reporting vital events such as births. 

Victims of Abuse, Neglect or Domestic Violence:  OVA Sanctum may notify government authorities or law enforcement as required by law for reporting certain types of physical injuries/wounds, suspected or confirmed child abuse or neglect. If we believe an adult is the victim of abuse, assault or intimate partner violence, we will report when the client agrees to the disclosure.  

Appointment reminders: Your health information will be used to remind you of your future appointments.

Other uses and disclosures require your authorization: Disclosure of your health information or its use for any other purpose other than those listed above requires your specific written permission. If you change your mind after authorizing a use or disclosure of your information, you may submit a written revocation of the authorization. However, your decision to revoke the authorization will not affect or undo any use or disclosure of information that occurred before you notified us of your decision to revoke your authorization. 

INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS 

You have the right to: 

Review and copy your protected health information

You may generally inspect or copy the PHI that we maintain. As permitted by federal regulation, we require that the requests to inspect or copy PHI be submitted in writing. You may obtain a form to request access to your records by contacting the  OVA Sanctum staff. Your request will be reviewed and generally approved unless there are legal or medical reasons to deny the request. 

Amend your PHI

You may ask that we amend (change) your PHI. This involves only those records kept by us about you as a client. You will need to make your request in writing. In certain cases, we may deny your request for an amendment. If we deny your request for amendment, you have the right to file a statement of disagreement with us and we may prepare a rebuttal to your statement and provide you with a copy of any such rebuttal. Requests for amendments must be in writing and must be directed to our Privacy Officer, Brooke Prudhomme,  and must include a reason to support the requested amendments.  

Receive an Accounting of PHI Disclosures

You have the right to request an accounting of certain disclosures of your PHI made by  OVA Sanctum. This right applies to disclosures for purposes other than treatment, payment, or health care operations as described in this Privacy Notice. We are also not required to account for disclosures that you requested, disclosures that you agreed to by signing an authorization form, disclosures for a facility directory, to friends or family involved in your care, or certain other disclosures we are permitted to make without your authorization. The request for an accounting must be made in writing to our Privacy Officer.  The request should specify the time period sought for the accounting.  We are not required to provide an accounting for disclosures that take place prior to April 14, 2003.  Accounting requests may not be made for periods of time in excess of six years.  We will provide the first accounting you request during any 12-month period without charge.  Subsequent accounting requests may be subject to a reasonable cost-based fee.

Complaints and Contact Person 

If you would like to submit a comment or complaint or need further information about our privacy practice, you can do so by sending a letter outlining your concerns to our birth center. If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you should call the matter to our attention by sending a letter describing the cause of your concern to the same address. You will not be penalized or otherwise retaliated against for filing a complaint. Privacy officer can be contacted via email at brooke@ovasanctum.com 


Privacy Officer, PO Box 60 140 Lakeside Avenue. Seattle WA 98122