Notice of Privacy Practices

Your information. Your rights. Our responsibilities.

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.

Medtrek Ambulance ("Medtrek," "we," "us," or "our") is a licensed medical transportation provider. We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your Protected Health Information ("PHI"), provide you with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, notify affected individuals following a breach of unsecured PHI, and follow the terms of the Notice currently in effect.

This Notice applies to health information created or maintained by Medtrek in connection with medical transportation, patient care, dispatch, billing, payment, quality improvement, and related healthcare operations.

1. Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding the health information we maintain about you.

Obtain an Electronic or Paper Copy of Your Records

• You may ask to inspect or receive an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we maintain about you.
• We will generally provide a copy or summary within the time required by applicable law. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee as permitted by law.
• In certain limited circumstances, we may deny access. When required, we will explain the reason for the denial in writing and inform you whether you may request a review of that decision.

Request an Amendment

• You may ask us to amend health information that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.
• We may deny your request in certain circumstances, such as when we did not create the information or determine that the information is accurate and complete. If we deny the request, we will explain the reason in writing within the time required by law.

Request Confidential Communications

• You may ask us to contact you in a particular way or at a particular location, such as by calling a different telephone number or sending correspondence to a different address.
• We will accommodate reasonable requests. We may ask you to specify how or where you wish to be contacted.

Request Restrictions

• You may ask us not to use or disclose certain health information for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations.
• We are generally not required to agree to your request. If we agree, we will comply with the restriction unless the information is needed to provide emergency treatment or disclosure is otherwise required by law.
• If you pay for a healthcare service completely out of pocket, you may ask us not to disclose information about that service to your health plan for payment or healthcare operations. We will agree unless disclosure is required by law.

Receive an Accounting of Disclosures

• You may request a list, known as an accounting, of certain disclosures of your health information made during the six years before the date of your request.
• The accounting will not include certain disclosures, including most disclosures for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations, disclosures made directly to you, disclosures made with your authorization, or other disclosures excluded by law.
• We will provide one accounting during any 12-month period without charge. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for additional requests during the same period after informing you of the cost and allowing you to withdraw or modify your request.

Receive a Paper Copy of This Notice

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

Be Notified of a Breach

We will notify you as required by law if a breach of unsecured PHI occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.

Choose a Personal Representative

• If another person has legal authority to act on your behalf, such as through a healthcare power of attorney, guardianship, or other legal authority, that person may exercise your rights and make decisions concerning your health information.
• We may verify the person's identity and authority before taking action.

File a Complaint

• You may file a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated. Instructions for filing a complaint appear in Section 8 of this Notice.
• Medtrek will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint or exercising any right described in this Notice.

2. Your Choices

For certain health information, you may tell us your preferences about what we share.

Family Members, Friends, and Others Involved in Your Care

• Unless you object, we may share information relevant to your care, condition, location, or payment with a family member, personal representative, guardian, caregiver, or other person involved in your care or payment for your care.
• If you are unable to express a preference, such as during an emergency or when you are incapacitated, we may share relevant information when we determine, using professional judgment, that doing so is in your best interest.

Disaster Relief

• We may share information with an organization assisting in disaster-relief efforts so that your family or others responsible for your care can be informed of your location, general condition, or death.
• When practicable, we will provide you with an opportunity to agree or object.

Marketing

• We will obtain your written authorization before using or disclosing your health information for marketing when authorization is required by law.
• Communications concerning your care, treatment alternatives, health-related services, case management, care coordination, or benefits may not be considered marketing under HIPAA.

Sale of Health Information

We will not sell your PHI without your written authorization when authorization is required by law.

Fundraising

Medtrek does not currently use PHI to conduct fundraising communications. If we engage in such communications in the future as permitted by law, you will have the right to opt out.

3. How We May Use and Disclose Your Health Information

HIPAA permits or requires us to use and disclose PHI for certain purposes without obtaining your written authorization. We will limit uses and disclosures to those permitted or required by applicable law.

Treatment

• We may use and disclose your health information to provide, coordinate, and manage your medical transportation and healthcare.
• Example: Our EMTs, paramedics, nurses, dispatch personnel, or other authorized personnel may share information about your condition, treatment, medications, oxygen requirements, mobility limitations, or transport needs with the hospital, physician, nursing facility, rehabilitation facility, hospice provider, or other healthcare professional involved in your care.
• We may obtain information from, and exchange information with, healthcare providers involved in arranging, providing, or receiving your transport.

Payment

• We may use and disclose your health information to bill for services and obtain payment.
• Example: We may provide transport records, medical-necessity documentation, physician certification statements, mileage information, insurance information, or other required documentation to Medicare, Medicaid, commercial insurers, healthcare facilities, billing companies, or other responsible payors.
• We may also use or disclose information to verify eligibility or benefits, obtain authorization, submit claims, respond to audits, appeal denials, collect payment, or coordinate benefits.

Healthcare Operations

• We may use and disclose your health information to operate our organization and improve the quality and safety of our services.
• Example: We may review patient-care reports for quality assurance, training, credentialing, compliance, licensing, accreditation, risk management, auditing, fraud prevention, legal services, business planning, and performance evaluation.

Business Associates

• We may disclose PHI to contractors and vendors that perform services for us, such as billing companies, technology providers, legal counsel, consultants, secure data-storage providers, and other business associates.
• Business associates are required by written agreement and applicable law to appropriately safeguard PHI.

Public Health and Safety Activities

We may disclose health information for permitted public-health and safety activities, including:

• Preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability;
• Reporting births, deaths, or certain injuries when required;
• Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence as permitted or required by law;
• Reporting adverse events or product defects;
• Preventing or reducing a serious and imminent threat to a person or the public;
• Assisting public-health investigations, interventions, or surveillance activities authorized by law.

Health Oversight Activities

We may disclose PHI to authorized health-oversight agencies for activities such as audits, investigations, inspections, licensure reviews, disciplinary proceedings, accreditation, compliance reviews, and government-program oversight.

Required by Law

We may use or disclose PHI when federal, Florida, or other applicable law requires us to do so. Any disclosure will be limited to the requirements of the applicable law.

Judicial and Administrative Proceedings

• We may disclose PHI in response to a valid court or administrative order.
• We may also respond to subpoenas, discovery requests, or other lawful legal processes when the requirements of HIPAA and other applicable laws have been satisfied.

Law Enforcement

• We may disclose PHI to law-enforcement officials when permitted or required by law, including in response to certain court orders, warrants, subpoenas, summonses, administrative requests, or requests concerning victims, missing persons, suspected crimes, deaths, or emergencies.
• We will disclose only the information permitted by applicable law.

Serious Threats to Health or Safety

• We may use or disclose PHI when we believe in good faith that doing so is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public.
• Any disclosure will be made to a person reasonably able to prevent or reduce the threat.

Organ and Tissue Donation

We may disclose PHI to organ-procurement organizations and other entities involved in procuring, banking, or transplanting organs, eyes, or tissues as permitted by law.

Coroners, Medical Examiners, and Funeral Directors

We may disclose PHI to coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors as necessary for them to perform duties authorized by law, including identifying a deceased person or determining cause of death.

Workers' Compensation

We may disclose PHI as authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with workers' compensation laws and similar programs concerning work-related injuries or illnesses.

Research

We may use or disclose PHI for research when the research has received any approvals required by law, when an institutional review board or privacy board has approved a waiver of authorization, or when another HIPAA exception applies.

Specialized Government Functions

We may disclose PHI for certain authorized government functions, including:

• Military and veterans' activities;
• National-security and intelligence activities;
• Protective services for government officials;
• Medical-suitability or government-benefit determinations;
• Correctional-institution and lawful-custody activities.

Disaster and Emergency Response

We may disclose relevant PHI to emergency-management agencies, disaster-relief organizations, emergency responders, healthcare providers, and others assisting with a disaster or emergency, as permitted by law.

Minors and Personal Representatives

• Parents, guardians, and other legally authorized representatives generally may exercise the privacy rights of minors or other individuals they represent.
• Exceptions may apply when a minor is legally authorized to consent to a healthcare service, when applicable law limits a representative's access, or when we reasonably believe that treating a person as the individual's representative could endanger the individual.

4. Substance Use Disorder Records

To the extent Medtrek receives or maintains substance-use-disorder patient records protected by 42 C.F.R. Part 2, those records may receive protections beyond those ordinarily applicable under HIPAA.

Records protected by Part 2, or testimony describing the contents of those records, generally may not be used or disclosed in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceedings against the individual unless the use or disclosure is authorized by the individual's written consent or by a qualifying court order accompanied by a subpoena or other legal requirement compelling disclosure, as required by applicable law.

Where Part 2 or another applicable law provides greater privacy protection than HIPAA, Medtrek will follow the more protective law.

5. Uses and Disclosures Requiring Written Authorization

We will obtain your written authorization before using or disclosing PHI when authorization is required by law, including for:

• Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes, when applicable;
• Certain marketing communications;
• The sale of PHI;
• Other uses and disclosures not described in this Notice or otherwise permitted or required by law.

You may revoke an authorization at any time by submitting a written revocation to the Medtrek HIPAA Privacy Officer.

Your revocation will not affect actions already taken in reliance on your authorization or other circumstances in which the law does not permit revocation to affect prior action.

6. Electronic Records and Communications

Medtrek may use electronic systems to document patient care, dispatch personnel, coordinate transportation, submit claims, communicate with healthcare providers, maintain records, and authenticate authorized users.

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic PHI.

Electronic communications, including ordinary email and text messaging, may carry privacy or security risks. Unless Medtrek has approved a secure communication method, please do not send sensitive medical information through ordinary email, website contact forms, or text messages.

For transport requests involving medical information, contact Medtrek Dispatch at (239) 228-7900.

7. Our Responsibilities

Medtrek is required by law to:

• Maintain the privacy and security of your PHI;
• Provide you with this Notice describing our legal duties and privacy practices;
• Notify affected individuals following a breach of unsecured PHI when notification is required;
• Follow the duties and privacy practices described in the Notice currently in effect;
• Provide a copy of this Notice upon request;
• Use or disclose your PHI only as described in this Notice, as authorized by you in writing, or as otherwise permitted or required by law.

We reserve the right to change the terms of this Notice and make the revised Notice effective for all PHI we maintain, including information created or received before the revision.

When we make a material change, we will revise this Notice and make the revised version available upon request, at our office, and on our website. The effective date of the revised Notice will appear at the top.

8. Complaints

You may file a complaint with Medtrek if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.

Submit complaints to:

Medtrek Ambulance — HIPAA Privacy Officer
3892 Prospect Ave, Ste 2, Naples, Florida 34104
Phone: (239) 228-7900
Email: info@medtrek.com

You may also file a complaint with the:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office for Civil Rights
200 Independence Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20201
Telephone: 1-877-696-6775

Complaints may also be submitted through the Office for Civil Rights complaint portal.

Medtrek will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint or exercising your privacy rights.

9. Questions and Further Information

For questions about this Notice, Medtrek's privacy practices, or how to exercise your rights, contact:

Medtrek Ambulance — HIPAA Privacy Officer
3892 Prospect Ave, Ste 2, Naples, Florida 34104
Phone: (239) 228-7900
Email: info@medtrek.com

A paper copy of this Notice is available upon request. The current version will also be prominently posted on Medtrek's website and made available electronically.

See also our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.