Notice of Privacy Practices

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED BY VITA AGELESS MEDICAL AESTHETICS (VITA) AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. This policy additionally describes VITA’s privacy practices regarding information collected from users of this website. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

Dr. Bibicheff Medical P.C. dba Vita Ageless Medical Aesthetics (VITA) understands that your medical information is personal.  This Notice will tell you about the ways in which VITA may use and disclose your information. Your protected health information (PHI) is that information about you, including demographic information, that may identify you and that relates to your past, present or future physical or mental health information and related health care services. 

We are required by law to: 
Make sure that medical and other information that identifies you (protected health information(PHI)) is kept   private. Give you this Notice of our legal duties & privacy practices with respect to your protected health  information (PHI) Follow the terms of the Notice that is currently in effect. 

TREATMENT, PAYMENT AND HEALTH CARE OPERATIONS:
By becoming a patient of VITA, you are giving us your consent to use your protected health information for certain activities, including treatment, payment and other health care operations. We may use and disclose your protected health information so that we may be paid for the medical treatment we provide you. We may use and disclose your protected health information for VITA's health care operations, in other words, tasks that we need to perform to make sure that you are provided the highest quality of medical care. For example, we may use your protected health information to evaluate how we can better meet your needs.

USES AND DISCLOSURES FOR APPOINTMENT REMINDERS:
We may use and disclose your medical information to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment at our office.  If you request that such communications be made confidentially, contact our office in writing at 565 Cedar Swamp Rd. Glen Head, NY 11545. We will accommodate all reasonable requests. 

USES AND DISCLOSURES IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS:
We may use or disclose your PHI in an emergency treatment situation.  If this happens, your physician will attempt to obtain your acknowledgment of this Notice as soon as reasonably practicable after the delivery of treatment.  
 
USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRED BY LAW:
We will use or disclose protected health information about you when required to do so by federal, state or local law. The use or disclosure will be made in compliance with the law and limited to the relevant requirements of the law.  You will be notified, if the law requires us to do so, of such uses or disclosures.  We must make disclosures to you and when required by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate or determine our compliance with the law. 
 
DISCLOSURES TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CRIMINAL ACTIVITY:
We may release PHI if asked to do so by a law enforcement official, in response to a court order, subpoena, warrant, summons or similar process.  We may disclose your PHI, consistent with federal and New York State laws, if we believe that the use or disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious or imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public, or if it is necessary for law enforcement authorities to identify or apprehend an individual. 


OTHER USES AND DISCLOSURES:
VITA may also use or disclose your PHI, in compliance with guidelines outlined by law, for the following purposes: 
 

• Providing you with information related to your health; 

• Contacting you regarding appointments, information about treatment, or other health related services; 

• Incidental uses or disclosures (listing your name on a sign-in sheet, etc.) 

• Compliance with all laws (including reports of suspected abuse, neglect or violence); 

• Providing certain specified information to law enforcement or correctional institutions; 

• Providing information to coroner, medical examiner, funeral director, organ donor organization; 

• Providing information about you for workers’ compensation or similar programs.  

• Public health activities when requested by a public health authority or the FDA; 

• Responding to health services oversight agencies; 

• If authorized by law, to a person who may have been exposed to a communicable disease or may otherwise be at risk of contracting or spreading the disease or condition; 

• Responding to court administrative tribunal orders, subpoenas, discovery requests or other lawful process; 

• Research activities; 

• When necessary to avert a serious threat to health of safety; 

• Military affairs, veteran’s affairs, national security, intelligence, Department of State of Presidential protective service activities; 

• Providing information regarding your location, general condition or death to public or private disaster relief agencies; or 

• Informing a family member, other relative, or close personal friend when: Notification of your location, general condition or death;  Information is relevant to the individual’s involvement with your care;  To assist in your health care (e.g. pick-up prescription, care instructions, etc.). 

Authorization for Other Uses:
VITA will make other uses and disclosure of your protected health information only after obtaining your written authorization. If you authorize a use not contained in this notice, you may revoke your authorization at any time by notifying us in writing that you wish to revoke your authorization. 

Your Rights Regarding the Privacy of Your Health Information:
Subject to limitations outlined by law, you have certain rights related to use and disclosure of your PHI, including the right to: 

• Request restriction on certain uses and disclosures. However, not obligated to agree to requested restrictions,

• Receive confidential communications of protected health information,

• Inspect and copy your protected health information with some limited exceptions,

• Amend your health information, 

• Obtain a copy of this notice. 

VITA Duties Regarding the Privacy of Your Health Information:
Subject to limitations outlined by law, VITA has certain duties related to your protected health information, including: 
 

• VITA is required by law to maintain the privacy of PHI and to provide individuals with notice of our legal duties and privacy practice with respect to protected health information,

• VITA is required to abide by the terms of the privacy notice that is currently in effect,

• VITA reserves the right to change the privacy practice described in this notice and to make such change effective for all protected health information. Revised notice will be posted in our office and available upon request. 

VITA’s privacy practices regarding information collected from users of this website.
This policy describes what information is collected and how that information is used. 
VITA only collects personal information about you when you provide that information voluntarily by sending an e-mail or by initiating an online transaction, such as a survey, registration or order products.

ANALYTICS INFORMATION:
VITA may obtain analytics data either directly or through third-party analytics tools and services, to assist it in measuring traffic and usage patterns on this website. This data is gathered from your browser or mobile device and includes the pages you browse, and other details that enable us to enhance this website. The analytics information is collected and used in a summarized form, which does not allow for the identification of any specific individual user.
This information is collected for statistical analysis, to determine what information is of most and least interest to our users, and to improve the utility of the material available on the website. The information is not collected for commercial marketing purposes and VITA is not authorized to sell or otherwise disclose the information collected from the website for commercial marketing purposes.

Cookies
Cookies are simple text files stored on your web browser to provide a means of distinguishing among users of this website. The use of cookies is a standard practice among Internet websites. 
When you browse this website, we might send one or more "cookies" to your computer. These cookies are small text files comprising a sequence of alphanumeric characters that can identify your browser uniquely, and aid VITA in enhancing your browsing experience on its website. Additionally, a cookie may provide us with information regarding how you interact with this website, such as the pages you view, the links you click, and other actions you take on this website. A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive after you shut down your browser, and your browser may use persistent cookies on subsequent visits to the site. You can eliminate persistent cookies by following your web browser's instructions. A session cookie is temporary and disappears after you close your browser. You may reset your web browser to decline all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. If you wish to stop receiving further communication from VITA, you may contact us at the address or email address provided below : 
The software and hardware you use to access the website allows you to refuse new cookies or delete existing cookies. Refusing or deleting these cookies may limit your ability to take advantage of some features of this website.

Information Collected When You E-mail this Website or Initiate an Online Transaction
During your visit to this website you may send an e-mail to VITA. Your e-mail address and the contents of your message will be collected. The information collected is not limited to text characters and may include audio, video, and graphic information formats included in the message. Your e-mail address and the information included in your message will be used to respond to you, to address issues you identify, or to improve this website. 
You may also initiate a transaction such as a survey, registration, or order form. The information, including personal information such as Name, Email Address, Delivery Address, Phone Number volunteered by you in initiating the transaction is collected by VITA.  The information you supply is used solely to fulfill your order or provide you with the requested information. We do not disclose this information to any external parties. Additionally, we never use or reveal the personally identifiable information you have given us online in ways unrelated to those mentioned above unless we provide you with an option to opt-out or otherwise disallow such unconnected uses.

Disclosure of Information Collected Through This Website
The collection of information through this website and the disclosure of that information are subject to the provisions of the Internet Security and Privacy Act. VITA will only collect personal information through this website or disclose personal information collected through this website if the user has consented to the collection or disclosure of such personal information. Participation in an online transaction resulting in the disclosure of personal information to VITA by the user, whether solicited or unsolicited, constitutes consent to the collection and disclosure of the information by VITA for the purposes reasonably ascertainable from the nature and terms of the transaction.
However, VITA may collect or disclose personal information without user consent if the collection or disclosure is: (1) necessary to perform acts authorized by law
(2) made pursuant to a court order or by law;
(3) for the purpose of validating the identity of the user; or
(4) of information to be used solely for statistical purposes that is in a form that cannot be used to identify any particular person.

Disclaimer
The information provided in this privacy policy should not be construed as giving business, legal, or other advice, or warranting as fail proof, the security of information provided through this website.

Concerns:  
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may make a complaint by contacting the office administrator or manager at 516-626-6800 or the Secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services of New York State. No individual will be retaliated against for filing a complaint.