Office Policies

Prescription Refills
If you have a prescription (written by one of our doctors) which needs to be re-filled, please call the pharmacy which issued the prescription. They will in turn contact us to have the refill authorized. It is advisable to give the pharmacy and us a least a day to authorize the refill request.

If you need to leave a refill request personally, please call our office at 319-338-7862 and ask for your doctor's assistant.

Phone Calls
If you need to speak to one of the doctors about any matter, please call during normal business hours if at all possible. Please be advised, that the doctors see patients all day and do their best to return phone calls promptly. Please leave a phone number where you can be reached.

Emergencies
For perceived life threatening emergencies such as chest pain, severe shortness of breath, or serious trauma, call 911. Do not drive yourself to the emergency room. An ambulance service with trained medical staff is always safer.

For serious or urgent matters, call your doctor's assistant and describe the nature of the problem. He/she will provide proper guidance or will have the doctor speak with you immediately.

Towncrest Internal Medicine
Health Information Practices

This notice describes how information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.

Understanding Your Health Record/Information

Each time you visit a hospital, physician, or other healthcare provider, a record of your visit is made. Typically, this record contains your symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment, and a plan for future care or treatment. This information, often referred to as your health or medical record, serves as a:

* Basis for planning your care and treatment
* Means of communication among the many health professionals who contribute to your care
* Legal document describing the care you received
* Means by which you or a third-party payer can verify that services billed were actually provided
* A source of information for public health officials charged with improving the health of the nation
* A tool with which we can assess and continually work to improve the care we render and the outcomes we achieve

Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to:

* Ensure its accuracy
* Better understand who, what, when, where, and why others may access your health information
* Make more informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to others

Although your health record is the physical property of the healthcare practitioner or facility that compiled it, the information belongs to you. You have the right to:

* Request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your information.
* Obtain a paper copy of the notice of information practices upon request.
* Inspect and obtain a copy of your health record.
* Amend your health record, with certain limitations.
* Obtain an accounting of disclosures of your health information.
* Request communications of your health information by alternative means or at alternative locations.
* Revoke your authorization to use or disclose health information except to the extent that action has already been taken.

Our Responsibilities

This organization is required to:

* Maintain the privacy of your health information
* Provide you with a notice as to our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to information we collect and maintain about you
* Abide by the terms of this notice
* Notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction
* Accommodate reasonable requests you may have to communicate health information by alternative means or at alternative locations.

We reserve the right to change our practices and to make the new provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain. Should our information practices change, we will inform you of this change at the time of your next visit or request for disclosure.

We will not use or disclose your health information without your authorization, except as described in this notice.

For More Information or to Report a Problem

If have questions and would like additional information, you may contact the director of health information management at 319-338-7862.

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with the director of health information management or with the secretary of Health and Human Services. There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint.

Examples of Disclosures for Treatment, Payment and Health Operations

We will use your health information for treatment.

For example: Information obtained by a nurse, physician, or other member of your healthcare team will be recorded in your record and used to determine the course of treatment that should work best for you. Your physician will document in your record his or her expectations of the members of your healthcare team. Members of your healthcare team will then record the actions they took and their observations. In that way, the physician will know how you are responding to treatment.

We will also provide your physician or a subsequent healthcare provider with copies of various reports that should assist him or her in treating you.

We will use your health information for payment

For example: A bill may be sent to you or your insurance company or payor. The information on or accompanying the bill may include information that identifies you, as well as your diagnosis, procedures, and supplies used.

We will use your health information for regular health operations

For example: Members of the medical staff, the risk or quality improvement manager, or members of the quality improvement team may use information in your health record to assess the care and outcomes in your case and others like it. This information will then be used in an effort to continually improve the quality and effectiveness of the healthcare and service we provide.

Business associates

There are some services provided in our organization through contacts with business associates. Examples include physician services in the emergency department, hospitals, radiology, and laboratory tests performed outside this office. When these services are contracted, we may disclose your health information to our business associate so that they can perform the job weve asked them to do and bill you or your third-party payer for services rendered. To protect your health information, however, we require the business associate to appropriately safeguard your information.

Notification

We may use or disclose information to notify or assist in notifying a family member, personal representative, or another person responsible for your care, your location, and general condition.

Communication with family

Health professionals, using their best judgments, may disclose to a family member, other relative, close personal friend or any other person you identify, health information relevant to that persons involvement in your care or payment related to your care.

Funeral Directors

We may disclose health information to funeral directors consistent with applicable law to carry out their duties.

Workers compensation

We may disclose health information to the extent authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with laws relating to workers compensation or other similar programs established by law.

Public health

As required by law, we may disclose your health information to public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability.

Law enforcement

We may disclose health information for law enforcement purposes as required by law or in response to a valid subpoena.

Health Oversight Agencies

Federal law makes provision for your health information to be released to an appropriate health oversight agency, public health authority or attorney, provided that a work force member or business associate believes in good faith that we have engaged in unlawful conduct or have otherwise violated professional or clinical standards and are potentially endangering one or more patients, workers or the public.

Effective Date: 04-01-2002