HIPAA NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

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.

RadNet Management, Inc. and its Affiliated Covered Entities (collectively “RadNet”) are committed to protecting the privacy of your identifiable health information. This information is known as “protected health information” or “PHI.” At RadNet, PHI is stored electronically and is subject to electronic disclosure. Examples of documents that may contain your PHI include radiology exam orders, exam worksheets, exam results, and billing invoices.

OUR RESPONSIBILITIES

We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your PHI. We are also required to provide you with a copy of this Notice upon your request. It describes our legal duties, privacy practices, and your patient rights as provided by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). We are required to follow the terms of this Notice and to notify patients impacted by an unauthorized use or disclosure compromising the security or privacy of unsecured PHI.

HOW WE MAY USE OR DISCLOSE YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION

We use your PHI for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations purposes, and for other purposes permitted or required by law. Not every use or disclosure is listed in this Notice, but all of our uses or disclosures of your PHI will fall into one of the categories listed below.

We need your authorization to use or disclose your PHI for any purpose not covered by one of the categories below. With limited exceptions as permitted by HIPAA, we will not use or disclose your PHI for marketing purposes or sell your PHI unless you have signed an authorization. You may revoke any authorization you sign at any time. If you revoke your authorization, we will no longer use or disclose your PHI except to the extent we have already taken action based on your authorization.

We may use and disclose your PHI for the following purposes:

Treatment - We perform radiology procedures under the orders of physicians and other healthcare professionals. We disclose your PHI to healthcare professionals who order procedures or need access to your results for treatment purposes. We may disclose your PHI to a pathology lab when having a biopsy or use and disclose PHI to contact you to remind you of an appointment or to tell you about RadNet-provided health-related products and services that may be of interest to you.

Payment - We may use and disclose your PHI for purposes of billing and payment. For example, we may disclose your PHI to health plans or other payers to determine whether you are enrolled with the payer or eligible for health benefits or to obtain payment for our services. If you are insured under another person’s health insurance policy (for example, parent, spouse, domestic partner, or a former spouse), we may also send invoices to the subscriber whose policy covers your health services.

Healthcare Operations - We may use and disclose your PHI for activities necessary to support our healthcare operations, such as performing quality assurance checks on our services, internal audits, accreditation audits, and arranging for legal services.

Business Associates – We may provide your PHI to third parties to perform certain services for us. These other entities, known as "business associates", are required to maintain the privacy and security of all PHI. For example, our business associates may use or share your PHI to conduct billing, collections, imaging, courier, or record storage services on our behalf.

Individuals Involved in Your Care - We may disclose relevant PHI to a family member, friend, caregiver, or other individual involved in your healthcare or payment for your healthcare, if you tell us that this is acceptable to you or you do not object; or if in our professional judgment, we believe that you do not object.

As Required by Law, Law Enforcement Activities, and Legal Proceedings - We may use and disclose your PHI as required by law. We may use and disclose your PHI if necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to your health and safety or that of another person. We may also provide PHI to law enforcement officials, for example, in response to a warrant, investigative demand or similar legal process, or for officials to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person. We may disclose your PHI as required to comply with a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other legal process in the course of a judicial or administrative proceeding, but only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request or to obtain an order of protection for the requested information.

Research - We may use and disclose a limited data set containing some of your PHI for research purposes if we enter into a data use agreement with the recipient.

Other Uses and Disclosures - As permitted by HIPAA, we may disclose your PHI to Social Services Agencies, Public Health Authorities, The Food and Drug Administration, Health Oversight Agencies, Military Command Authorities, National Security and Intelligence Organizations, Correctional Institutions, Organ and Tissue Donation Organizations, Coroners, Medical Examiners, Funeral Directors, and Workers Compensation Agents. We may also disclose PHI to those assisting in disaster relief efforts so that family or friends can be notified about your condition, status, and location.

Incidental Uses and Disclosures - Sometimes, your PHI may be used or disclosed in the course of conducting business. For example, we may call your name in the waiting room, or use it in a telephone conversation with a provider. We are permitted to make such incidental uses and disclosures as long as we take reasonable steps to minimize them, and have appropriate safeguards in place.

Note Regarding State Law - For all of the above purposes, when state law is more restrictive than federal law, we are required to follow the more restrictive state law.

YOUR PATIENT RIGHTS

You have the right to:

Obtain an electronic or paper copy of your medical record – You have the right to access and obtain an electronic or paper copy of your PHI. You may access your medical records online or on your smartphone using our Patient Portal. You can call us or visit one of our centers to request copies of your records. You will be granted access to or copies of your records within the timeframe allotted by the State medical records laws. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee. If your request for medical records is denied, you may request that the denial be reviewed.

Ask us to amend your medical record - You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. We may say no if we determine the information is correct, but we will provide you with a written explanation of the reason for denial and let you know about further actions you may take.

Request confidential communications - You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (such as a home or office phone) or to send communications to an alternate address. We will accommodate reasonable requests.

Ask us to restrict what we use or share - You may request that we limit certain uses and disclosures of your PHI. We are not required to agree to your request, except for requests to limit disclosures to your health plan for purposes of payment or healthcare operations when you have paid us for the item or service covered by the request out-of-pocket and in full and when the uses or disclosures are not required by law.

Obtain an accounting of disclosures - You have the right to receive a list of certain disclosures of your PHI made by us in the past six (6) years from the date of your written request. Under the law, this does not include disclosures made for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations or certain other purposes as provided by law.

Obtain a copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices - You can ask for a copy of this notice at any time.

Choose someone to act for you - If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information. We will verify that the person has such authority before we permit that person to exercise your rights or make choices on your behalf.

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share - In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to share information with your family or others involved in your care; contact you for fundraising efforts; share information in a disaster relief situation. If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety. In the case of marketing or the sale of your information, we never share your information unless you give us written permission. In the case of fundraising efforts, we may contact you, but you can tell us not to contact you again for such purposes.

COMPLAINTS / QUESTIONS / CONTACT INFORMATION

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you have the right to file a complaint with us. You also have the right to file a complaint with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint. To file a complaint with us, or should you have any questions about this Notice, send an email to us at Privacy@Radnet.com or write to us at the following address:

RadNet Management, Inc.
Attn: Privacy Officer
1516 Cotner Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90025

877-785-0009

UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE

RadNet will review its Notice of Privacy Practices on at least an annual basis, and may also change this Notice at any time. If we make changes, we will revise the “Last Updated” date at the bottom of this Notice. We encourage you to review this Notice periodically to be sure you are aware of those changes. Changes will become effective as of the “Last Updated” date. This Notice is displayed on our website and a copy is available upon request.

Last Updated: December 8, 2022
Original Effective Date: July 1, 2003