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.
Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma LLC is committed to
protecting the privacy of your personal and health
information. At Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma, we are
committed to protecting the confidentiality of individuals’
laboratory test results and other patient protected health
information (PHI) that we collect or create as part of our
diagnostic testing activities.
We urge you to read this Notice of Privacy Practices
carefully so that you will understand both our commitment to
the privacy of your PHI, and how you can participate in that
commitment. Should you have any questions about this Notice
or our privacy practices, please call us at
(800) 891-2917 Extension 2156
or send an email to:
privacystatement@dlolab.com
or write to us at the following address:
Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma LLC
Attn: Data Privacy and Security Officer
1001 Cornell Parkway
Oklahoma City, OK 73108
This Notice is effective as of April 14, 2003.
Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma Privacy Policy
Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma and its employees are
committed to obtaining, maintaining, using and disclosing
patient protected health information (PHI) in a manner that
protects patient privacy. We will only use or disclose the
minimum amount of your PHI we consider necessary to perform
a job or complete an activity. This Notice applies to all
PHI that we maintain. Your doctor may have different notices
regarding his/her use and disclosure of your PHI created in
his/her office.
Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma is required by law to
provide you with this Notice of Privacy Practices with
respect to PHI, to maintain the privacy of PHI, to state the
uses and disclosures of PHI that Diagnostic Laboratory of
Oklahoma may make, and to list the rights of individuals and
our legal duties with respect to their PHI.
1. Your PHI at Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma includes
personal and medical information (such as your name,
address, date of birth, test ordered, etc.) that we obtain
from you, your physician, health plan, or other sources.
2. Your PHI also includes the laboratory testing results that
we create. An example of PHI is as follows: Jane Smith, Date
of Birth: 2/15/68, resides at 123 Main Street, Anytown, NJ,
cholesterol result of 215 mg/dL.
Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma is required to abide by
the terms of the Notice of Privacy Practices currently in
effect. We reserve the right to change the terms of this
Notice of Privacy Practices and to make the provisions of
the new Notice of Privacy Practices effective for all PHI
that we maintain. The current Notice will be displayed on
our website and a copy is available upon request.
How We May Use and Disclose
Your Protected Health Information
Your PHI will be used or disclosed for treatment, payment,
or healthcare operations purposes and for other purposes
permitted or required by law. Not every use or disclosure is
listed; however, all of the ways we use or disclose your PHI
will fall into one of the categories listed below.
If we wanted to use or disclose your PHI for other purposes,
we would have to obtain your written authorization. For
example, patient authorization is often required by state
law for each release of HIV test results, except if the
results are being released to public health officials as
required by law. You have the right to revoke your
authorization at any time, except if we have already made a
disclosure based on that authorization. We do not need your
authorization or permission to use or disclose your PHI for
the following purposes:
For Treatment
As a health care provider that provides laboratory testing
for ordering physicians, Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma
uses your PHI as part of our testing process and discloses
your PHI to physicians and other authorized health care
professionals who need access to your laboratory results to
treat you. In addition to your treating physician, we may
provide a specialist consulting physician with information
about your results to further validate the results before
release to your physician. Occasionally, we may contact you
to arrange for a redraw of your specimens.
For Payment
We will use your PHI in our billing departments and disclose
your PHI to insurance companies, hospitals, physicians, and
health plans for payment purposes, or to third parties to
assist us in creating bills, claim forms, or getting paid
for our services. For example, we may send your name, date
of service, test performed, diagnosis code, and other
information to a health plan so that the plan will pay us
for the services we provided. In some cases, we may have to
contact you to obtain billing information or for other
billing purposes. When required, we may use an outside
collection agency to obtain payment.
For Healthcare Operations
We may use or disclose your PHI in the course of activities
necessary to support our health care operations, such as
performing quality checks on our testing, for teaching
purposes, or for developing normal reference ranges for
tests that we perform.
Disclosures to Business Associates
Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma may disclose your PHI to
other companies or individuals who need your PHI in order to
provide specific services to us. These other entities, known
as “business associates,” must comply with the terms of a
contract designed to ensure that they will maintain the
privacy and security of the PHI we provide to them or which
they create on our behalf. Our business associates must only
use your PHI for designated treatment, payment, or health
care operations purposes that they perform on our behalf.
For example, we may disclose your PHI to temporary employees
or to the College of American Pathologists (CAP) or other
private accrediting organizations that inspect and certify
the quality of our laboratories.
As Permitted or Required by Law
We may use or disclose your PHI for various public policy
purposes that are authorized or required by federal or state
law. For example, we are required to disclose your PHI to
the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (“HHS”) upon request. We must provide you with
copies of your PHI at your request, except where restricted
or prohibited by state law. We will provide the information
regarding your specific state to you upon request.
Public Health
We may disclose your PHI when reporting communicable disease
results to public health departments as required by law, for
example, gonorrhea. We may disclose your PHI for FDA
reporting purposes.
Public Safety
When the appropriate conditions apply, we may use or
disclose PHI to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent
threat to the health or safety of a person or the public.
To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety
We may use or disclose your PHI when necessary to prevent a
serious threat to your health and safety or that of another
person or the general public. Any use or disclosure for this
purpose would only be made to someone able to help prevent
the threat. For example, we may disclose your PHI in an
investigation regarding a physician’s license.
Health Oversight
We may disclose your PHI in connection with governmental
oversight, licensure, auditing, and other purposes. For
example, governmental agencies periodically review our
records to ensure that Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma is
complying with the rules of various regulatory and licensing
agencies. HHS and State Health Departments are examples of
agencies that oversee aspects of Diagnostic Laboratory of
Oklahoma’ operations. Other agencies may audit our billing
and laboratory records to verify that the health care was
provided as claimed or that we were paid correctly.
Judicial and Administrative Proceedings
We may disclose your PHI as required to comply with court
orders, discovery requests or other legal process in the
course of a judicial or administrative proceeding.
Law Enforcement
We may also disclose PHI for law enforcement purposes. For
example, we may be required to release PHI as required by
law or in compliance with a court order, judicial subpoena,
court-ordered warrant, grand jury subpoena, administrative
request, investigative demand or similar legal process, but
only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request
or to obtain an order of protection for the requested
information. We may release PHI for other law enforcement
purposes, such as to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive,
material witness, or missing person.
Specialized Government Functions
We may disclose your PHI for military and veterans
activities, national security or intelligence purposes, or
to correctional institutions, or to law enforcement
officials having custody of an inmate.
Workers Compensation
We may disclose your PHI as necessary to comply with
requirements of workers’ compensation or similar programs
that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness
without regard to fault. For example, workers compensation
programs may require that we provide the results of
laboratory testing as part of the case file.
Note Regarding State Law
For all of the above purposes, in cases where state law is
more restrictive than federal law, we are required to follow
the more restrictive state law. For example, some states
require physician authorization to release laboratory test
results to patients, and other states prohibit a laboratory
from releasing test results directly to a patient.
We May Contact You For Specific Reasons
Although we do not do so today, we may want to contact you
in the future regarding health-related products or services
that may be of interest to you.
Your Rights Concerning
Privacy and Confidentiality
Access
You or your authorized or designated personal representative
has the right to inspect and copy your PHI. Diagnostic
Laboratory of Oklahoma will deny access to certain
information for specific reasons, for example, where state
law prohibits such patient access. If your request is
denied, you may request that the denial be reviewed.
Amendments
You have the right to request amendments to your PHI (but we
are not required to make the requested amendments).
Accounting
You have the right to receive an accounting of disclosures
of your PHI that were made by Diagnostic Laboratory of
Oklahoma for a period of up to six years prior to the date
of your written request, but not including any disclosures
made prior to April 14, 2003, when the Privacy Rule went
into effect. Under the law, this accounting does not include
disclosures made for purposes of treatment, payment, health
care operations, or certain other excluded purposes, but
includes other types of disclosures, including disclosures
for public health reporting or in response to a court order.
Restrictions
You have the right to ask us if we will agree to
restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your PHI,
but we are not required to agree to your request.
Confidential Communications
You have the right to request that we send your PHI to an
alternate address, but we are not required to agree to your
request.
Notice of Privacy Practices
You have the right to request a paper copy of this Notice.
Complaints
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you
have the right to register a complaint with Diagnostic
Laboratory of Oklahoma or the Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. Diagnostic
Laboratory of Oklahoma will not retaliate against any
individual for filing a complaint. You may file a complaint
by calling us toll-free at (800) 891-2917, or by writing to
us at the address located at the beginning of this Notice.
How to Exercise Your Rights
Write to us with your specific written request and be sure
to include sufficient information for us to identify all of
your records. You may also contact us at the toll-free
telephone number below to request an access form. Diagnostic
Laboratory of Oklahoma will consider your request and
provide you a response within a reasonable timeframe. Should
we deny your request, you have the right to ask for the
denial to be reviewed by another healthcare professional
designated by Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma. For
additional details, or for instructions regarding how to
exercise these rights, call us at (800) 891-2917 Extension
2156.
You may request a copy of this Notice in electronic and/or
paper form by calling
(800) 891-2917 Option 2
or by visiting our Website at http://www.dlolab.com
How To Contact Us
If you have questions or concerns regarding the privacy or
confidentiality of your PHI, or you wish to register a
complaint, please write us at the address located at the
beginning of this notice or contact:
Privacy Officer at
(800)-891-2917 Extension 2156
or privacystatement@dlolab.com
Our online privacy notice, which describes our online
privacy practices, may be viewed at the following address:
http://www.questdiagnostics.com/privacypolicy.html
Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma reserves the right to
amend this Notice of Privacy Practices, at any time, to
reflect changes in our privacy practices, and these changes
will apply retroactively. Any such changes will be
applicable to and effective for all Protected Health
Information (PHI) that we maintain, including PHI that we
created or received prior to the effective date of the
Notice revision. Additional copies and the current version
of this Notice of Privacy Practices may be obtained by
visiting our website:
http://www.dlolab.com
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.
Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma LLC and its wholly owned
subsidiaries (collectively called "Diagnostic Laboratory of
Oklahoma" in this Notice) are committed to protecting the
privacy of your personal and health information. At
Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma, we are committed to
protecting the confidentiality of individuals’ laboratory
test results and other patient protected health information
(PHI) that we collect or create as part of our diagnostic
testing activities.
We urge you to read this Notice of Privacy Practices
carefully so that you will understand both our commitment to
the privacy of your PHI, and how you can participate in that
commitment. Should you have any questions about this Notice
or our privacy practices, please call us at
(800) 891-2917 Extension 2156
or send an email to:
privacystatement@dlolab.com
or write to us at the following address:
Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma LLC
Attn: Data Privacy and Security Officer
1001 Cornell Parkway
Oklahoma City, OK 73108
This Notice is effective as of April 14, 2003.
