Protected Health Information

AML Protected Health Information Policy

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.

AML is committed to protecting the privacy of your Personal Health Information (“PHI”). At AML, we are committed to protecting the confidentiality of laboratory test results and other PHI that we collect or create as part of our diagnostic testing activities. We urge you to read this PHI Policy carefully so that you will understand both our commitment to you, and how you can participate in that commitment. Should you have any questions about this PHI Policy, please contact us at 720.859.4132, send an email to Info@AdvancedMetabolicLabs.com or write to us at the following address:

            Advanced Metabolic Laboratories LLC
            Bioscience Park Center
            12635 E. Montview Blvd., Suite 100
            Aurora, Colorado 80045 USA

AML and its employees are committed to obtaining, maintaining, using and disclosing PHI in a manner that protects 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 AML may have access to.

AML is required by law to provide you with this PHI Policy, to maintain the privacy of PHI, to state the uses and disclosures of PHI that AML may make, and to list the rights of individuals and our legal duties with respect to your PHI. Your PHI at AML includes personal and medical information (such as your name, address, date of birth, test ordered, etc.) that we obtain from you or other sources. Your PHI also includes the laboratory testing results that we create. An example of PHI is as follows: Jane Smith, Date of Birth: 5/23/59, resides at 321 Main Street, Anytown, NY, cholesterol result of 223 mg/dL.

AML is required to abide by the terms of the AML PHI Policy currently in effect. We reserve the right to change the terms of this PHI Policy and to make the provisions of the new Policy effective for all PHI that we maintain. The current AML PHI Policy 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 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

• Disclosures to Business Associates
  

AML may disclose your PHI to other companies or individuals who need your PHI in order to provide specific services. 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. AML                 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 Quest Diagnostics is complying with the rules of various regulatory and licensing agencies. HHS and State Health Departments are examples of agencies that oversee         aspects of Quest Diagnostics' 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.

• 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. AML 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 AML 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 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 AML or the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. AML will not retaliate against any individual for filing a complaint. You may file a complaint by calling us at 720.859.4132, 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 720.859.4132 to request an access form. AML 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 AML. For additional details, or for instructions regarding how to exercise these rights, call us at 720.859.4132.

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