HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices.

Effective Date: November 1, 2025  ·  Last Updated: November 2025  ·  Version: 1.0

Our pledge regarding your health information

Optimed Immunology is committed to protecting the privacy of your health information. We are required by law to maintain the privacy of protected health information (PHI), to provide you with this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, to follow the terms of the notice currently in effect, and to notify you in the event of a breach of unsecured PHI.

How we may use and disclose your health information

For treatment

We may use your health information to provide medical treatment or services. We may disclose health information about you to physicians, nurses, technicians, medical students, or other personnel who are involved in your care — including infusion partners, specialty pharmacies, and consulting specialists when relevant to your treatment.

For payment

We may use and disclose health information about you so that the treatment and services you receive at Optimed Immunology may be billed to and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company, or a third party. For example, we may need to give your health plan information about a procedure you received so your health plan will pay us or reimburse you.

For healthcare operations

We may use and disclose health information about you for healthcare operations. These uses and disclosures are necessary to run the practice and to make sure that all of our patients receive quality care. For example, we may use health information to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the performance of our staff.

Appointment reminders, treatment alternatives, and health-related services

We may use and disclose health information to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment, to tell you about possible treatment alternatives, or to inform you about health-related services that may be of interest to you.

Other situations where we may use or disclose your information

• As required by law — including reporting required by federal, state, or local statute
• To prevent serious threats to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person
• For public health activities — including reporting disease, injury, vital events, or in response to a public health investigation
• For health oversight — audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure
• Lawsuits and disputes — in response to a court or administrative order
• Law enforcement — in response to a court order, warrant, or similar process; to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person; about the victim of a crime if the patient agrees
• Coroners, medical examiners, funeral directors
• National security and intelligence activities
• Workers' compensation — for programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries
• Research — only with appropriate authorization or institutional review board approval

Uses and disclosures requiring your written authorization

Other uses and disclosures of medical information not covered by this notice or the laws that apply to us will be made only with your written permission. If you provide us permission to use or disclose health information about you, you may revoke that permission, in writing, at any time. We are unable to take back any disclosures we have already made with your permission.

The following uses and disclosures will be made only with your written authorization:

• Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes (when applicable)
• Uses and disclosures for marketing purposes
• Disclosures that constitute a sale of PHI

Your rights regarding health information about you

Right to inspect and copy

You have the right to inspect and copy health information that may be used to make decisions about your care. To inspect and copy health information that may be used to make decisions about you, you must submit your request in writing to the office. We may charge a reasonable cost-based fee for the cost of copying, mailing, or other supplies associated with your request.

Right to amend

If you feel that health information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information. You have the right to request an amendment for as long as the information is kept by or for the practice. To request an amendment, you must make your request in writing. We may deny your request for an amendment if it is not in writing or does not include a reason to support the request.

Right to an accounting of disclosures

You have the right to request an "accounting of disclosures." This is a list of certain disclosures we made of health information about you for purposes other than treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. To request this list, you must submit your request in writing. The first list you request within a 12-month period will be free; for additional lists, we may charge you for the costs.

Right to request restrictions

You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the health information we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations. You also have the right to request a limit on the health information we disclose about you to someone who is involved in your care. We are not required to agree to your request, but if we do, we will comply unless the information is needed to provide you emergency treatment.

Right to request confidential communications

You have the right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way or at a certain location. For example, you can ask that we only contact you at work or by mail. To request confidential communications, you must make your request in writing.

Right to a paper copy of this notice

You have the right to a paper copy of this notice. You may ask us to give you a copy of this notice at any time. To obtain a paper copy of this notice, please call (614) 430-8022.

Right to be notified of a breach

You have the right to be notified in the event of a breach of unsecured PHI.

Changes to this notice

We reserve the right to change this notice. We reserve the right to make the revised or changed notice effective for medical information we already have about you as well as any information we receive in the future. We will post a copy of the current notice in the office and on this website. The notice will contain on the first page the effective date.

Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with the practice or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. To file a complaint with the practice, contact:

Privacy Officer
Optimed Immunology
7965 N High Street, Suite 205
Columbus, OH 43235
Phone: (614) 430-8022

To file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, send a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, call 1-877-696-6775, or visit www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/.

You will not be retaliated against for filing a complaint.

Other uses of medical information

Other uses and disclosures of medical information not covered by this notice or by the laws that apply to us will be made only with your written permission. If you provide us with permission to use or disclose medical information about you, you may revoke that permission, in writing, at any time. If you revoke your permission, we will no longer use or disclose medical information about you for the reasons covered by your written authorization, with the understanding that we are unable to take back any disclosures we have already made with your permission.