Faq
Please note that the information provided on this website is not appropriate to all patients having surgery and should not be relied upon in making medical decisions. The following questions and answers are provided solely for informational purposes, do not constitute medical advice or guidance, and are subject to the disclaimers contained in this website's Terms of Use. This information should be used only in consultation with an appropriate physician or anesthesiologist. Please contact your surgeon's office or the anesthesia office if you have questions concerning you and your conditions.
Additional resources can be found at the American Society of Anesthesiologists - Anesthesia 101
Policies
We will provide you with a copy of the HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices upon request or upon presentation in our office. The medical center provided you this information for all hospital based physicians at registration, but we will gladly provide this to you again. We are only able to discuss an account with the patient that received the associated services or their legal guardian or personal representative per the privacy regulations set forth by HIPAA. If you wish to allow someone other than yourself to discuss your account and / or your medical affairs, please let us know and we will send you a privacy release form that will allow us to honor your wish.
2. Synopsis of Special Needs Considerations for Our Patients
Please alert the scheduling office of the following special needs of patients as they are being scheduled:
It is our desire to provide excellent service to all of our patients. If we are made aware of the above needs, we can coordinate support and material resources to do so.
3. Synopsis of Herbal Pre-Operative Guidance
Please consult with your surgeon in addition to reviewing this guidance.
Echinacea: Not enough data for recommendation.
Ephedra: Stop consumption at least 24 hours prior to surgery.
Garlic: Stop consumption at least 7days prior to surgery.
Gingko: Stop consumption at least 36 hours prior to surgery.
Ginseng: Stop consumption at least 7days prior to surgery.
Kava: Stop consumption at least 24 hours prior to surgery.
St John's Wort: Not enough data for recommendation.
Valerian: Not enough data for recommendation.
This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to information. Please review it carefully.
A. PURPOSE OF THE NOTICE. Providence Anchorage Anesthesia Medical Group is committed to preserving the privacy and confidentiality of health information about you that we create, receive, maintain, or transmit including any Information that we receive from other health care providers or facilities. This notice of privacy practices (this "Notice") will provide you with information regarding our privacy practices.
B. WHO WILL FOLLOW THIS NOTICE
This Notice applies to:
1. Providence Anchorage Anesthesia Medical Group
2. Any anesthesiologist or CRNA employed by our group and authorized to enter information into your medical record. Your medical record may be maintained through Providence Health &Services Alaska and/or other facility at which you receive health care services.
3. Any employees, personnel, and other service providers who have access to your health information that may be maintained at our offices.
C. USES AND DISCLOSURES OF HEALTH INFORMATION FOR TREATMENT, PAYMENT, AND HEALTH CARE OPERATIONS.
1. Treatment, Payment, and Health Care Operations. The following section describes different ways that we may use and disclose health information about you for purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations.
a. Treatment. We may use and disclose health information about you to provide you with health care treatment and services. We may disclose your health information to doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, medication aides, technicians, medical and nursing students, rehabilitation therapy specialists, or other personnel who are involved in your health care. For example, we may need to know if you have diabetes or respiratory ailments because these conditions could affect how anesthesia will affect you. We also may ask your attending physician to order respiratory therapy or physical therapy services to improve your recovery. We will share information with your health care providers to coordinate your care and services.
b. Payment. We may use or disclose health information about you so that we may bil and receive payment from you, an insurance company, or another third party for the health care services you receive from us. We also may disclose information to other health care providers involved in your care to assist in their billing and collection efforts. For example, we may disclose health information about you to your health plan to obtain prior approval for the services we provide to you or to determine that your health plan wil pay for the treatment.
c. Health Care Operations. We may use or disclose your health information to perform the necessary administrative, educational, quality assurance, and business functions of our group. For example, we may use your health information to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you. We also may use your health information to evaluate whether certain treatment or services offered by us are effective. We may disclose your health information to other physicians, nurses, technicians, or health profession students for teaching and learning purposes.
D. USES AND DISCLOSURES OF HEALTH INFORMATION IN SPECIAL SITUATIONS. We may use or disclose health information about you in certain special situations as described below.
1. Family Members and Friends. We may disclose certain health information about you to family members, friends, or other persons who you designate who are involved in your care or who help pay for your care.
Notification. In an emergency, we may disclose your health information directly or through a disaster relief entity, to find and tell those close to you of your location or condition.
E. OTHER PERMITTED OR REQUIRED USES AND DISCLOSURES OF HEALTH INFORMATION. There are certain instances in which we may be required or permitted by law to use or disclose your health information without your permission. We have not listed every type of use or disclosure, but the ways in which we use or disclose information will fall under these purposes.
1. As Required by Law. We will use and disclose health information about you when required by federal, state, or local law to do so.
2. Public Health Activities. We may use and disclose health information about you for public health activities, such as: to public health authorities that are authorized by law to receive and collect health information for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability; to report births, deaths, suspected abuse or neglect, or reactions to medications; to facilitate product recalls; and to a person who may be at risk for catching or spreading a disease or condition, as authorized by law.
3. Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose health information about you to a health oversight agency that is authorized by law to conduct health oversight activities, including audits, investigations, inspections, or licensure and certification surveys. These activities are necessary for the government to monitor the persons or organizations that provide health care to individuals and to ensure compliance with applicable state and federal laws.
4. Victims of Abuse, Neglect, or Domestic Violence. As allowed or required by law, we may disclose health information about an individual we reasonably believe to be the victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence to a government authority authorized to receive such reports.
5. Judicial or Administrative Proceedings. We may disclose health information about you to courts or administrative agencies charged with the
authority to hear and resolve lawsuits or disputes. We may disclose health information about you pursuant to a court order, a subpoena, a discovery request, or other lawful process issued by a judge or other person involved in the dispute, as permitted by law.
6. Worker's Compensation. We may disclose health information about you to worker's compensation programs when your health condition arises out of a work-related illness or injury.
7. Law Enforcement. We may disclose health information for law enforcement purposes, such as in response to a request received from a law enforcement official, to report criminal activity, or to respond to a subpoena, court order, warrant, summons, or similar process.
8. Coroners, Medical Examiners, or Funeral Directors. We may disclose health information to a coroner or medical examiner for the purpose of identifying a deceased individual or to determine the cause of death. We also may disclose health information to funeral directors for the purpose of carrying out his/her necessary activities.
9. Organ Procurement Organizations or Tissue Banks. We may use or disclose health information to organizations that handle organ procurement, transplantation, or tissue banking health information for the purpose of facilitating organ or tissue donation or transplantation.
10. Research. We may use or disclose health information about you for research purposes under certain limited circumstances. Most of the time, we will ask for your authorization.
11. To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety. We may use or disclose health information about you when necessary to prevent a serious threat to the health or safety of you or other individuals.
12. Military and Veterans. If you are or were a member of the armed forces, then we may use or disclose health information about you as required by military command authorities or for veteran's benefits and related purposes. 13 Business Associates. We may permit third parties with whom we contract to provide services for us, called "business associates," to create, receive, maintain, or transmit health information about you. Business associates agree to protect the health information and have their own privacy and security obligations.
14. Organ and Tissue Donation. We may disclose health information to authorized organizations as required or needed for organ, eye, or tissue donation and transplants.
15. National Security, Intelligence Activities and Protective Services. We may disclose health information about you to authorized federal officials for purposes of intelligence, counterintelligence, special investigators, and other national security activities, as authorized by law or to protect the President or other authorized person.
16. Inmates. If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or under the custody of a law enforcement official, then we may disclose health information about you to the correctional institution or to the law enforcement official as may be necessary: (i) for the institution to provide you with health care; (i) to protect the health or safety of you or another person; or (iii) for the safety and security of the correctional institution.
17. Incidental Disclosures. Certain incidental disclosures of health information about you may occur as a by-product of permitted uses and disclosures. For example, a roommate may inadvertently overhear a discussion about your care if you share a hospital room.
18. De-identified Information and Limited Data Sets. We may use and disclose health information that has been "de-identified" by removing certain identifiers (such as name and address) making it unlikely that you could be identified. We also may disclose limited health information, contained in a "limited data set," as allowed by law.
19. Personal Representative. If you have a personal representative who has authority to make health care decisions on your behalf, such as a parent or guardian, then we may disclose your health information to such a personal guardian.
F. USES AND DISCLOSURES PURSUANT TO YOUR WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION. We generally will not sell your health information, use or disclose any psychotherapy notes about you, or use or disclose health information about you for marketing purposes without your authorization unless otherwise permitted by law. Except for the purposes identified in this Notice, we will not use or disclose health information about you for any other purposes unless we have your specific written authorization. You have the right to revoke a written authorization at any time as long as you do so in writing. If you revoke your authorization, then we no longer will use or disclose health information for the purposes identified in the authorization, except to the extent that we already have taken some action in reliance upon your authorization. Information related to mental health and genetic testing may be subject to additional protections.
G. YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION. You have the following rights regarding health information about you. You may exercise your rights by providing our Privacy Officer with a written request. In some instances, we may charge you for the reasonable cost(s) associated with providing you with the requested information. Additional information regarding how to exercise your rights, and the associated costs, can be obtained from our Privacy Officer.
1. 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. We may deny your request to inspect and copy your health information in certain limited circumstances. In certain circumstances, if you are denied access to your health information, then you may request that the denial be reviewed.
2. Right to Amend. You have the right to request an amendment of health information about you that is maintained by or for our office and is used to make health care decisions about you. We may deny your request in certain circumstances. If your request is denied, then you may have the right to provide a statement of disagreements. We may include a rebuttal statement.
3. Right to Information About Disclosures. You have the right to request information about what disclosures we have made of health information about you. This right is subject to certain exceptions and limitations.
4. Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on certain ways we use or disclose health information. If you (or someone on your behalf) pays for a service in full and you request that we not disclose information about the service to your health plan for purposes of payment or health care operations, then we will agree to your request unless the disclosure is required by law. For all other types of restriction requests, we are not required to agree to your request. If we do agree, then we will comply with your request unless the information is needed to provide you emergency treatment or we are required by law to use or disclose the information.
5. Right to Request Confidential Communications. You have the right to request that we communicate with you about your health care in a certain way or at a certain location. We are not required to agree to your request if it is not reasonable under the circumstances.
6. Right to a Paper Copy of this Notice. You have the right to receive a paper copy of this Notice, even if you have agreed to receive this Notice electronically. You may ask us to give you a copy of this Notice at any time.
H. OUR LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES. We are required by law to: maintain the privacy of health information about you; give you this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices about health information about you; abide by the terms of this notice; and notify you of a breach of unsecured health information about you.
I. CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE. We reserve the right to change this Notice and to make the revised or changed Notice effective for health 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, which will identify its effective date, in our offices and on our website. You may request the current Notice from our Privacy Officer.
J. QUESTIONS OR COMPLAINTS. For any questions regarding this Notice or wish to receive additional information about our privacy practices, please contact our Privacy Officer. If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, then you may file a complaint with our Privacy Officer or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.
K. PRIVACY CONTACT. Our Privacy Officer can be contacted at 3300 Providence Drive, Suite 207, Anchorage, AK 99508, via telephone at (907) 561-0027, or by email (tanyai [a] paamg.net).
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