Your health information.
How we use and protect your prescription and health information, and the rights you have under HIPAA and New York law.
Who this notice covers
This notice covers Healarian Pharmacy, 1658 3rd Avenue, New York, NY 10128, and everyone who works here. It explains how we use and share your health information, which the law calls protected health information. That includes your prescriptions, your medication history, your insurance details and anything else we keep that could identify you.
Our duties
- The law requires us to keep your health information private.
- We must give you this notice and follow it.
- We must tell you if a breach puts your unsecured health information at risk.
- We will not use or share your information in ways this notice doesn't describe unless you give us written permission.
How we use and share your information
To care for you
We use your information to fill your prescriptions, check for drug interactions and allergies, counsel you about your medications, and give vaccines. We share it with your prescribers and other people who care for you, and with another pharmacy when a prescription is transferred. We may contact you about refills, pickups and deliveries.
To get paid
We share information with your health plan or pharmacy benefit manager to bill for your prescriptions, check your coverage and request prior authorization.
To run the pharmacy
We use information to check our work, train staff, meet audit and licensing requirements, and keep the pharmacy running. Companies that provide services to us, such as our pharmacy software, phone and texting service, and email, may see some information. Each one signs an agreement to protect it.
Other ways we may share your information
The law allows or requires us to share information in these situations without your written permission:
- Family and friends involved in your care. We may share what they need to help you, such as letting someone pick up your prescription. Tell us if you don't want this.
- When the law requires it.
- Public health. For example, reporting vaccinations to New York State and New York City immunization registries as the law requires or allows, reporting medication side effects and helping with product recalls.
- Health oversight. For example, inspections by the New York State Board of Pharmacy and reports to the New York Prescription Monitoring Program for controlled substances.
- Abuse, neglect or domestic violence, to the proper authorities.
- Lawsuits and legal proceedings, in response to a court order, subpoena or other legal process.
- Law enforcement, in limited situations the law allows.
- To prevent a serious threat to someone's health or safety.
- Coroners, medical examiners, funeral directors and organ donation organizations.
- Special government functions, such as military, national security and correctional institutions.
- Workers' compensation claims.
- Research that has been approved under privacy rules.
- Disaster relief organizations.
When we need your written permission
We will ask for your written permission before we use or share your information for marketing, before we sell it, and for any use not described in this notice. You can take back your permission at any time by writing to us. That stops future sharing, but it can't undo sharing that already happened.
Most uses and sharing of psychotherapy notes, if we ever hold any, also require your written permission.
We do not use your information for fundraising.
Extra protections
New York and federal law give some information more protection. This includes HIV-related information, mental health information, genetic test results and records of substance use disorder treatment. We follow those stricter rules, which often require your specific written permission.
If we receive substance use disorder treatment records protected by federal law (42 CFR Part 2), we will not use or share them in any civil, criminal, administrative or legislative proceeding against you unless you give written permission or a court orders it.
Texts and email
If you ask us to text or email you, we will. We use a secure business phone and texting service and a business email service, each covered by a HIPAA agreement. Regular text messages and email can still be read by others along the way, so there is some risk. You can ask us to use another way to reach you at any time.
Your rights
- Get a copy of your records. Ask us for a paper or electronic copy of your prescription records. We will provide it within 30 days. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.
- Ask us to correct your records if you think something is wrong or missing. If we say no, we'll tell you why in writing.
- Choose how we contact you. For example, call a different number, or don't text. We will agree to reasonable requests.
- Ask us to limit what we use or share. We don't have to agree, with one exception: if you pay for a prescription in full yourself, you can ask us not to share it with your health plan, and we will agree unless the law requires us to share it.
- Get a list of who we've shared your information with in the past six years, other than for care, payment, running the pharmacy and a few other cases. The first list in any 12 months is free.
- Get a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you got it electronically.
- Choose someone to act for you. A legal guardian or someone with your health care power of attorney can use these rights for you.
- Be told about a breach of your unsecured information.
To use any of these rights, talk to the pharmacist, call us or write to us at the address below.
Complaints
If you think we have not protected your privacy, you can complain to us using the contact details below, or to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201, 1-877-696-6775, hhs.gov/ocr/complaints.
We will not treat you differently or retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
Changes to this notice
We can change this notice, and the changes will apply to all the information we keep about you. The current notice is always posted in the pharmacy and on this page, and you can ask us for a copy.
Privacy contact
Zimo Wahdan, RPh, Privacy Officer
Healarian Pharmacy, 1658 3rd Avenue, New York, NY 10128
Phone: 212-317-0828
Email: aw@healarian.com