Privacy Statement
The following is the Notice of Privacy published by The Natural Birthing Center, LLC. Please review it carefully.
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It is our duty to safeguard your individually identifiable information about your past, present, or future health condition, the provision of health care to you, or payment of health care is considered “protected Health Information” ( PHI). As part of our normal business operations we encounter your PHI as a result of your treatment, or payment and other related health care operations. We also receive your PHI by possible other activities necessary for the health and well being of your pregnancy. This notice of privacy practices allows us to disclose to you how and why we would disclose your PHI. We only disclose the minimum necessary.
We are required to follow the privacy practices disclosed in this notices and we reserve the right to change our Notice at any time. We will keep an updated disclosure of our privacy practice on our web site.
2. How we may disclose your Protected Health Information.
For treatment: We may disclose your PHI with other doctors, nurses, or hospital in the case you need to transfer out of care for health reasons. Your PHI may be shared with your dentist or primary health physician, and when we receive a signed authorization by you as a request to send information to another health care provider. Your information may be emailed to that provider or hospital, faxed or mailed at your request.
For Payment- your PHI may be disclosed for billing and collection activities and related data processing; for actions by a health plan or an insurer to obtain premiums or to determine or fulfill its responsibilities for coverage and the provision of benefits under its health plan agreement; to make determinations or eligibility or coverage, adjudications, or subrogation of health benefit claims; for medical necessity and appropriateness of care reviews, utilization review activities; and related payment activities so that individuals involved in delivering health care services to you may be properly compensated for the services they have provided.
For Health Care Operations- We may use and disclose your PHI in the daily operations of The Natural Birthing Center. For example we may use your PHI to evaluate the quality of care and services you recieved. To review the quality of of the providers you saw during your time with The Natural Birthing Center, for medical review, legal services, and auditing functions. And for general administrative activites such as customer service.
Appointment Reminders- Unless you contact us by other means, the rule permits us to contact you via text, telephone, email or other routes of communication to remind you of your appointment.
Uses and Disclosures - Generally the HIPAA law allows us to disclose your information in certain circumstances. Any other disclosure not listed above requires your authorization.
Uses and disclosures not requiring your Authorization- We are legally required to do the following:
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Reporting abuse, neglect or domestic violence. We are required by law to report to social services and protective service agencies victims of rape, abuse, domestic violence or neglect.
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Public Health Activities- We may use and/ or disclose your PHI to prevent or control the spread of disease or other injury, public health surveillance or investigations, reporting adverse events with respect to food, dietary supplements, product defects and other related problems to the Food and Drug Administration medical surveillance of the workplace tor to evaluate whether you have a work -related illness or injury, in order to comple with Federal or state law.
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Health oversight activities- We may use and / or disclose your PHI to do designated activities and function including, audits , civil, administrative, or criminal investigations, inspections, licensure or disciplinary actions, or civil, administrative or criminal proceedings or actions, or other activities necessary for appropriate oversight of government benefit programs.
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Law enforcement activities- reporting births and deaths to the state of Texas and in cooperation with the police as required.
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Relating to decedent- We may disclose PHI of a decedent to funeral directors, coroners, the midwifery board, the nursing board, and various state agencies. We may disclose information to human organ procurement organizations relating to organ, eye or tissue donations, transplants.
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For Research Purposes- In certain circumstances we may disclose your de- identified PHI
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To avert serious threat to health or safety to yourself or others-
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For specific government functions- If requested by you we may disclose some of your PHI for certain government benefits such as medicaid, or the WIC office
Use and disclosure requiring you to have the opportunity to object.- We may disclose your PHI in the following circumstance if we inform you about the disclosure in advance and you do not object. However if there is an emergency situation and you can not be given your opportunity to object we will be consistent with any prior statement about such disclosures:
In certain situations when you are incapacitated we may disclose your PHI to your family or others involved in your care or the payment of your care. We may need to notify them about your location, general condition, or death.
Your Rights Regarding Your Protected Health Information-
You have the right to request restrictions on PHI uses and / or disclosures. You have the right to request restrictions on certain uses and / or disclosures of your PHI, such as to carry out treatment, payment, or health care operations; instances in which you are not present or your permission cannot practicably be obtained due to your incapacity or an emergency circumstance/ permitting other persons to act on our behalf to pick up filled prescriptions, medical supplies, X Rays, or other similar forms of PHI; and disclosure to a public or private entity . While we are not required to agree to any requested restriction, if we agree to a restriction, we are bound not to use or disclose your PHI in violation of such restriction, except in certain emergency situations. WE will not accept a request to restrict uses and / or disclosures that are otherwise required by law.
Right to request confidential communication- You have the right to receive confidential communications of your PHI. We may require written requests. We may condition the provision of confidential communications on you providing us with the information as to how payment will be handled and specification of an alternative address or other method of contact. We may require that your request contains a statement disclosure of all or part of your PHI could endanger you. We must accommodate your reasonable requests to receive communications of your PHI from us by alternative means or at alternative locations.
You have the right to access and copy your PHI- You have the right to obtain your records. We may require a written request or specific form. We will respond to your request within 30 days. We may deny or grant access to your request. You will be given a written explanation as to why we may deny your request. We will provide you with access in a timely manner. We may charge you a reasonable fee for copying your records at no more than $5.00 per page. The records containing your PHI may be emailed, or faxed, or copied at your request. If we are not in possession of your PHI, but know where your PHI is located we will inform and direct you of where it is.
You have the right to request an amendment of the PHI- If you believe that an error or an omission has occurred, then you have the right to request we amend the record for as long as we maintain the record. We have the right to deny your request your request if we determine the subject of your request was not created by us ( unless you can provide reasonable information that the creator of your PHI is no longer able to amend the record). The PHI is prohibited from inspection by the law (i.e. psychotherapy notes) or the PHI is accurate and complete.
We may require that you submit your request in writing. We will respond to your request in 60 days of its receipt. If we deny your request, will provide a written statement as to the basis of our denial. You have the right to sign a written statement as to why you disagree with the denial and the right to file a complaint with the Secretary of the U. S. Department of health and Human Services. Our denial will include a statement that you may request we include your request for amendment and our denial with any future disclosures of your PHI that is the subject of the requested amendment. Copies of all requests, denials, and statements of disagreement will be included in your designated record set. If we accept your amendment, we will make reasonable efforts to inform and provide the amendment within a reasonable time to persons identified by you and that may have relied, or could foreseeably rely, on the PHI to your detriment.
The right to an accounting of disclosures- You have the right to receive a written accounting of our disclosures of your PHI for a period of time up to a 6 year period of time immediately preceding the date on which you provide your request, except for disclosures made prior to April 14, 2003.
We are not required to make disclosures for the following purposes: treatment, payment, health care operations; disclosures made to you; disclosures to persons directly involved in your health care for the payment for your health care; disclosures FOR National security or intelligence purposes; and disclosures to correctional institutions. We reserve our right to temporarily suspend your right to receive an accounting of disclosures to health oversight agencies or law enforcement officials, as required by law.
How to Complain about our privacy practices- If you believe that we have violated your individual privacy rights,you may submit your written complaint to our Privacy Compliance Officer - at the address 405 N. Main St. Salado TX 76751. Your written complaint must contain the name of the entity that is subject of your complaint and describe their acts or omissions that you believe to be in violation of the Rule or the provisions outlined in our Notice of privacy . If you prefer you may file with the Secretary of state. Of when you knew or should have known However, any complaint you file must be received by us or filed with the secretary within a 180 days of when you knew or should have known the omission occurred. We will take no retaliatory action against you if you make such a complaint. If you wish to file a complaint, please forward your complaint to:
You may file your complaint at
Office for Civil Rights U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services
1301 Young Street- Suite 1169
Dallas , TX 75202
Phone: 214-767-4056
TDD: 214-767-8940
Fax 214-767-0432
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