HEALTH INSURANCE PORTABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT (“HIPAA”) NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
This notice describes how medical information about patients may be used and disclosed and how patients can get access to this information.
This HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices (“Notice”) describes how Element Science may use and disclose your protected health information for treatment, obtaining payment, health care operations and other specific purposes that are permitted or required by law. The Notice also describes your rights and Element Science’s duties with respect to protected health information about you. We will store information provided by you in a secured record. That information will include your name, address, phone number and other identifying information. In addition, any information that you may have, such as allergies and other matters affecting your health, will be stored in the record.
TREATMENT, PAYMENT, AND HEALTH CARE OPERATIONS
We will use your health care information to treat you. We may also disclose your information to other health care providers for the purpose of treatment. We will use health care information to receive payment for products and services. We will bill you and/or a third-party payer for the cost of medical equipment and supplies dispensed to you. The information on or accompanying the bill may include your identification, as well as the equipment and supplies you are using. We will use your health care information to carry out health care operations. For example, we may use information in your health record to monitor the quality of organizational performance and to train personnel.
USES AND DISCLOSURES THAT ARE EITHER PERMITTED OR REQUIRED BY LAW OR REGULATION
Using their judgment as professionals, our employees may disclose your protected health information to a family member, other relative, close personal friend, or any person you identify as being involved in your health care. We form contracts with some entities known as “Business Associates” to perform services for us. We may disclose protected health information to our “Business Associates” so that they can perform the job we asked them to do, then bill your third-party payer for services rendered. We require the “Business Associates” to appropriately safeguard the protected health information. We may contact you to provide refill reminders or information about treatment alternatives or other health related benefits and services that may be of interest.
We may also disclose your health care information to the following entities and/or under given circumstances: to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) relative to adverse events regarding drugs, medical devices, foods supplements, and other health products or to post marketing surveillance to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacement; to public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability; to law enforcement agencies as required by law or in response to a valid subpoena or other legal process; to health oversight agencies (e.g. medical licensing boards) for activities authorized by law such as audits, investigations, and inspections necessary for Element Science licensure and for the government to monitor the health care system, etc.; in response to a court order, administrative order, subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process by another person involved in a dispute involving a patient, but only if efforts have been made to tell the patients about the request or to obtain an order protecting the requested health care information; as authorized by and as necessary to comply with laws relating to worker’s compensation or similar programs established by law; whenever required to do so by law; to a coroner or medical examiner when necessary, for example, to identify a deceased person or to determine a cause of death, or to funeral directors consistent with applicable law to carry out their duties; to notify, or assist in notifying, a family member, personal representative, or another person responsible for the patient’s care, of the patient’s location, or general condition; to a correctional institution or its agents, if a patient is or becomes an inmate of such an institution, when necessary for the patient’s health or the health and safety of others; when necessary to prevent a serious threat to the patient’s health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person; as required by military command authorities, when the patient is a member of the armed forces, and to appropriate military authority about foreign military personnel; to authorized federal officials for intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities authorized by law; to authorized federal officials so they may provide protection to the president, other authorized persons, or foreign heads of state or conduct special investigations to a government authority such as social service or protective services agency, if Element Science reasonably believes the patient to be a victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, but only to the extent required by law, if the patient agrees to the disclosure, or if the disclosure is allowed by law and Element Science believes it is necessary to prevent serious harm to the patient or to someone else or the law enforcement or public official that is to receive the report represents that it is necessary and will not be used against the patient.
AUTHORIZED USE AND DISCLOSURE
We will obtain your written authorization before using or disclosing protected health information about you for purposes other than those listed above or otherwise permitted or required by law. You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time. Such revocations must be made in writing. Upon receipt of the written revocation, we will stop using or disclosing protected health information about you, except to the extent that we have already taken action in reliance on the authorization.
RESTRICTION REQUESTS
You have the right to request that we restrict how your protected health information is used or disclosed in carrying out treatment, payment, or health care operations. Such a request must be made in writing to Element Science at 301 Chesapeake Drive Redwood City, CA 94063. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care. If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer. We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information.
CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION
You have the right to request that our communication to you concerning your health care information be confidential and made by alternative means or at alternative locations. For example, you can ask that we only contact you at work or by mail. Such a request must be made in writing to Element Science at 301 Chesapeake Drive Redwood City, CA 94063.
ACCESS
You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of your protected health information. You have the right to access and copy protected information about you contained in the designated record set for as long as we maintain your protected health information. The designated record set usually will include prescription and billing records. To receive a copy of your protected health information, you must send a written request to 301 Chesapeake Drive Redwood City, CA 94063. Forms for making access requests are available by calling Customer Service at 1-800-985-5702. We may charge you a fee for the cost of copying, mailing, or other supplies that are necessary to grant your request. We may also deny your request to inspect and copy in limited circumstances. If you are denied access to your protected health information in most cases, you may request that the denial be reviewed.
HEALTH CARE INFORMATION AMENDMENTS
If you feel that your protected health information that we maintain is incomplete or incorrect, you may request that we amend it. You may request an amendment for as long we maintain the protected health information. A request for an amendment must be made in writing. You must include a reason that supports your request. In certain cases, we may deny the request. If the request for amendment is denied, you have the right to file a statement of disagreement with the decision, and we may give a rebuttal to your statement.
ACCOUNTING
For most purposes other than treatment, payment, or health care operations, you have the right to receive an accounting of the disclosures we made of your protected health information. The accounting will exclude disclosures we may have made directly to you, disclosures to friends or family members involved in your care, and disclosures for purposes you specifically authorized in writing. The right to receive an accounting is subject to certain other exceptions, restrictions, and limitations. A request for an accounting must be made in writing. Requests within a 12-month period will be provided free of charge, but you may be charged for the cost of providing additional accountings within that period. We will notify you of the cost involved and you may choose to withdraw or modify the request at that time.
PRIVACY NOTICE
You have the right to request and receive a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically.
ELEMENT SCIENCE DUTIES
Element Science takes its responsibility for maintaining your protected health information in confidence very seriously. Protected health information means information about you that may identify you and that relates to your past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition and related health care services. It also includes basic demographic information. We are required by law to maintain the privacy of protected health information and to provide you with a Notice of Privacy Practices including our legal duties with respect to protected health information. We reserve the right to change the terms of our Notice and to make the new Notice provisions effective for all protected health information that we maintain. When we make changes to our Notice, copies of the revised Notice will be available on request.
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REPORT A PROBLEM
If you have questions or would like additional information about our privacy practices, you may contact Element Science at 1-800-985-5702 or by writing to 301 Chesapeake Drive Redwood City, CA 94063. You may also submit a complaint to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints. We will provide you with the address for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services upon request. We support your right to protect the privacy of your protected health information. We will not retaliate in any way if you choose to file a complaint with us or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This Notice is effective as of 1 May 2025.