Philips Respironics Recall: Philips Respironics announced a voluntary recall for continuous and non-continuous ventilators, and certain CPAP, Bi-Level PAP and ventilator devices due to two issues related to the polyester-based polyurethane (PE-PUR) sound abatement foam used in these devices. To get your machine repaired or replaced, register your device and start your claim at https://www.philipssrcupdate.expertinquiry.com/ For additional information or for patients that do not have access to the internet to register your device, contact Philips Respironics at 877-907-7508.

Columbus, OH

Privacy Policy

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.

If you have any questions about this Notice please contact: Privacy Officer at 800-892-4044

This Notice of Privacy Practices describes how DASCO Home Medical Equipment may use and disclose your Protected Health Information, to carry out treatment, payment or health care operations and for other purposes that are permitted or required by law. It also describes your rights to access and control your Protected Health Information. “Protected Health Information” otherwise known as and referred to throughout this notice as “PHI” is information about you, including demographic information, that may identify you and relates to your past, present or future physical or mental health or condition and related health care services, supplies and/or equipment.

We are required to by law to provide you with and abide by the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices. We may change any aspect of our privacy notice and/or policies at any time without first notifying you. The most current revision of the notice will be effective for all PHI that we maintain at that time. You may request the most current copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices by accessing our website at www.goDASCO.com, or by calling the office and asking for a copy to be mailed to you.

Understanding Your Health Record Information

Each time you visit a healthcare provider, a record of your visit is made. Typically, this record contains your identifying information, symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment, a plan for future care or treatment and various other information. This information, often referred to as your health or medical record, serves many purposes including as a:

Basis for planning your care and treatment
Means of communication among the many health professionals who contribute to your care
Legal document describing the care you received
Means by which you or a third party payer can verify that services billed were actually provided
Tool in education of health care professionals

Source of data for medical research
Source of information for public health officials charged with monitoring and improving the health of the nation
Source of data for facility planning and marketing
Tool with which we can assess and continually work to improve the care we render and the outcomes we achieve

Understanding what is in your record and how health information is used helps you to:

Ensure its accuracy,
Better understand who, what, when, where, and why others may access your health information, and
Make more informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to others.

Your Health Information Rights

Although your health record is the physical property of the healthcare practitioner or facility that compiled it, the information belongs to you. With written request, you have the right to:

  • Request a restriction or limitation on certain uses and disclosures of your information (note: We are not required to agree to your request).
  • Obtain a written copy of the notice of privacy practices.
  • Inspect and obtain a copy of your health record. Our organization may charge a fee to cover costs of copying, mailing, labor and supplies associated with your request. We may deny such a request in certain circumstances. You may request a review of any such denial.
  • Amend your health record. The request must be written and must include a supporting reason. We may deny the request in certain circumstances.
  • Obtain an accounting of certain disclosures of your health information.
  • Request communications of your health information by alternative means or at an alternative location. We use our best efforts to accommodate reasonable requests.
  • Request Electronic Copy of Electronic Medical Records if they are maintained in an electronic format. We will make every effort to provide access to your PHI in the form or format you request, if it is readily producible in such form or format. If it is not available in the requested format, we will provide a hard copy. We may charge you reasonable, cost-based fee for the labor associated with transmitting the electronic medical record.
  • Revoke your authorization to use or disclose health information except to the extent that action has already been taken.
  • Be notified of a Breach of any of your unsecured PHI.
  • To ask that your PHI with respect to an item or service paid for out of pocket, not be disclosed to a health plan for purposes of payment or health care operations.
  • All written requests are to be made to DASCO HME 375 N. West St. Westerville, OH 43082 Attn: Privacy Officer

Our Responsibilities

This organization is required by law to:

Maintain the privacy of your PHI,
Provide you with this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your health information we collect and maintain,
Abide by the terms of this notice,
Notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction,

We will not use or disclose your health information without your authorization, except as described in this notice.

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with our Privacy Officer, or with the Secretary of Health and Human Services. You may contact our Privacy Officer or the CEO, Rachel Mazur at 800-892-4044 or 614-901-2226 for further information about the complaint process. DASCO Home Medical Equipment will not retaliate for any complaint made concerning our privacy practices.
How we may Use & Disclosures for Treatment, Payment and Health Operations

These disclosures must be made with no specific authorization from you:

Treatment: Information obtained by a heath care professional or other member of your healthcare team will be recorded in your record and used to determine the course of treatment that is intended to work best for you. We may provide your physician or a subsequent healthcare provider with copies of various reports that should assist him or her treating you.

Payment: A bill may be sent to you or a third-party payer. The information on or accompanying the bill may include information that identifies you, as well as your diagnosis, procedures, and supplies used and various other information.

Regular Health Operations: Members of our quality improvement team and other employees and consultants may use information in your health record to assess the care and outcomes in your case and others like it. This information could then be used in an effort to continually improve the quality and effectiveness of the healthcare and service we provide.

Appointment Reminders, Treatment Alternatives and Health Related Benefits and Services: We may use and disclose PHI to remind you that you have an appointment with us and/or to tell you about treatment alternatives or health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.

Special Situations: Some examples of circumstances when we may directly contact you include: verifying compliance with medication usage; scheduling preventative maintenance; scheduling deliveries; verifying use of equipment, etc.

Business Associates: We may disclose PHI to our business associates that perform functions or services on our behalf. Examples include our document shredding service (when disposing of your health record), our legal representatives, our accrediting agency, etc. When these services are contracted, we may disclose your PHI to our business associate so that they can perform the job we’ve asked them to do. To protect your health information, however, we require the business associate to appropriately safeguard your information.

Research: We may disclose information to researchers when their research has been approved by an institutional review board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your health information.

Funeral directors: We may disclose health information to funeral directors consistent with applicable law to carry out their duties.

Fund Raising: We may contact you as part of a fund-raising effort.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA): We may disclose to the FDA health information relative to adverse events with respect to food, supplements, product and health defects, or post marketing surveillance information to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacement.

Vendors: We may disclose your information in the event of an equipment recall.

Workers compensation: We may disclose health information to the extent authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with laws relating to workers compensation or other similar programs established by law.

Public health: As required by law, we may disclose your health information to public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury, disability, potential abuse and neglect, threat to the safety of your health or others.

To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety: We may use and disclose Health Information when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person.

Disclosures, however, will be made only to someone who may be able to help prevent the threat.
Correctional institution: Should you be an inmate of a correctional institution, we may disclose to the institution or agents thereof health information necessary for your health and the health and safety of other individuals.

Military: Our organization may disclose your identifiable health information if you are a member of U.S. or foreign military forces (including veterans) and if required by the appropriate military command authorities.

National Security: Our organization may disclose your identifiable health information to federal officials for intelligence and national security activities authorized by law. We also may disclose your identifiable health information to federal officials in order to protect the President, other officials or foreign heads of state, or to conduct investigations.

Law Enforcement: We may release Health Information if asked by a law enforcement official if the information is: (1) in response to a court order, subpoena, warrant, summons or similar process; (2) limited information to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person; (3) about the victim of a crime even if, under certain very limited circumstances, we are unable to obtain the person’s agreement; (4) about a death we believe may be the result of criminal conduct; (5) about criminal conduct on our premises; and (6) in an emergency to report a crime, the location of the crime/victims, or the identity, description or location of the person who committed the crime.

Lawsuits and Disputes: If you are involved in a lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose Health Information in response to a court or administrative order. We also may disclose Health Information in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.

Data Breach Notification Purposes: We may use or disclose your PHI to provide legally required notices of unauthorized access to or disclosure of your health information.

Uses & Disclosures that require us to give you an opportunity to Object

Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care: Unless you object, we may disclose to a member of your family, a relative, a close friend or any other person you identify, your PHI that directly relates to that person’s involvement in your health care. If you are unable to agree or object to such a disclosure, we may disclose such information as necessary if we determine that it is in your best interest based on our professional judgment.

Disaster Relief: We may disclose your PHI to disaster relief organizations that seek your PHI to coordinate your care, or notify family and friends of your location or condition in a disaster. We will provide you with an opportunity to agree or object to such a disclosure whenever we practically can do so.

Your Written Authorization is required for Other Uses & Disclosures

The following uses and disclosures of your PHI will be made only with your written authorization:
Uses and disclosures of PHI for marketing purposes; and
Disclosures that constitute a sale of your PHI
Other uses and disclosures of PHI not covered by this Notice or the laws that apply to us will be made only with your written authorization. If you do give us an authorization, you may revoke it at any time by submitting a written revocation to our Privacy Officer and we will no longer disclose PHI under the authorization. But disclosure that we made in reliance on your authorization before you revoked it will not be affected by the revocation.

Federal law makes provision for your health information to be released to an appropriate health oversight agency, public health authority or attorney, provided that work force member or business associate believes in good faith that we have engaged in unlawful conduct or have otherwise violated professional or clinical standards and are potentially endangering one or more patients, workers or the public.