Privacy Policy

Our website address is: https://inlandpharmacy.com.

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.

Inland Pharmacy will ask you to sign an Acknowledgement that you have received this Notice of Privacy Practices (Notice). This Notice describes how Inland Pharmacy may use and disclose your protected health information in accordance with the HIPAA Privacy Rule.  It also describes your rights and Inland Pharmacy’s duties with respect to protected health information about you.  

Section A: Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information

1. Treatment, Payment and Health Care Operations
   1. We will use your health information to provide treatment.  This may involve receiving or sharing information with other health care providers such as your physician.  This information may be written, verbal, electronic or via facsimile.  This will include receiving prescription orders so that we may dispense prescription medications.  We may also share information with other health care providers who are treating you to coordinate the different things you need, such as medications, lab work or other appointments. We may also contact you to provide treatment-related services, such as refill reminders, treatment alternatives and other health related services that may be of benefit to you.
   1. We will use your health information to obtain payment.  This will include sending claims for payment to your insurance or third-party payer.  It may also include providing health information to the payer to resolve issues of claim coverage.
   1. We will use your health information for our health care operations necessary to run the pharmacy.  This may include monitoring the quality of care that our employees provide to you and for training purposes. 
2. Permitted or Required Uses and Disclosures
   1. Our pharmacists, using their professional judgment may disclose your protected health information to a family member, other relative, close personal friend or other person you identify as being involved in your health care.  This includes allowing such persons to pick up filled prescriptions, medical supplies or medical records on your behalf.
   1. We also have contracts with entities called Business Associates that perform some services for us that require access to your protected health information.  Examples may include companies that route claims to your insurance company or that reconcile the payments we receive from your insurance. We require our Business Associates to safeguard any protected health information appropriately.
   1. Under certain circumstances Inland Pharmacy may be required to disclose health information as required or permitted by federal or state laws.  These include, but are not limited to:
      1. To the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) relating to adverse events regarding drugs, foods, supplements and other health products or for post-marketing surveillance to enable product recalls, repairs or replacement.
      1. To public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability.
      1. To law enforcement agencies as required by law or in response to a valid subpoena or other legal process.
      1. To health oversight agencies (e.g., licensing boards) for activities authorized by law such as audits, investigations and inspections necessary for Inland Pharmacy’s licensure and for monitoring of health care systems.
      1. 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 patient about the request or to obtain an order protecting the requested health information.
      1. As authorized by and as necessary to comply with laws relating to worker’s compensation or similar programs established by the law.
      1. Whenever required to do so by law.
      1. To a Coroner or Medical Examiner when necessary.  Examples include: identifying a deceased person or to determine a cause of death.
      1. To Funeral Directors to carry out their duties
      1. To organ procurement organizations or other entities engaged in procurement, banking or transplantation of organs for the purpose of tissue donation and transplant.
      1. 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.
      1. 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.
      1. 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.
      1. 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.
      1. To authorized officials for intelligence, counterintelligence and other national security activities authorized by law.
      1. To authorized federal officials so they may provide protection to the president, other authorized persons or foreign heads of state or to conduct special investigations.
      1. To a government authority, such as social service or protective services agency, if Inland Pharmacy 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 we believe 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.
3. Authorized Use and Disclosure
   1. Use or disclosure other than those previously listed or as permitted or required by law, will not be made unless we obtain your written Authorization in advance.  You may revoke any such Authorization in writing at any time.  Upon receipt of a revocation, we will cease using or disclosing protected health information about you unless we have already taken action based on your Authorization. 
4. More Stringent Laws
   1. Some states may have laws that are more stringent than HIPAA.  Please refer to the end of the Notice for the laws that may apply.

Section B: Patient’s Rights

1. Restriction Requests
   1. You have a right to request a restriction be placed on the use and disclosure of your protected health information for purposes of carrying out treatment, payment or health care operations.  Restrictions may include requests for not submitting claims to your insurance or third-party payer or limitations on which persons may be considered personal representatives.
   1. Inland Pharmacy is not required to accept restrictions other than payment related uses not required by law that have been paid in full by the individual or representative other than a health plan.
   1. If we do agree to requested restrictions, they shall be binding until you request that they be terminated.
   1. Requests for restrictions or termination of restrictions must be submitted in writing to the Privacy Officer listed in Section D of this Notice.
2. Alternative Means of Communication
   1. You have a right to receive confidential communications of protected health information by alternate methods or at alternate locations upon reasonable request. Examples of alternatives may be sending information to a phone or mailing address other than your home. 
   1. Inland Pharmacy shall make reasonable accommodation to honor requests.
   1. Requests must be submitted in writing to the Privacy Officer listed in Section D of this Notice.
3. Access to Health Information
   1. You have a right to inspect and copy your protected health information.  The designated record set will usually include prescription and billing records.  You have the right to request the protected health information in the designated record set for as long as we maintain your records.
   1. You have the right to request that your protected health information be provided to you in an electronic format if available. 
   1. Requests must be submitted in writing to the Privacy Officer listed in Section D of this Notice.
   1. Any costs or fees associated with copying, mailing or preparing the requested records will be charged prior to granting your request.
   1. Inland Pharmacy may deny your request for records in limited circumstances.  In case of denial, you may request a review of the denial for most reasons.  Requests for review of a denial must also be submitted to the Privacy Officer listed in Section D of this Notice.
4. Amendments to Health Information
   1. If you believe that your protected health information is incomplete or incorrect, you may request an amendment to your records.  You may request amendment to any records for as long as we maintain your records.
   1. Requests must be submitted in writing to the Privacy Officer listed in Section D of this Notice.
   1. Requests must include a reason that supports the amendment to your health information.
   1. Inland Pharmacy may deny amendment requests in certain cases.  In case of denial, you have the right to submit a Statement of Disagreement.  We have the right to provide a rebuttal to your statement.
5. Accounting of Uses and Disclosures
   1. You have the right to request an accounting of uses and disclosures that are not for treatment, payment or health care operations. This accounting may include up to the six years prior to the date of request and will not include an accounting of disclosures to yourself, your personal representatives or anything authorized by you in writing.  Other restrictions may apply as required in the Privacy Rule.
   1. Requests must be submitted in writing to the Privacy Officer listed in Section D of this Notice.
   1. The first accounting in any 12-month period will be provided to you at no cost.  Any additional requests within the same 12-month period will be charged a fee to cover the cost of providing the accounting.  This fee amount will be provided to you prior to completing the request.  You may choose to withdraw your request to avoid paying this fee.
6. Notice of Privacy Practices
   1. You have a right to receive a paper copy of this Notice even if you previously agreed to receive a copy electronically. 
   1. Please submit a request to the Privacy Officer listed in Section D of this Notice.

Section C: Inland Pharmacy’s Duties

Inland Pharmacy is required by law to maintain the privacy of protected health information, to provide individuals with notice of its legal duties and privacy practices with respect to protected health information, and to notify affected individuals following a breach of unsecured protected health information.

Inland Pharmacy is required to abide by the terms of this Notice.  We reserve the right to change the terms of this Notice and to make the new notice provisions effective for all protected health information that we maintain. Any such revised Notice will be made available upon request.

Section D: Contacting Us

1. Additional Questions, Submitting Requests or Complaints
   1. If you have questions about this Notice or how Inland Pharmacy uses and discloses your protected health information please contact our Privacy Officer below. 
   1. You may obtain forms needed for request submission from our pharmacy or from our Privacy Officer.
   1. If you believe your privacy rights have been violated you may file a complaint with our Privacy Officer or with the Secretary of Health and Human Services.  You will not be retaliated against for filing a complaint.
2. Privacy Officer              Attn:Privacy Officer

Inland Pharmacy

1001 E Latham Ave #P       

Hemet, CA 92543

951-658-7111

• Secretary of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights
  • For online complaint forms and contact information for the Regional OCR offices: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/index.html
  • Email: OCRComplaint@hhs.gov for assistance or questions about complaint forms

Section E: State Specific Requirements

Disclosure. California law limits disclosure of your medical information in ways that would otherwise be permitted under federal law. In the situations described below, the pharmacy will disclose your medical information as follows: 

1. the information may be disclosed to providers of health care, health care service plans, contractors or other health care professionals or facilities for purposes of diagnosis or treatment of the patient. This includes, in an emergency situation, the communication of patient information by radio transmission or other means between licensed emergency medical personnel at the scene of an emergency, or in an emergency medical transport vehicle, and licensed emergency medical personnel at a health facility;
2. the information may be disclosed to an insurer, employer, health care service plan, hospital service plan, employee benefit plan, governmental authority, contractor or any other person or entity responsible for paying for health care services rendered to the patient to the extent necessary to allow responsibility for payment to be determined and payment to be made. If the patient is, by reason of a comatose or other disabling medical condition, unable to consent to the disclosure or medical information and no other arrangements have been made to pay for the health care services being rendered to the patient, the information may also be disclosed to a governmental authority to the extent necessary to determine the patient’s eligibility for, and to obtain, payment under a governmental program for health care services provided to the patient. The information may also be disclosed to another provider of health care or a health care service plan as necessary to assist the other provider or health care service plan in obtaining payment for health care services rendered by that provider of health care or health care service plan to the patient;
3. the information may be disclosed to any person or entity that provides billing, claims management, medical data processing, or other administrative services for providers of health care or health care service plans or for any of the persons or entities specified above in paragraph (b). However, no information so disclosed may be further disclosed by the recipient in any way that would be violative of California laws governing the use and disclosure of medical information without authorization from the patient;
4. the information may be disclosed to organized committees and agents of professional societies or of medical staffs of licensed hospitals, licensed health care service plans, professional standards review organizations, independent medical review organizations and their selected reviewers, utilization and quality control peer review organizations, contractor’s or persons or organizations insuring, responsible for, or defending professional liability that a provider may incur, if the committees, agents, health care service plans, organizations, reviewers, contractors or persons are engaged in reviewing the competence or qualifications of health care professionals or in reviewing health care services with respect to medical necessity, level of care, quality of care, or justification of charges;
5. a provider of health care or a health care service plan that has created medical information as a result of employment-related health care services to an employee conducted at the specific prior written request and expense of the employer may disclose to the employee’s employer medical information that:
   1. is relevant in a law suit, arbitration, grievance, or other claim or challenge to which the employer and the employee are parties and in which the patient has placed in issue his or her medical history, mental or physical condition, or treatment, provided that information may only be used or disclosed in connection with that proceeding;
   2. describes functional limitations of the patient that may entitle the patient to leave from work for medical reasons or limit the patient’s fitness to perform his or her present employment, provided that no statement of medical cause is included in the information disclosed;
6. unless the provider of health care or the health care service plan is notified in writing of an agreement by the sponsor, insurer, or administrator to the contrary, the information may be disclosed to a sponsor, insurer, or administrator of a group or individual insured or uninsured plan or policy that the patient seeks coverage by or benefits from, if the information was created by the provider of health care or the health care service plan as the result of services conducted at the specific prior written request and expense of the sponsor, insurer, or administrator for the purpose of evaluating the application for coverage or benefits;
7. the information may be disclosed to a health care service plan by providers of health care that contract with the health care service plan and may be transferred among providers of health care that contract with the health care service plan, for the purpose of administering the health care service plan. Medical information may not otherwise be disclosed by a health care service plan except in accordance with the provisions of this part;
8. the information may be disclosed to an insurance institution, agent or support organization of medical information if the insurance institution, agent, or support organization has complied with all requirements for obtaining the information pursuant to the requirements of the California Insurance Code provisions.
9. the information may be disclosed to an organ procurement organization or a tissue bank processing the tissue of a decedent for transplantation into the body of another person, but only with respect to the donating decedent for the purpose of aiding the transplant;
10. the information may be disclosed to a third party for purposes of encoding, encrypting, or otherwise anonymizing data. However, no information may be further disclosed by the recipient in any way that would be unauthorized manipulation of coded or encrypted medical information that reveals individually identifiable medical information;
11. for purposes of disease management programs and services, information may be disclosed to any entity contracting with a health care service plan or the health care service plan’s contractors to monitor or administer care of enrollees for a covered benefit, provided that the disease management services and care are authorized by a treating physician or to any disease management organization that complies fully with the physician authorization requirements, provided that the health care service plan or its contractor provides or has provided a description of the disease management services to a treating physician or to the health care service plan’s or contractor’s network of physicians.