Genomic Focus HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practice
Effective date of notice: August 29, 2023
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.
Genomic Focus, LLC ( Genomic Focus, we or us ) is committed to protecting the privacy of your health information. We are required by law to give you notice of our legal duties and privacy practices concerning your "Protected Health Information." This Notice describes our privacy practices, as well as your rights, with respect to your Protected Health Information.
Protected Health Information includes your name and date of birth, medical history, laboratory results, and other health information that we collect, generate, use, and share to for our services, and for other purposes allowed or required by law.
We are required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to protect the privacy of your Protected Health Information and notify you of any breach of unsecured Protected Health Information. We must follow the terms of this Notice when we use or share your Protected Health Information. We will not use or share your Protected Health Information other than as described in this Notice unless you give us written authorization to do so.
We may use or share your Protected Health Information in the following ways without your written authorization as permitted by law:
For Our Operations
We may use or share your Protected Health Information to provide treatment. For example,
we may use your Protected Health Information to perform our services.
To Your Personal Representative or Legal Guardian
If you have an authorized personal representative, such as an attorney-in-fact under a
health care power of attorney, then we may share your Protected Health Information to your
personal representative. If you are a minor, then we may share your Protected Health
Information with your parent or legal guardian.
To Persons Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care
We may share your Protected Health Information to persons involved in your care or payment
for your care, such as a family member, relative, or close personal friend, unless you ask
us not to do so.
To Contact You About Our Genomic Focus Products and Services
We may use and share your Protected Health Information to contact you about other Genomic
Focus products and services which we believe may be of interest to you.
To Our Business Associates
We may share your Protected Health Information with our business associates, which are
companies or individuals that provide services to us. Our business associates are required
to protect the privacy and security of your Protected Health Information.
As Required by Law
We must share your Protected Health Information when required to do so by any applicable
federal, state, or local law.
For Public Health
We may share your Protected Health Information for public health and safety activities.
For example, we may share your Protected Health Information when we report to public
health authorities, cooperate with public health investigations, or notify a manufacturer
of a product regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of a possible problem.
To Health Oversight Agencies
We may share your Protected Health Information to a healthcare oversight agency for
activities that are authorized by law, such as audits, investigations, inspections and
licensure activities. For example, we may share your Protected Health Information with
agencies responsible for ensuring compliance with Medicare or Medicaid program rules.
For Research
We may use or disclose your Protected Health Information for research purposes, such as to
better understand genetic conditions, develop new tests, add new genes to our tests,
engage in research collaborations with third parties, or support third parties research
activities. We may make these research uses and disclosures of your Protected Health
Information if (1) an institutional review board or privacy board has determined the
research meets certain criteria, (2) under certain circumstances if the Protected Health
Information is about patients who are deceased, or (3) by using a limited data set as
described further below. In addition, in preparation for research when permitted by law,
we may review Protected Health Information to draft research protocols, identify or
contact prospective research participants, or for similar purposes provided that legal
conditions designed to protect your privacy are met. All other uses and disclosures of
Protected Health Information for research will require your written authorization.
To Create De-identified Information and Limited Data Sets
We may use Protected Health Information to create de-identified health information and
limited data sets. De-identified health information is health information that cannot
reasonably be used to identify you. Once health information has been appropriately
de-identified under HIPAA and other applicable law, we may use and share the de-identified
health information for any purpose, such as to help advance medical care and the clinical
practice of genetics. Limited data sets are Protected Health Information that do not
include certain direct identifiers about you, such as your name or phone number. We may
use and share limited data sets for purposes of research, health care operations, or
public health activities as described in this Notice after entering into a HIPAA-compliant
agreement with the recipient.
During Judicial and Administrative Proceedings
We may share your Protected Health Information during the course of a judicial or
administrative proceeding in response to a court order, subpoena, or other lawful
process.
To Law Enforcement
We may share your Protected Health Information with the police or other law enforcement
officials as required by law or in compliance with a court order, warrant, subpoena,
summons, or other legal process for locating a suspect, fugitive, witness, missing person,
or victim of a crime.
To Respond to Threats to Health or Safety
We may share Protected Health Information to prevent or reduce the risk of a serious and
imminent threat to the health or safety of an individual or the general public.
To Report Suspected Abuse, Neglect, or Violence
We may share Protected Health Information with a government agency, such as social
services or a protective services agency, if we reasonably believe that an adult or child
is the victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.
We will ask for your written authorization before using or sharing your Protected Health Information for any purpose not described above. For example, we will request your written authorization before using or sharing Protected Health Information to send you marketing communications as defined by HIPAA. In addition, we will not sell your Protected Health Information to third parties unless you provide written authorization that specifically authorizes the sale of your Protected Health Information. You may revoke your authorization, in writing, at any time, except to the extent that we have already acted upon your authorization. You may submit your revocation to the Privacy Officer by using the contact information provided at the end of this Notice.
You have the following rights with respect to your Protected Health Information. To exercise any of these rights, please send our Privacy Officer a written request by using the contact information provided at the end of this Notice.
Access to Protected Health Information
You may ask us to let you inspect or copy the Protected Health Information we maintain. We
may deny access to certain information for specific reasons for example, if the access
requested is reasonably likely to endanger the life or safety of you or another person. If
we deny your request, you may ask us to review the denial.
Restrictions on How We Use or Share Your Protected Health Information
You may ask us to restrict how we use or share your Protected Health Information. While we
will consider all requests for restrictions carefully, we typically are not required to
agree to your request. However, we must agree if you ask us not to share your Protected
Health Information to a health plan for certain purposes, we are not legally required to
share your Protected Health Information with the health plan, and your request relates to
an item for which out-of pocket payment has been made in full.
Confidential Communications
You may ask that we communicate with you about your Protected Health Information in a
specific way (for example, home or office phone) or send you mail to a specific address,
such as your work address. We will agree to reasonable requests for confidential
communications.
Correct or Update Information
If you believe the Protected Health Information we maintain about you contains an error,
you may request that we correct or update your information. We may deny your request under
certain circumstances and will explain the denial.
Accounting of Disclosures
You may request a list, or accounting, of the instances in which we or our business
associates have shared your Protected Health Information for purposes other than
treatment, payment, health care operations and certain other purposes. The list will only
include disclosures we or our business associates made within the six years before we
received your request.
If you have questions or concerns about our privacy practices, would like a more detailed explanation about your privacy rights, or would like a paper or electronic copy of this Notice, please contact our Privacy Office using the contact information below. If you believe that we may have violated your privacy rights, you may submit a complaint to our Privacy Office. You also may submit a written complaint to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS ). We will provide you with the address to file your complaint with HHS upon request. Genomic Focus will not take retaliatory action against you and you will not be penalized in any way if you choose to file a complaint with us or with HHS.
We have the right to change our privacy practices and the terms of this Notice at any time, provided such changes are permitted by applicable law. If we change this Notice, we may apply its updated terms to all Protected Health Information we maintain, including any Protected Health Information we received or created before we issued the updated Notice. We will promptly post any changes to this Notice on our website at genomicfocusproto.web.app/privacypolicy.html. Please review this website periodically to ensure that you are aware of any updates.
To communicate with us regarding this Notice, our privacy practices, or your privacy rights, please use the following contact information:
Genomic Focus, LLC
Attention: Privacy Officer
11209 Grey Oaks Park Ter
Glen Allen, VA 23059
support@genomicfocus.com