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.
Effective Date: October 1, 2026
Supersedes the Notice effective November 15, 2024
Who This Notice Covers
This Notice applies to Accu-Med Diagnostic Centers and to both of our locations in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, Florida. In this Notice, “we,” “us,” “our,” and “the practice” refer to Accu-Med Diagnostic Centers.
Our physicians, technologists, administrative staff, and business office personnel all follow the practices described here. If you receive services at both of our locations, your health information may be shared between them so that we can coordinate your care and bill correctly.
Our Commitment to Your Privacy
We are required by federal and Florida law to protect the privacy of your health information, to give you this Notice explaining our legal duties and privacy practices, and to follow the terms of the Notice currently in effect.
We are also required to notify you if a breach occurs that compromises the privacy or security of your unsecured health information.
“Health information” means information that identifies you and relates to your past, present, or future physical or mental health, the care we provide you, or payment for that care. It includes your chart, X-rays and imaging, treatment notes, billing records, and insurance correspondence.
How We May Use and Disclose Your Health Information
The following categories describe the ways we may use and disclose your health information. Not every permitted use is listed, but every use or disclosure we make will fall within one of these categories or will be made only with your written authorization.
For Treatment
We use your health information to perform the diagnostic studies your treating provider has ordered and to report the results back to that provider. Most patients come to us on a referral, and the referring provider receives our report and images as part of your treatment. We may also share your images and reports with radiologists interpreting your study, with specialists involved in your care such as orthopedists, neurologists, and pain management providers, and with any other provider treating you for the same condition.
For Payment
We use and disclose your health information to obtain payment for the services we provide. Because we perform studies for patients injured in motor vehicle accidents, this most often means working with automobile insurance carriers.
• We submit your records, treatment notes, and itemized bills to your automobile insurer under Florida’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) law, which entitles the insurer to the reports and records it needs to evaluate and pay your claim.
• We may disclose information to a health insurer, Medicare, Medicaid, or another payer when that payer is responsible for some or all of your care.
• We may disclose information to determine your eligibility or benefits, to obtain prior authorization, or to demonstrate the medical necessity of the care you received.
• We may disclose information to billing companies, claims clearinghouses, collection agencies, and independent medical examiners engaged in connection with your claim.
If you have retained an attorney in connection with your accident, we will disclose your records to that attorney only when you have signed a written authorization or when we are required to do so by a valid subpoena, court order, or other legal process. Retaining an attorney does not by itself give that attorney access to your records.
For Health Care Operations
We use and disclose your health information to run the practice and keep the quality of care high. This includes quality review and peer review, evaluating the performance of our doctors and staff, training students and new employees, licensing and accreditation activities, business planning and cost management, auditing, legal and compliance services, and general administrative functions.
Business Associates
We contract with outside companies to perform services on our behalf — for example, our imaging and picture archiving system vendors, billing and transcription services, IT and cloud hosting providers, record copy services, secure shredding, and our fax and telephone platforms. These companies are called business associates. Each one is required by written contract to safeguard your health information and to use it only for the work we hired them to do.
Appointment Reminders and Health-Related Information
We may contact you by phone, text message, email, or mail to remind you of an appointment, to follow up after a visit, or to tell you about treatment alternatives or health-related services that may be of interest to you. If you would prefer that we not contact you in a particular way, tell our front desk and we will accommodate a reasonable request.
To Family, Friends, and Others Involved in Your Care
We may share with a family member, friend, or other person you identify the information directly relevant to that person’s involvement in your care or payment for your care. We may also tell such a person your general condition or location. If you are present and able to make decisions, we will give you the opportunity to object first. If you are not present or are incapacitated, we will use our professional judgment to decide whether sharing the information is in your best interest.
We may also leave a message on your answering machine or voicemail containing limited information about your appointment or your care.
As Required by Law
We will use and disclose your health information whenever federal or Florida law requires it.
Public Health and Safety
• Public health activities — including reporting disease, injury, or disability, and reporting to the Food and Drug Administration about products or medical devices.
• Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a child, an elderly person, a vulnerable adult, or a victim of domestic violence, as Florida law requires.
• Health oversight activities such as audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure actions by state and federal agencies.
• Preventing or lessening a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of you or another person.
Legal Proceedings and Law Enforcement
• In response to a court order, administrative order, subpoena, discovery request, warrant, or other lawful process, when the legal requirements for notice or protective order have been met.
• To law enforcement officials to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person; to report a crime on our premises; or in other circumstances specifically permitted by law.
Decedents, Organ Donation, and Research
• To funeral directors, coroners, and medical examiners as necessary for them to carry out their duties.
• To organ procurement organizations, when applicable.
• For research, when an Institutional Review Board or privacy board has approved a waiver of authorization, or when the information has been de-identified.
Workers’ Compensation, Military, and Correctional Institutions
• As authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with workers’ compensation laws and similar programs.
• For specialized government functions, including military and veterans’ activities, national security, and protective services.
• To a correctional institution or law enforcement official having custody of you, as permitted by law.
Uses and Disclosures That Require Your Written Authorization
We will obtain your written authorization before we use or disclose your health information for any purpose not described in this Notice. In particular, your written authorization is required for:
• Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes, if any are maintained.
• Uses and disclosures for marketing purposes, including any communication for which we receive payment from a third party.
• Any disclosure that constitutes a sale of your health information. We do not sell your health information.
• Release of your records to an attorney, a life or disability insurer, an employer, or any other third party at your request.
You may revoke an authorization at any time by giving us written notice. A revocation will stop any further use or disclosure under that authorization, but it cannot undo a use or disclosure we already made while the authorization was in effect.
Information Protected by More Stringent Laws
Certain categories of health information receive additional protection under Florida and federal law. Where those laws are more protective than HIPAA, we follow the more protective law. These categories include:
• HIV and AIDS test results and related information (Fla. Stat. § 381.004).
• Mental health records and information (Fla. Stat. § 394.4615).
• Substance abuse treatment records (Fla. Stat. § 397.501).
• Sexually transmissible disease information (Fla. Stat. § 384.29).
Generally, we will not release information in these categories without your specific written authorization or a court order, even where HIPAA alone would permit the disclosure.
Substance Use Disorder Treatment Records (42 CFR Part 2)
We are not a federally assisted substance use disorder treatment program. However, we may receive records protected by the federal substance use disorder confidentiality regulations at 42 CFR Part 2 — for example, from another provider treating you. If we receive such records:
• We may not use or disclose them in any civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceeding against you without your written consent or a court order meeting the requirements of 42 CFR Part 2.
• We may not re-disclose them except as permitted by 42 CFR Part 2.
• You may request a restriction on the use or disclosure of those records for treatment, payment, or health care operations, and you may request a list of disclosures we have made of those records.
• You may file a complaint about a violation of 42 CFR Part 2 with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and we will not retaliate against you for doing so.
Your Rights Regarding Your Health Information
You have the following rights. To exercise any of them, submit a written request to our Privacy Officer using the contact information at the end of this Notice. Request forms are available at any of our offices.
Right to Inspect and Copy
You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of the health information we use to make decisions about your care, including your medical and billing records. We will act on your request within 30 days, and may extend that period once by 30 days if we notify you in writing of the reason and the new date.
• If we maintain your records electronically, you have the right to receive an electronic copy in the form and format you request, if we can readily produce it, or in another agreed electronic format.
• You may direct us in writing to transmit a copy of your records to another person or entity you designate.
• We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for copies, as permitted by HIPAA and Florida law. We will tell you the fee before we fill the request.
• In limited circumstances we may deny a request. If we do, you may have the right to have the denial reviewed by a licensed health care professional we designate who was not involved in the original decision.
Right to Request an Amendment
If you believe the health information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may request that we amend it. Your request must be in writing and must state the reason for the requested amendment. We may deny the request if the information was not created by us, is not part of the records we keep, is not information you would be permitted to inspect and copy, or is already accurate and complete. If we deny your request, we will explain why in writing, and you may submit a statement of disagreement that we will include with your records.
Right to an Accounting of Disclosures
You have the right to receive a list of certain disclosures we made of your health information. The accounting does not include disclosures made for treatment, payment, or health care operations, disclosures you authorized, or certain other disclosures excluded by law. Your request may cover a period of up to six years and may not include dates before April 14, 2003. The first accounting you request in any 12-month period is free; we may charge a reasonable cost-based fee for additional requests in the same period, and we will tell you the cost in advance so that you can withdraw or modify your request.
Right to Request Restrictions
You may ask us to restrict how we use or disclose your health information for treatment, payment, or health care operations, or to restrict what we share with a family member or friend involved in your care. We are not required to agree to most restriction requests, but if we do agree, we will honor the restriction except in an emergency.
We are required to agree to one type of request: if you pay for a service in full, out of pocket, and ask us not to disclose information about that service to your health plan, we must honor that request, unless the disclosure is otherwise required by law.
Right to Request Confidential Communications
You may ask us to communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way or at a certain location — for example, only by mail to a specific address, or only at a work number. You do not have to explain the reason for your request. We will accommodate all reasonable requests.
Right to Be Notified of a Breach
You have the right to be notified if we discover a breach of your unsecured health information.
Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice
You have the right to a paper copy of this Notice at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically. Ask any staff member, or ask our Privacy Officer to mail one to you.
Complaints
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with our Privacy Officer or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. All complaints must be submitted in writing. We will not retaliate against you, and we will not deny or condition your care in any way, because you filed a complaint.
Practice Privacy Officer
Michelle Doletina, Privacy Officer
Accu-Med Diagnostic Centers
155 N State Road 7, Plantation, FL 33317
Phone: (305) 785-8735 · Email: michelle@accu-med.org
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office for Civil Rights, Centralized Case Management Operations
200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Room 509F, HHH Building
Washington, D.C. 20201
Toll-free: (800) 368-1019 · TDD: (800) 537-7697
Email: OCRComplaint@hhs.gov · Online: ocrportal.hhs.gov
Changes to This Notice
We reserve the right to change this Notice and to make the revised Notice effective for health information we already have as well as information we receive in the future. The current Notice is posted in each of our offices, with its effective date shown at the top of the first page. You may request a copy of the current Notice at any visit.
Our Locations
Miami-Dade
21307 NW 2nd Avenue, Miami Gardens, FL 33169
Office (305) 654-7725 · Fax (305) 654-9921
Broward
199 North State Road 7, Plantation, FL 33317
Office (954) 792-0777 · Fax (954) 792-0097