Essex County Primary Care Policies

No Show: ECPC requires a 24 hour notice for any cancellation. Patients that do not show for their scheduled appointments will be charged a $100 no show fee.
Refill: If you need a refill on a current prescription please call the office and choose option #2. Please leave your name, date of pharmacy. Please allow 2 business days for refills to be completed.
Referrals: ECPC is affiliated with Beth Israel Lahey Health. Patients with HMO insurance plans/products are required to obtain a referral for specialist prior to the appointment. Those with an HMO plan will be referred to specialists within the primary network of Beth Israel Lahey Health. Referrals outside of the network may not be approved based on your specific insurnace's requirements.
Please note - Women do not need referrals to OB/GYN in their network for routine services, such as paps or annual well exams and obstetric care.
Verbal/Physical Abuse: Any verbal abuse towards staff will not be tolerated and may lead to dismissal from the practice. Physical abuse and threats of any kind will not be tolerated and will result in automatic termination from our practice.
Pre-visit Labs: ECPC does not order pre-visit labs for physicals or medicare wellness exams. Labs if needed will be discussed and drawn at your appointment.
Forms: Please allow 3-5 business days to complete forms submitted to the office.
No Surprise Billing: Under the Federal No Surprises Act good faith estimates are available upon request.

HIPAA Privacy Policy:

HIPAA

Notice of Privacy Practices Introduction The practice provides this notice to comply with the Privacy regulations issued by the Department of Health and Human Services in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability act of 1996 (HIPAA).
We understand that health information about you is personal. We are committed to protecting your health information. This notice applies to all records of your care generated in this practice. This information is referred to us as your medical record or Protected Health Information (PHI).
We are required by law to:

• Make sure that health information that identifies you is private;
• Give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices; and
• Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect. Please read it carefully.

How is PHI Used and Disclosed?
For treatment. We may disclose your PHI to physicians, nurses, students and other health care personnel who provide you with health care services or who are involved in your care. For example, a doctor treating you for a sore on your leg may need to know if you have diabetes because diabetes can slow the healing process. Your health care team will record observations in your medical record, which describes your symptoms, examinations, test results, diagnosis and treatment plan. We may need to speak to other health care professionals who may be treating you or to who we can refer you.
For payment. We may disclose PHI in order to bill and collect payment from your insurance company or other third party. For example, we may need to give you health plan information about your visit so that your health plan will pay us or reimburse you for the visit. We may also tell your health plan about a treatment you are going to receive prior approval or to determine if your plan will cover a treatment.
For Health Care Operations. We strive to run our practice efficiently and to ensure that you receive the highest quality of care. This may include reviewing whether new or existing treatments are effective, evaluating the performance of our staff, deciding what additional services to offer, or eliminating services, which we may currently provide. Identifying information is removed when it is removed with staff or for learning purposes.
Appointment Reminders. We may contact you as a reminder of an appointment.
As Required By Law. We will disclose PHI about you when required to do so by federal, state or local law or to avert a serious threat to health or safety or to the Department of Veterans Affair, or for Workers Compensation or to avert public health risks or subpoenas, discovery requests or other lawful processes or for law enforcement officials or Coroners, Health Examiners and Funeral Directors. National Security and Intelligence Activities, Protective Services for the President and Other and Correctional Institutions or under the custody of a law enforcement Official.
For Health Oversight. We may disclose PHI to health oversight agencies for activities authorized by the law. These may include audits, investigations, inspections and licensure.
What Are Your Rights?
The following will summarize you rights regarding the health information we maintain about you. All requests must be made in writing, attention to the Privacy Officer. A form will be provided upon request.
Right to Inspect and Copy your PHI which may be used to make decisions about you. We may charge a fee for the costs of copying, mailing or other supplies and services associated with this request. We have the right to deny this request under limited circumstances.
Right to Amend. If you feel the information about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information. Your request must detail the intended amendment and a reason supporting this change. If your request is denied, we will notify you in writing.
Right to an Accounting of Disclosures with an exception for treatment, payment and health care operations as previously described. Your request must state a time period, which may commence no earlier than 4/14/03 and not exceed six years. We will notify you of the cost involved. You may choose to withdraw or modify your request.
Right to Request Restrictions on PHI for payment, treatment, health care operations or the people that are exposed to this information. We are not required to agree with your request if it is not feasible for us to ensure compliance or believe it will be harmful to your health.
Right to Request Confidential Communications, which means we will make a reasonable effort to communicate with you in the manner you request (i.e. Phone, mail).
Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice. A paper copy of this notice will be given to you.
Acknowledgment of Receipt. We will request you sign a separate form acknowledging you have received a copy of this notice. If you choose, or are not able to sign, a staff member will sign their name and date and the acknowledgment will become part of your medical record.