Privacy practice — Chronograph Family Practice

What HIPAA requires

Chronograph Family Practice is a covered entity under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. We follow the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the HIPAA Security Rule. The full Notice of Privacy Practices is available at the front desk on paper; ask Lena for the current version.

Under HIPAA we may use and disclose your protected health information for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations without a separate authorization. We may disclose your information when required by law (subpoenas, public-health reporting, abuse reporting, court orders). We may disclose your information to a person you have named as your healthcare agent under your advance directive. We may disclose limited information for emergency notification of family members. Anything else requires your written authorization, and you can revoke that authorization at any time.

What we do beyond what HIPAA requires

We do not sell, share, or trade your protected health information for marketing, research, or any other purpose, ever. We do not enroll you in any marketing communications without your explicit written opt-in. We do not use your information to train any artificial-intelligence model, ours or anyone else's. We do not use your information for clinical research without your specific written consent, on a per-study basis, and we have no current research arrangements that would request such consent.

We do not use third-party analytics, tracking pixels, or behavioral-advertising technologies on this website. The site loads typefaces from the Google Fonts CDN; that is the only third-party request the site makes. No cookies are set by us.

We retain medical records for the durations required by Minnesota Statutes (currently seven years from the date of the last service for adult patients, longer for minors). At the end of the retention period, records are securely shredded or, for electronic records, securely overwritten.

Your rights

You have the right to:

Request a copy of your medical record, electronically or printed, within ten business days. We will not charge for the first copy in any twelve-month period.
Request an amendment to your medical record. We will respond within sixty days.
Request restrictions on how we use or disclose your information. We will consider every reasonable request.
Request that we communicate with you by alternative means (a different phone number, a different address, a different email).
Receive an accounting of certain disclosures of your information.
File a complaint with us or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights if you believe your privacy rights have been violated. We will not retaliate.

Communications you might receive from us

SMS text messages from your clinician's mobile during business hours. Phone calls from the practice line ((218) 727-0413) for scheduling and care coordination. A handwritten card after a death in the family, addressed to the next of kin (members can opt out of this practice at any visit). An emailed receipt at the end of the calendar year listing your membership payments for tax-recordkeeping purposes. Nothing else.

Communications you will not receive from us

A monthly newsletter. Marketing emails. A "wellness" survey campaign. Promotional offers. Referral codes. Health-app cross-promotions. Pharmaceutical-company-sponsored content of any kind.

Questions

The practice's privacy contact is Lena Vasiliev (Operations Director). Reach her by phone at (218) 727-0413, by email at privacy@chronograph.example, or in person at the front desk.