Services Offered

 

Aberdeen Family Chiropractic is a modern facility known for its range of Chiropractic techniques and other services.

 

Spinal Adjustment

 

Other Services

  • On-Premise X-Ray Facility
  • SEMG (Surface EMG and Thermal Scan
    (see first visit)

 

Notice of Privacy Practices: Your Rights and Our Responsibilities

 

This Notice of Privacy Practices describes how we may use and disclose your Protected Health Information (PHI) to carryout treatment, payment, or health care operations (TPO) and for other purposes that are permitted or required by law.  It also describes your rights to access and control your PHI.  “Protected Health Information” is information about you, including demographic information that may identify you and that relates to your past, present or future physical health condition and related healthcare services. Please review is carefully.

 

Your Rights

 

This section explains your rights and how we are required to acknowledge them.

 

Request a copy of your paper or electronic medical record

  • You can ask to see or receive an electronic or paper copy of your medical and other health information that we have about you.  Ask a staff member how to do this.
  • We will provide a copy or summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request.  We may charge a reasonable cost-based fee.

Receive a copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices

  • You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.

Request a correction to your medical record

  • You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete.  Ask a staff member how to do this.
  • We may deny your request for an amendment in a written response with an explanation within 60 days of the request.

Request confidential or alternative communication

  • You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address.
  • We will say “yes” to all reasonable requests.

Ask us to limit the information we share

  • You can ask us not to share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations.  We can say “no” if it would affect your care.
  • If you pay for a service of health care item in full out-of-pocket, you can ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer.  You must make the request in writing with our Request for Restriction of Use and Disclosure of Protected Health Information form.  We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information.

Receive a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information

  • You have a right to request an accounting of disclosures of your health information made by us.  We are not required to list certain disclosures, including: disclosures made for treatment, payment, or health care operations purposes.
  • We will provide one accounting per year free of charge, but a reasonable cost-based fee will be applied for a second request within the same 12-month period.
  • You can as for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why.
  • We will include all the disclosures except those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you ask us to make).

Choose someone to act for you

  • If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health care information.
  • We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take action. 

Receive notice of a breach

  • We are required to notify you by first class mail or by email of any breaches of Unsecured Protected Health Information as soon as possible, but no later than 60 days following the discovery of the breach.

File a complaint if you feel your rights have been violated

  • You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us using the information of page 1.
  • Please contact our HIPAA Privacy Officer, Jennifer Badding-Benton, D.C., if you feel your rights have been violated.
  • Alternatively, you can file your complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, or by calling 1-877-696-6775, or by visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/.
  • We will not retaliate against you for filling a complaint.

 

Your Choices

 

This section addresses your choices regarding health information we may share.

 

You have the right and choice to tell us to:

  • Share information with family, friends, or others involved in your care.
  • Share information in a disaster relief situation.
  • Contact you for fundraising efforts
  • If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.
  • Share information in a disaster relief situation. If you are unable to communicate your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may share your information if we believe it is in your best interest.
  • Include your information in a hospital directory.

We will never share your information in these cases without your permission:

  • Marketing purposes
  • Sale of your information
  • Most sharing of psychotherapy notes

In the case of fundraising:

  • We may contact you for fundraising efforts, but you can tell us not to contact you again

 

Our Use and Disclosures

 

This section lists ways in which we may use your information and disclose it. How do we typically use or share your health information? We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.

 

Healthcare treatment

  • Plan your care and treatment, including preauthorization and precertification.
  • Communicate with other providers such as referring physicians.
  • Run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary.
  • Billing to receive payments from health plans or other entities.
  • We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you.

Public Health and Safety Issues

  • We can share health information about you for certain situations such as:
    • Preventing disease
    • Helping with product recalls
    • Reporting adverse reactions to medications
    • Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
    • And preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety.
  • Do research
    • We can use or share your information for health research.

Compliance with the law

We can use or share health information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we are complying with federal policy law:

  • For complying with federal privacy law investigations with the Department of Health and Human Services.
  • For workers’ compensation claims.
  • For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official.
  • For activities authorized by law with health oversight agencies.
  • In response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.

Respond to organ and tissue donation requests

  • We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations

Work with medical examiner or funeral director

  • We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies

Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests

  • We can use or share health information about you:
    • For workers’ compensation claims
    • For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement professional
    • With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law
    • For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services

Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

  • We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena

Maryland privacy rules often exceed HIPAA standards, particularly regarding sensitive health data, requiring stricter adherence to "minimum necessary" disclosures. Key Maryland laws, including the Confidentiality of Medical Records Act (MCMRA) and the new Maryland Online Data Privacy Act (MODPA), mandate written patient consent for many disclosures, prohibit selling personal data, and restrict data processing to "strictly necessary" uses for specific services. 

Key Maryland privacy rules and limits on disclosure include:

  • Stringent Standards: Where Maryland law is more stringent than HIPAA, Maryland law applies.
  • Consent and Authorization: Maryland law requires written, patient-signed authorization to release medical records in most situations, with specific exceptions.
  • MODPA (Effective Oct 1, 2025): This law classifies consumer health data as "Sensitive Data," prohibiting its processing or disclosure unless "strictly necessary" to provide a specific, requested service. It also bans the sale of personal data.
  • "Minimum Necessary" Rule: Similar to HIPAA, Maryland law requires that only the minimum amount of information required for the purpose of the disclosure is released.
  • Specific Protections for Sensitive Data: Enhanced restrictions apply to abortion-related data, mental health records, and other sensitive information, often limiting disclosures by health information exchanges (HIEs).
  • Patient Rights: Patients have the right to inspect, copy, and request corrections to their medical records.
  • Disclosure without Authorization: Permitted only in limited scenarios, such as in response to a subpoena, warrant, or court order (compulsory process), or for specific, authorized research or public health investigations. 

Relationship to HIPAA:
While MODPA generally exempts data covered by HIPAA (PHI), it applies to non-PHI data collected by covered entities. It also creates a more rigorous standard for data minimization compared to other states.

 

Our Responsibilities

 

  • We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
  • We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy and security of your information.
  • We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it upon request.
  • If you have a personal representative, such as a legal guardian, we will treat that person as if that person is you with respect to disclosures of your health information.
  • We will not share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing.  If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time by letting us know in writing.

For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/understanding/consumers/noticepp.html.

 

Notice of Rights Concerning Substance Use Disorder Records

 

Certain records regarding Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment are subject to heightened confidentiality protections under 42 CFR Part 2. Such records may not be used or disclosed in a civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceeding against you, absent your written consent or a court order. Although we are not a substance use disorder treatment program under federal law (a “SUD Program”), we may receive information from a SUD Program about you. We may not disclose SUD information for use in a civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceeding against you unless we have your written consent, or a court order accompanied by a subpoena or other legal requirement compelling disclosure issued after we and you were given notice and an opportunity to be heard.

 

HIPAA Privacy Rule Final Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy

 

As required by the 2024 HIPAA Privacy Rule modifications, we are prohibited from using or disclosing your protected health information (PHI) for the purpose of investigating, identifying, or prosecuting any person for seeking, obtaining, providing, or facilitating lawful reproductive health care, such as contraception, abortion, or pregnancy loss management. We will require a signed attestation for any request for PHI that could potentially be used for such investigations, affirming the request is not for these prohibited purposes.

 

Changes to the Terms of this Notice

 

We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, in our office, and on our website. We reserve the right to change our practices and to make provisions effective for all your health information that we maintain.  Should our information practices change, a revised Notice of Privacy Practices will be available upon request.  We will not use or disclose your health information without your authorization, except as described in this document.