Privacy Principles and Notification to Clients

At Senior Friendship Centers, Inc., we value your trust and commit to maintaining the confidentiality of your private health information. The Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, a new federal law, requires that Senior Friendship Centers have a special policy for safeguarding a category of health information related to you called “protected health information,” or “PHI” received or created in the course of providing services to you. PHI is health information that relates to:

Your physical or mental health condition The provision of health care to you, or

Payment for your health care that can be used to identify you.

To protect the privacy of PHI, Senior Friendship Centers not only guards the physical security of PHI, but we also limit the way PHI is used or disclosed to others. We may use or disclose the PHI in certain permissible ways, such as those described below.

To provide you with health care services and products To another healthcare provider if needed for your treatment To bill you for health care services or products To seek reimbursement for services you receive at Senior Friendship Centers For the administration and operation of Senior Friendship Centers To another health care provider or health plan for administration and operations purposes To a family member, friend, or other person involved in your health care if you are present and you do not object, or in the event of an emergency. To comply with applicable federal, state, or local law

For public health reasons To report a suspected case of abuse, neglect or domestic violence To comply with health oversight activities To the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services To respond to an order of a court or administrative tribunal To a law enforcement official for a law enforcement purpose For purposes of public safety or national security To allow a coroner or medical examiner to identify you or determine your cause of death To allow a funeral director to carry our their duties

Federal law provides you with certain rights regarding PHI that pertain to you, including:

Right to receive confidential communications Right to obtain a copy of PHI Right to receive an accounting of disclosures of PHI

Right to amend PHI Right to file a complaint - Senior Friendship Centers policy and federal law prohibit retaliation against any person for filing such a complaint

For more information, please contact the Privacy Officer, Senior Friendship Centers, Inc., 1888 Brother Geenen Way, Sarasota, FL 34236, or 941-955-2122