Sameer Nagda MD - Policies

Office Policies

Tuesday, 08 January 2008

To expedite appropriate care and treatment, please bring all X-rays, reports, and medical information regarding your injury to your scheduled appointment. Please arrive approximately 30 minutes prior to your first clinic visit to allow ample time for the completion of the necessary demographic information and medical history. Alternatively, you can download patient history forms from this website and fill them out prior to your visit. In that case, we ask that you arrive 15 minutes prior to your initial visit.

Each patient's time is extremely valuable and no one should be kept waiting. However, unanticipated problems or emergencies can put a clinic schedule behind. A patient can greatly assist our office in keeping clinic waits to a minimum by having all appropriate medical records, x-ray studies and insurance information at the time of their check-in.

If you must cancel an appointment please give as early notice as possible so that other patients may have the opportunity to take advantage of the time slot.

Dr. Nagda shares "call" with other orthopedic surgeons within the Anderson Clinic. If an issue arises after hours, please call his office (703-892-6500) where the answering service will put you through to the surgeon on call. If an emergency arises, the patient should go directly to the nearest emergency room where they will be evaluated by an emergency room attendant.

Prescriptions are given to patients while in the office. Prescriptions may be occasionally refilled over the phone ("called in") on a case-by-case basis. Refills of medications, in particular narcotics are not made after hours or by the on-call physician. If your pain is increased or requires additional narcotic medication after clinic hours we suggest you go to a local emergency room for evaluation of the increased discomfort.

We will make every effort to see patients as soon as possible. Emergency conditions will be seen immediately during regular office hours. Non-emergent injuries will be scheduled within 48 hours and elective clinic visits will be scheduled within 1 week.

Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 March 2008 )

Notice Of Privacy Practices

Tuesday, 08 January 2008

This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information.

Our Promise to You, Our Patients

Your information is important and confidential. Our ethics and policies require that your information be held in strict confidence.

INTRODUCTION

We maintain protocols to ensure the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We have physical security in our building, passwords to protect databases, compliance audits, and virus/intrusion detection software. Within our practice, access to your information is limited to those who need it to perform their jobs.

At the offices of Sameer Nagda, M.D., we are committed to treating and using protected health information about you responsibly. This Notice of Privacy Policy describes the personal information we collect, and how and when we use or disclose that information. It also describes your rights as they relate to your protected health information. This Notice is effective April 14, 2003, and applies to all protected health information as defined by federal regulations.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR HEALTH RECORD

Each time you visit Dr. Nagda, a record of your visit is made. Typically, this record contains your symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment, and a plan for future care or treatment. This information, often referred to as your health or medical record serves as a:

Basis for planning your care and treatment,
Means of communication among the many health professionals who contribute to your care,
Legal document describing the care you received
Means by which you or a third-party payer can verify that services billed were actually provided,
Tool in educating health professionals,
Source of data for medical research,
Source of information for public health officials charged to improve the health of the state and nation
Source of data for our planning and marketing, and
Tool by which we can assess and continually work to improve the care we render and outcomes we achieve.

Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to: ensure its accuracy; better understand who, what, when, where, and why others may access your health information; and make more informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to others.

YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION RIGHTS

Although your health record is the physical property of Sameer Nagda, M.D., the information belongs to you. You have the right to:

Obtain a paper copy of this notice of privacy policies upon request,
Inspect and obtain a copy of your health record as provided by 45 CFR 164.524 (reasonable copy fees apply in accordance with state law),
Amend your health record as provided by 45 CFR 164.526,
Obtain an accounting of disclosures of your health information as provided by 45 CFR 164.528.
Request confidential communications of your health information as provided by 45 CFR 164.522(b), and
Request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your information as provided by 45 CFR 164.522(a) (however, we are not required by law to agree to a requested restriction).

OUR RESPONSIBILITIES

Our practice is required to:

Maintain the privacy of your health information,
Provide you with this notice as to our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to information we collect and maintain about you,
Abide by the terms of this notice,
Notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction, and
Accommodate reasonable requests you may have to communicate your health information.

We reserve the right to change our practices and to make the new provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain. We will keep a posted copy of the most current notice in our facility containing the effective date in the top, right-hand corner. In addition, each time you visit our facility for treatment, you may obtain a copy of the current notice in effect upon request.

We will not use or disclose your health information in a manner other than described in the section regarding Examples Of Disclosures For Treatment, Payment, And Health Operations, without your written authorization, which you may revoke as provided by 45 CFR 164.508(b)(5), except to the extent that action has already been taken.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REPORT A PROBLEM

If you have questions and would like additional information, you may contact our practice's Privacy Officer, Ms. Dianne Sviderski, at 702-877-6781.

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you can either file a complaint with Ms. Dianne Sviderski, or with the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OCR). There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint with either our practice or the OCR. The address for the OCR regional office for Nevada is as follows:

Office for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
50 United Nations Plaza - Room 322
San Francisco, CA 94102

EXAMPLE OF DISCLOSURES FOR TREATMENT, PAYMENT, AND HEALTH OPERATIONS

We will use your health information for treatment.
We may provide medical information about you to health care providers, our practice personnel, or third parties who are involved in the provision, management, or coordination of your care.

For example:
Information obtained by a nurse, physician, or other member of your health care team will be recorded in your record and used to determine the course of treatment that should work best for you. Your medical information will be shared among health care professionals involved in your care.

We will also provide your other physician(s) or subsequent health care provider(s) (when applicable) with copies of various reports that should assist them in treating you.

We will use your health information for payment.
We may disclose your information so that we can collect or make payment for the health care services you receive.

For example:
If you participate in a health insurance plan, we will disclose necessary information to that plan to obtain payment for your care.

We will use your health information for regular health operations.
We may disclose your health information for our routine operations. These uses are necessary for certain administrative, financial, legal, and quality improvement activities that are necessary to run our practice and support the core functions.

For example:
Members of the quality improvement team may use information in your health record to assess the care and outcomes in your case and others like it. This information will then be used in an effort to continually improve the quality and effectiveness of the healthcare and service we provide and to reduce healthcare costs.

Appointment Reminders
We may disclose medical information to provide appointment reminders (e.g., contacting you at the phone number you have provided to us and leaving a message as an appointment reminder).
Decedents
Consistent with applicable law, we may disclose health information to a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director.
Workers Compensation
We may disclose health information to the extent authorized by and necessary to comply with laws relating to workers compensation or other similar programs established by law.
Public Health
As required by law, we may disclose your health information to public health or legal authorities charged with preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability.
Research
We may disclose information to researchers when their research has been approved and the researcher has obtained a required waiver from the Institutional Review Board/Privacy Board, who has reviewed the research proposal.
Organ Procurement Organizations
Consistent with applicable law, we may disclose health information to organ procurement organizations or other entities engaged in the procurement, banking, or transplantation of organs for the purpose of donation and transplant.
As Required By Law
We may disclose health information as required by law. This may include reporting a crime, responding to a court order, grand jury subpoena, warrant, discovery request, or other legal process, or complying with health oversight activities, such as audits, investigations, and inspections, necessary to ensure compliance with government regulations and civil rights laws.
Specialized Government Functions
We may disclose health information for military and veterans affairs or national security and intelligence activities.
Business Associates
There are some services provided in our organization through contacts with business associates. Some examples are billing or transcription services we may use. Due to the nature of business associates' services, they must receive your health information in order to perform the jobs we've asked them to do. To protect your health information, however, when these services are contracted we require the business associate to appropriately safeguard your information.
Practice Marketing
We may contact you to provide information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you (for example, to notify you of any new tests or services we may be offering).
Food And Drug Administration (FDAI
We may disclose to the FDA health information relative to adverse events with respect to food, supplements, product and product defects, or post marketing surveillance information to enable product recalls, repairs, or replacement.
Personal Representative
We may use or disclose information to your personal representative (person legally responsible for your care and authorized to act on your behalf in making decisions related to your health care).
To Avert A Serious Threat To Health/Safety

We may disclose your information when we believe in good faith that this is necessary to prevent a serious threat to your safety or that of another person. This may include cases of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.
Communication With Family
Unless you object, health professionals, using their best judgment, may disclose to a family member or close personal friend health information relevant to that person's involvement in your care or payment related to your care. We may notify these individuals of your location and general condition.
Disaster Relief
Unless you object, we may disclose health information about you to an organization assisting in a disaster relief effort.

For all non-routine operations, we will obtain your written authorization before disclosing your personal information. In addition, we take great care to safeguard your information in every way that we can to minimize any incidental disclosures.

Last Updated ( Friday, 11 January 2008 )

Ethics

Tuesday, 08 January 2008

Hippocratic Oath - Modern Version

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

Written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University, and used in many medical schools today.

American Medical Association Coade of Ethics

Preamble:

The medical profession has long subscribed to a body of ethical statements developed primarily for the benefit of the patient. As a member of this profession, a physician must recognize responsibility to patients first and foremost, as well as to society, to other health professionals, and to self. The following Principles adopted by the American Medical Association are not laws, but standards of conduct which define the essentials of honorable behavior for the physician.

I. A physician shall be dedicated to providing competent medical care, with compassion and respect for human dignity and rights.

II. A physician shall uphold the standards of professionalism, be honest in all professional interactions, and strive to report physicians deficient in character or competence, or engaging in fraud or deception, to appropriate entities.

III. A physician shall respect the law and also recognize a responsibility to seek changes in those requirements which are contrary to the best interests of the patient.

IV. A physician shall respect the rights of patients, colleagues, and other health professionals, and shall safeguard patient confidences and privacy within the constraints of the law.

V. A physician shall continue to study, apply, and advance scientific knowledge, maintain a commitment to medical education, make relevant information available to patients, colleagues, and the public, obtain consultation, and use the talents of other health professionals when indicated.

VI. A physician shall, in the provision of appropriate patient care, except in emergencies, be free to choose whom to serve, with whom to associate, and the environment in which to provide medical care.

VII. A physician shall recognize a responsibility to participate in activities contributing to the improvement of the community and the betterment of public health.

VIII. A physician shall, while caring for a patient, regard responsibility to the patient as paramount.

IX. A physician shall support access to medical care for all people.

Adopted June 1957; revised June 1980; revised June 2001

1948 Oath of Geneva

At the time of being admitted as a Member of the Medical Profession:

I solemnly pledge myself to consecrate my life to the service of humanity;

I will give to my teachers the respect and gratitude which is their due;

I will practice my profession with conscience and dignity;

The health of my patient will be my first consideration;

I will respect the secrets which are confided in me, even after the patient has died;

I will maintain by all the means in my power, the honor and the noble traditions of the medical profession;

My colleagues will be my brothers;

I will not permit considerations of religion, nationality, race, party politics or social standing to intervene between my duty and my patients;

I will maintain the utmost respect for human life from its beginning even under threat, and I will not use my medical knowledge contrary to the laws of humanity;

I will make these promises solemnly, freely and upon my honor.

Adopted by the General Assembly of the World Medical Association, Geneva, Switzerland, September 1948. Amended by the 22nd World Medical Assembly, Sydney, Australia, August 1968, and by the 25th Assembly in Venice, 1983.

Last Updated ( Friday, 11 January 2008 )

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