Notice of Privacy Practices

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION
ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU
CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT
CAREFULLY.

This Notice will tell you about the ways we may use and disclose medical
information about you. We also describe your rights and certain
obligations we have regarding such medical information. We are
required by law to make sure that medical information which identifies
you is kept private; give you this Notice of our legal duties and privacy
practices with respect to your medical information; and follow the terms
of the Notice that is currently in effect.

This Notice covers the physician practices of Weill Medical College of
Cornell University and its radiology subsidiaries (collectively "Weill
Cornell", "we" or "us"), including its employed physicians and other
personnel. (If you are being treated by a Weill Cornell physician while in
another institution, such as New York-Presbyterian Hospital, you should
refer to that other institution's Notice of Privacy Practices for
information about how your medical information may be used and
disclosed and whom to contact to exercise your rights).

HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU

The following categories describe different ways that we use and
disclose medical information.

Treatment . We may use medical information about you to provide you
with medical treatment or services. We may disclose medical
information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical students,
or other Weill Cornell personnel or personnel of New York-Presbyterian
Hospital or Columbia University Health Sciences (collectively "our
Affiliated Institutions"), who are involved in taking care of you. For
example, a doctor treating you for a broken leg may need to know if you
have diabetes, because diabetes may slow the healing process. Different
departments of Weill Cornell and our Affiliated Institutions also may
share medical information about you, such as prescriptions, lab work and
x-rays, to coordinate your treatment. We also may disclose medical
information about you to people outside Weill Cornell who may be
involved in your medical care.

Payment . We may use and disclose medical information about you so
that we may bill for treatment and services you receive at Weill Cornell
and can collect payment from you, an insurance company or another
party. For example, we may need to give information about surgery you
received or are going to receive to your health plan so that the plan will
pay us or reimburse you for the surgery. In the event a bill is overdue,
we may need to give information to a collection agency as necessary to
help collect the bill or may disclose an outstanding debt to credit
reporting agencies. We may also disclose information about you to our
Affiliated Institutions and other healthcare facilities for purposes of
payment as permitted by law.

Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose medical information
about you for operations of Weill Cornell and our joint operations with
our Affiliated Institutions. These uses and disclosures are necessary to
run Weill Cornell or such joint operations and make sure that all of our
patients receive quality care. For example, we may use medical
information to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you.
We may also disclose information to doctors, nurses, technicians, medical
students, and other Weill Cornell personnel for educational purposes.
We may also disclose information about you to other healthcare facilities
as permitted by law.

Appointment Reminders; Treatment Alternatives; Health-Related
Benefits and Services . We may use and disclose medical information to
contact you to remind you that you have an appointment for treatment
or medical care, or to contact you to tell you about possible treatment
options and health-related benefits and services that may be of interest
to you.

Fundraising Activities . We may contact you to raise money for Weill
Cornell (including its graduate school) or joint fundraising activities
involving Weill Cornell and our Affiliated Institutions. Unless you give
us permission to use additional information, we would limit use of your
information to contact information, such as your name, address and
telephone number and the dates you received treatment or services. If
you do not want to be contacted for such fundraising efforts, please
write to the Privacy Officer at the address listed at the end of this
Notice.

Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care . We may
release medical information about you to a friend or family member who
is involved in your medical care or who helps pay for your care. We may
also tell your family or friends your condition. If you do not wish us to
share this information with your friends and family, please follow the
procedures described in the Right to Request Restrictions section of this
Notice below. In addition, we may disclose medical information about
you to an entity assisting in a disaster relief effort so that your family can
be notified about your condition, status and location.

Research . Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose
medical information about you for research purposes. For example, a
research project may involve comparing the health and recovery of
patients who received one medication to those who received another,
for the same condition. All research projects, however, are subject to a
special approval process before your medical information may be used or
disclosed. We may use or disclose medical information about you to
researchers who are preparing to conduct a research study, for example,
to help them look for patients with specific medical needs who might be
asked to participate in this project. In this case, information they review
will not leave Weill Cornell nor our Affiliated Institutions. When legally
required, we will ask for your specific written permission (authorization)
if the researcher will have access to your name, address or other
information that reveals who you are, or will be involved in your care at
Weill Cornell or our Affiliated Institutions. Finally, we may permit a
researcher to look at your medical information and use and disclose it for
research purposes if, after going through an approval process, an
evaluation is made that the proposed use and disclosure complies with
legal and ethical requirements regarding the privacy of medical
information.

As Required By Law . We will disclose medical information about you
when required to do so by federal, state or local law.

Special Privacy Protections . If your medical information includes HIV related
information, alcohol or substance abuse, mental health or genetic
information, special protections may apply to such information, and you
can contact the Privacy Officer if you have any questions.

To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety . of you, the public or
another person, we may use or disclose medical information about you.
Organ and Tissue Donation . If you are an organ or tissue donor, we
may release medical information to organizations that handle organ
procurement or organ, eye or tissue transplantation or to an organ
donation bank.

Military and Veterans . If you are a member of the armed forces of the
United States or another country, we may release medical information
about you as required by military command authorities.

Workers' Compensation . We may release medical information about you
for workers' compensation or similar programs.

Public Health Risks . We may disclose to authorized public health or
government officials medical information about you for public health
activities when required or authorized by law. These activities generally
include the following: to a person subject to the jurisdiction of the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) for purposes related to the quality,
safety or effectiveness of an FDA-regulated product or service; to
prevent or control disease, injury or disability; to report disease or injury;
to report births and deaths; to report reactions to medications and food
or problems with products; to notify people of recalls or replacements of
products they may be using; to notify a person who may have been
exposed to a disease or may be at risk for contracting or spreading a
disease or condition; to notify the appropriate government authority if
we believe a patient has been the victim of abuse, neglect or domestic
violence.

Health Oversight Activities . We may disclose medical information to a
health oversight agency for activities authorized by law. These oversight activities include, for example, audits, investigations, inspections, and
licensure.

Lawsuits and Disputes . If you are involved in a lawsuit or a dispute,
we may disclose medical information about you in response to a court or
administrative order. We may also disclose medical information about
you in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other legal demand
by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been
made by us or someone else to tell you about the request or to obtain an
order protecting the information requested.

Law Enforcement/National Security/Protective Services . We may
release medical information if asked to do so by a law enforcement
official: in response to a court order, subpoena, warrant, summons or
similar process; to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness,
or missing person; about the victim of a crime if, under certain
circumstances, we are unable to obtain the person's agreement; about a
death we believe may be the result of criminal conduct; about criminal
conduct on the premises of Weill Cornell; and in emergency
circumstances to report a crime, the location of the crime or victims, or
the identity, description or location of the person who committed the
crime; to authorized federal officials so they may provide protection for
the President and other authorized persons, or conduct special
investigations, or for intelligence, counterintelligence, and any other
national security activities authorized by law.

Coroners, Medical Examiners and Funeral Directors . We may release
medical information about deceased persons to a coroner, medical
examiner or funeral director so they can carry out their duties.
Other Uses of Medical Information . Other uses and disclosures of
medical information not covered by this Notice or the laws that apply to
us will be made with your written authorization, on a Weill Cornell
authorization form. You may revoke such an authorization by writing to
the Privacy Officer, and such revocation will be effective to the extent
that we have not already released the information pursuant to the
authorization or otherwise taken action in reliance on the authorization.

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING MEDICAL INFORMATION A BOUT YOU

Right to Inspect and Copy . You have the right to inspect and copy
medical information that may be used to make decisions about your care.
Usually, this includes medical and billing records. This right does not
include: psychotherapy notes; information compiled for use in a legal
proceeding; or certain information maintained by laboratories.
In order to inspect and copy medical information that may be used to
make decisions about you, you must submit your request in writing to the
Privacy Officer at the address listed at the end of this Notice. If you
request a copy of the information, we may charge a fee for the costs of
copying, mailing or other supplies associated with your request.
We may deny your request to inspect and copy in certain limited
circumstances. If you are denied access to medical information, you may
request in writing to the Privacy Officer that the denial be reviewed. A
licensed healthcare professional who was not directly involved in the
original decision to deny access will conduct the review. We will comply
with the outcome of the review.

Right to Request Amendments . If you think that medical information
we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend
the information. To request an amendment, your request must be made
in writing and submitted to the Privacy Officer at the address listed at
the end of this Notice. In addition, you must give a reason that supports
your request. We may deny your request for an amendment if it is not in
writing or does not include a reason to support the request. In addition,
we may deny your request if you ask us to amend information that:
o was not created by us, unless the person or entity that created
the information is no longer available to make the amendment;
o is not part of the medical information kept by or for Weill Cornell;
o is not part of the information you would be permitted to inspect
and copy; or
o is accurate and complete.
We will provide you with written notice of action we take in response to
your request for an amendment.

Right to an Accounting of Disclosures . You have the right to request
an "accounting of disclosures." This is a list of certain disclosures we
have made of medical information about you. We are not required to
account for any disclosures you specifically requested or for disclosures
related to treatment, payment, or healthcare operations, made pursuant
to an authorization signed by you, or and which fall into certain other
limited categories of disclosures.
To request an accounting of disclosures, you must submit your request in
writing to the Privacy Officer at the address listed at the end of this
Notice. Your request must state a time period, which may not be longer
than six years and may not include dates before April 14, 2003. You may
request one accounting in any 12-month period free of charge, and we
will charge you for any subsequent request in the same 12-month period.
Such charge may include reasonable retrieval, list preparation, and
mailing costs.

Right to Request Restrictions . You have the right to request a
restriction or limitation on the medical information we use or disclose
about you. You also have the right to request a limit on the medical
information we disclose about you to someone who is involved in your
care or the payment for your care, such as a family member or friend. If
you wish to request such a restriction, you must contact the Privacy
Officer in writing at the address listed at the end of this Notice.
We are not required to agree to your request. If we agree to your
request, we will comply with your request unless the information is
needed to provide you with emergency treatment.

Right to Request Confidential Communications . You have the right to
request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a
certain way or at a certain location. For example, you can ask that we
only contact you at work or by mail. To request confidential
communications, you must contact the Privacy Officer in writing at the
address listed at the end of this Notice. We will not ask you the reason
for your request. Your request must specify how or where you wish to be
contacted. We will attempt to accommodate reasonable requests.

Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice . You have the right to a paper
copy of this Notice. You may obtain a copy from any of our Weill Cornell
locations or by contacting the Privacy Officer. You may also obtain a
copy of this Notice electronically at our website address noted below.
Changes To This Notice . We reserve the right to change this Notice.
We reserve the right to make the revised or changed Notice effective for
medical information about you we already have as well as any
information we receive in the future. The current Notice in effect at
any time will be posted on our website address listed below and will be
available from the Privacy Officer as well as at any of our practice
locations.

Complaints . If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you
may file a complaint with Weill Cornell or with the Secretary of the
Department of Health and Human Services. To file a complaint with
Weill Cornell, please call or write to the Privacy Officer at the address
listed at the end of this Notice. You will not be penalized or retaliated
against for filing a complaint.

Questions . If you have a question about this Privacy Notice, please
contact:

Privacy Officer
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
1300 York Avenue, Box 303
New York, N.Y. 10021
Tel: (212) 746-1179
Fax: (212) 746-0370
Email: privacy@med.cornell.edu
Website: http://www.cornellphysicians.com/privacy