HIPAA Notices of Privacy Practices

Metagenics

Notice of Privacy Practices - Effective September 8, 2023

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.

Metagenics (and its operating division Bariatric Advantage) on behalf of healthcare practitioners, hosts eStores and web pages (collectively, “Practitioner Webpages”). When you visit Practitioner Webpages, Metagenics and its operating division Bariatric Advantage (collectively, “Metagenics”), may be acting as a Business Associate on behalf of the applicable healthcare practitioner. This notice explains how Metagenics collects, uses, and discloses health information, which may constitute Protected Health Information (PHI), it collects when providing this service. If you have any questions, or are looking to exercise rights afforded to you by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, please contact the provider who operates the store you’re visiting.

Remember, this Notice applies only when you’re interacting with a Practitioner Webpage. For more information about Metagenic’s privacy practices on our general website (e.g., www.metagenics.com and www.bariatricadvantage.com), review our Privacy Policy.

Our Uses and Disclosures:  How do we typically use or share your health information?

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.

Help manage the health care treatment you receive

• We can use your health information, and share it with professionals who are treating you, to provide the product or service directed by your medical provider.

Example: A medical provider sends us information about your medical needs, we fulfill the order you request, and provide the order information to your provider.  We may also use your health information to provide refill reminders.

Run our organization

• We can use and disclose your information to run our organization and contact you when necessary.

Example: We use health information about you to monitor our website usage and improve our site.

Pay for your health services

• We can use and disclose your health information to help facilitate your payment to us and to your medical provider.

Example: We collect payment from you and may report your purchase back to your medical provider.

How else can we use or share your health information?

We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html.

Help with public health and safety issues

We can share health information about you for certain situations such as:

• Helping with product recalls
• Reporting adverse reactions to medications
• Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety

Do research

• We may use or share your information for health research.

Comply with the law

• We will share 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’re complying with federal privacy law.

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.

Your Rights:  When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights.

You may have certain rights with respect to the medical information we process about you. To learn more about and to exercise those rights, contact the medical provider who operates the store you’re visiting and request to review their Notice of Privacy Practices.

Since Metagenics operates stores on providers’ behalf, we can’t respond directly to requests to exercise rights, such as accessing or amending your medical record, where we act as a Business Associate.

Your Choices:  For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share.

If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions.

In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to:

• Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in payment for your care
• Share information in a disaster relief situation

In these cases, we never share your information unless you give us and/or your medical provider written permission:

• Marketing purposes
• Sale of your information

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 or security of your information.
• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice.
• We will not use or 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. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.

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

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 and on our website.

Contact Information for This Notice

If you have questions about your right or this notice, you may contact us in one of the following manners:

Phone:+1 800-692-9400

Website: metagenics.com

Email: [email protected]

Postal Address:

  Metagenics LLC.

  Attn: Privacy Office

  25 Enterprise, Suite 200, Aliso Viejo, CA, U.S.A., 92656