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Member Privacy
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.
DentaQuest takes your privacy seriously. We want to tell you
about our privacy practices to protect your personal health
information.
How Do We Use Health Information?
DentaQuest uses your health information
to facilitate your treatment, coordinate payment for
treatment and for other related health care operations.
Examples of these disclosures include:
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Treatment:
DentaQuest releases your health information to dentists
that are providing treatment to you or coordinating care
with another dentist, such as a specialist, for the
purposes of facilitating your treatment.
For example, we may discuss your treatment plan
with your dentist or provide prior authorization to your
dentist to provide certain services. |
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Payment:
DentaQuest also releases your information to your
dentist or dental practice to facilitate payment of
care. For
example, we pay claims submitted by dentists who provide
treatment to you.
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Health Care Operations:
DentaQuest releases your information for purposes
related to performing health care operations in the
normal course of our business.
For example, we may release your information to
an entity we have contracted with to print checks for
DentaQuest. We
comply with all applicable state and federal laws,
including any laws that impact our ability to use your
health information for payment and operations.
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Other Services:
DentaQuest may also use your protected health
information for other reasons.
These include:
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Informing you of research
opportunities or benefits for alternative treatments or
telling you about benefits and services.
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Contacting you regarding
your appointments, treatment alternatives or other
health related services or benefits.
o
As may be required by a
court of law, administrative agencies, law enforcement
agencies or for state medical purposes, such as
releasing information to coroners and medical examiners
in the event of death.
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Communicating with family
or friends or with a legal guardian authorized by you or
by law to be involved in your care.
o
Communicating with the
authorized administrators of a self-funded health plan
about your coverage and care.
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Any other use of your health information will only be made
with your written authorization, which you may revoke at any
time.
Your Right to Protection of Your
Health Information:
Below is a list of your rights with
respect to your protected health information and a brief
description of how you may exercise these rights:
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You have
the right to request restrictions on certain uses and
disclosures of protected health information.
Please be aware that DentaQuest is not required to
agree to the requested restriction.
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You have
the right to receive confidential communications of
protected health information which means that you may direct
DentaQuest to send your protected health information to an
alternative address.
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You have the right to obtain
a copy of your protected health information (certain fees
may apply).
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You have the right to amend
your incorrect or outdated protected health information.
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You have
the right to receive an accounting of disclosures of your
protected health information.
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If you are receiving this
notice electronically, you have the right to request a paper
copy of this notice.
DentaQuest's Obligations to Protect
Your Health Information As your
dental insurance company or the administrator of your dental
benefits, DentaQuest has the following obligations to
protect your health information:
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DentaQuest is required by law
and by its contractual obligations to protect your health
information and to provide you with notice of our legal
duties and privacy practices with respect to your protected
health information.
§
DentaQuest is obligated to
provide this notice to you and abide by the terms of the
notice currently in effect.
§
DentaQuest reserves the right to change privacy practices
and make new practices effective for all the information we
maintain.
Revised notices will be available to you at our website
www.dentaquest.com
and, upon request, will be mailed to you.
Financial
Information Privacy
Policy
DentaQuest may collect other
personal but non-health related information about you in the
course of providing your benefits.
Some of this information is also protected under the
law. In most
instances, DentaQuest may not release your nonpublic
personal information to any person or persons not affiliated
with DentaQuest.
This means that DentaQuest only releases this information to
companies that are part of our enterprise. It is important
to us that you understand what information we gather and how
we use it to administer your benefits and serve you better.
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Nonpublic
Personal Information: In order to provide your
dental services, we may need to gather personally
identifiable financial information about you from you,
your employer, your plan sponsor, or your dentist; with
respect to claims, co-payments, and premium payments.
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Disclosures of Nonpublic Personal
Information:
DentaQuest may release your nonpublic
personal information to DentaQuest affiliates and to
other nonaffiliated companies for DentaQuest’s everyday
business purposes.
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DentaQuest’s Policies and
Practices:
In compliance with state
and federal standards, electronic, procedural and
physical safeguards are in place to limit the collection
and use of nonpublic information to the minimum
necessary to provide you with quality products and
services.
Access to this information is limited to a “need to
know” basis for our employees to perform their jobs.
This applies to you whether you are a former or current
member.
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Contacting
Us, Comments, Suggestions or Complaints
If you would like to contact us regarding a claim or
coverage, please contact us by email
cssteam@dentaquest.com, phone: 1-800-788-8600 or mail.
DentaQuest
Attn: Customer Service
P.O. Box 9708
Boston, MA 02114
If you want to exercise your privacy rights, feel your privacy rights have been violated, or if you need more information, contact our
Privacy Officer by email:
privacy@dentaquest.com
, phone 1-888-788-8600 or mail:
DentaQuest
Attn: Privacy Officer
P.O. Box 9708
Boston, MA 02114
All complaints will be investigated and you will not suffer retaliation for filing a complaint. You may also file a complaint regarding health information with the Secretary of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C.
Please
click
here
for
the
PDF
version
of
our
Privacy
Policy.
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