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.

Effective date: November 5, 2026

Firstat Nursing Services, Inc. (“Firstat,” “we,” “us”) provides skilled nursing, home health, and private duty nursing in San Diego County. This notice explains how we may use and share your health information, your rights, and our responsibilities. It applies to all records of your care created or received by Firstat.

Questions or requests: Contact our Privacy Officer, Robert Harvey, at (619) 220-7600 or info@firstatofsandiego.com, or write to Privacy Officer, Firstat Nursing Services, 4420 Rainier Ave #201, San Diego, CA 92120.

Your rights

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.

Get a copy of your health and billing records

You can ask to see or get a copy of your health and billing records and other health information we have about you. Ask us how to do this.
Under California law, we will let you inspect your records within 5 working days of your written request and provide copies within 15 days. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for copies.
If we deny your request, we will tell you why in writing, and in some cases you can ask for that denial to be reviewed.

Ask us to correct or add to your records

You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. Ask us how to do this.
We may say “no” to your request, but we will tell you why in writing within 60 days.
Under California law, you may also add a written statement of up to 250 words about any item you believe is incorrect or incomplete, and we will add it to your record.

Request confidential communications

You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, a cell phone instead of a home phone) or to send mail to a different address.
We will say “yes” to all reasonable requests.

You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care.
If you pay for a service or health care item out of pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information with your health insurer for payment or our operations. We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information.

Get a list of those with whom we have shared information

You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we have shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why.
We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We will provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.

Get a copy of this privacy notice

You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly. This notice is also posted at firstatofsandiego.com/notice-of-privacy-practices.

Choose someone to act for you

If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information. We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.

File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated

You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting our Privacy Officer using the information above.
You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/.
We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

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 your care
Share information in a disaster relief situation

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

In these cases we never share your information unless you give us written permission:

Marketing purposes
Sale of your information
Most sharing of psychotherapy notes

Our uses and disclosures

Treat you. We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you. Example: Your Firstat nurse shares your wound care progress with your physician.

Run our organization. We can use and share your health information to run our agency, improve your care, and contact you when necessary. Example: We review visit notes to make sure our nurses follow your plan of care.

Bill for your services. We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities. Example: We give information about your visits to your long-term care insurer or workers’ compensation carrier so it will pay for your services.

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.

Help with public health and safety issues, such as preventing disease, reporting adverse reactions to medications, reporting suspected abuse or neglect of an elder, dependent adult, or child (which California law requires us to report), and preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety.
Do research. We can use or share your information for health research only as the law allows.
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 are complying with federal privacy law.
Respond to organ and tissue donation requests and work with a medical examiner, coroner, or funeral director when an individual dies.
Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests. We can use or share health information about you for workers’ compensation claims, for law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official, with health oversight agencies (such as the California Department of Public Health) for activities authorized by law, and for special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services.
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 as the law allows.

Additional protections under California law

California’s Confidentiality of Medical Information Act and related laws sometimes give you more protection than federal law. When they do, we follow the stricter rule. For example:

Written authorization. Except where the law allows or requires a disclosure without it, we will get your written authorization before sharing your medical information, and you can revoke it in writing at any time.
Employers. We will not share your medical information with your employer without your written authorization, except as the law allows (for example, for a workers’ compensation claim related to the care).
Sensitive information. Information about mental health treatment, HIV test results, and certain other sensitive conditions has extra protection under California law, and we will share it only as those laws allow.
Sensitive services. If you receive sensitive services, we will honor a request to send communications about them to the mailing address, email, or phone number you choose, and we will not require the policyholder’s permission to do so.
Marketing. We will not use or share your medical information for marketing without your written authorization.

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 and give you a copy of it.
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, in our office, and on our website.