Notice of Privacy Practices

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

I. Who We Are

This Notice describes the privacy practices of The Center for Advanced Medicine or "TCAM," their physicians, nurses, residents, and other staff. It applies to health care services you receive at The Center for Advanced Medicine in Monterrey, Mexico, and the clinics and the doctors offices at the locations on the attached acknowledgement ("we" or "us").

II. Our Privacy Obligations

The law requires us to maintain the privacy of certain of your health information called "Protected Health Information" ("PHI"). Protected Health Information is the information that you provide us or that we create or receive about your health care. The law also requires us to provide you with this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices. When we use or disclose (share) your Protected Health Information, we are required to follow the terms of this Notice or other notice in effect at the time we use or share the PHI. Finally, the law provides you with certain rights set forth in this Notice.

III. Ways We Can Use and Share Your PHI Without Your Written Permission (Authorization)

In many situations, we can use and share your PHI for activities that are common in many hospitals and clinics. In certain other situations, which we will describe in Section IV below, we must obtain your written permission (authorization) in order to use and/or share your PHI. We do not need any type of permission from you for the following uses and disclosures:

A. Uses and Disclosures for Treatment, Payment and Health Care Operations. We may use and share PHI in order to provide "Treatment," obtain "Payment" for your Treatment provided to you, and perform our "Health Care Operations." These three terms are defined as:

• Treatment. We use and share your PHI to provide care and other services to you--for example, to diagnose and treat your injury or illness. In addition, we may contact you to provide appointment reminders or information about treatment options. We may tell you about other health-related benefits and services that might interest you. We may also share PHI with other doctors, nurses, and others involved in your treatment.
• Payment. We may use and share your PHI to obtain payment for services that we provide to you. For example, we may share your PHI to request payment and receive payment from Medicare, Medicaid, your health insurer, HMO, or other company or program that arranges or pays the cost of some or all of your health care ("Your Payor") and to confirm that Your Payor will pay for health care. As another example, we may share your PHI with the person who you told us is primarily responsible for paying for your Treatment, such as your spouse or parent.
• Health Care Operations. We may use and share your PHI for our health care operations, which include management, planning, and activities that improve the quality and lower the cost of the care that we deliver. For example, we may use PHI to review the quality and skill of our physicians, nurses, and other health care providers. As another example, we may share PHI with our Patient Relations Coordinator to resolve any complaints you may have and make sure that you have a comfortable visit with us.

In addition, we may also share PHI with certain others who help us with our activities, including those we hire to perform services.

B. Your Other Health Care Providers. We may also share PHI with your doctor and other health care providers when they need it to provide Treatment to you, to obtain Payment for the care they give to you, to perform certain Health Care Operations, such as reviewing the quality and skill of health care professionals, or to review their actions in following the law.

C. Use or Disclosure for Directory of Patients in TCAM. We may include your name, location in the clinic, general health condition and religious affiliation in a patient directory without receiving your permission unless you tell us you do not want your information in the directory. Information in the directory may be shared with anyone who asks for you by name or with members of the clergy; however, religious affiliation will only be shared with members of the clergy.

D. Disclosure to Relatives, Close Friends and Your Other Caregivers. We may share your PHI with your family member/relative, a close personal friend, or another person who you identify if we (1) first provide you with the chance to object to the disclosure and you do not object; (2) infer that you do not object to the disclosure; or (3) obtain your agreement to share your PHI with these individuals. If you are not present at the time we share your PHI, or you are not able to agree or disagree to our sharing your PHI because you are not capable or there is an emergency circumstance, we may use our professional judgment to decide that sharing the PHI is in your best interest. We may also use or share your PHI to notify (or assist in notifying) these individuals about your location and general condition.

E. Fundraising Communications. We may contact you with information about the importance of contributions to the OCAM Organizations and invite you to participate. We may share with our fundraising staff limited information about you (e.g., your name, address, and phone number) including the dates on which we provided health care to you, without your written authorization. If you do not want to receive any fundraising requests in the future, you may contact our Office at (713) 000-0000.

E. Health Oversight Activities. We may share your PHI with a health oversight agency that oversees the health care system and ensures the rules of government health programs, such as Medicare or Medicaid, are being followed.

F. Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. We may share your PHI in the course of a judicial or administrative proceeding in response to a legal order or other lawful process.

G. Law Enforcement Officials. We may share your PHI with the police or other law enforcement officials as required or permitted by law or in compliance with a court order or a subpoena.

I. Decedents. We may share PHI with a coroner or medical examiner as authorized by law.

J. As required by law. We may use and share your PHI when required to do so by any other law not already referred to above.

IV. Uses and Disclosures Requiring Your Written Permission (Authorization)

A. Use or Disclosure with Your Permission (Authorization). For any purpose other than the ones described above in Section III, we may only use or share your PHI when you grant us your written permission (authorization). For example, you will need to give us your permission before we send your PHI to your life insurance company.

B. Marketing. We must also obtain your written permission (authorization) prior to using your PHI to send you any marketing materials. However, we may communicate with you about products or services related to your Treatment, case management, or care coordination, or alternative treatments, therapies, health care providers, or care settings without your permission.

V. Your Rights Regarding Your Protected Health Information

A. For Further Information; Complaints. If you want more information about your privacy rights, are concerned that we have violated your privacy rights, or disagree with a decision that we made about access to your PHI, you may contact our Privacy Office.

B. Right to Receive Confidential Communications. You may ask us to send papers that contain your PHI to a different location than the address that you gave us, or in a special way. You will need to ask us in writing. We will try to grant your request if we feel it is reasonable. For example, you may ask us to send a copy of your medical records to a different address than your home address.

C. Right to Revoke Your Written Permission (Authorization). You may change your mind about your authorization by giving or sending a written "revocation statement" to the Privacy Office at the address below. The revocation will not apply to the extent that we have already taken action where we relied on your permission.

D. Right to Inspect and Copy Your Health Information. You may request access to your medical record file, billing records, and other records used to make decisions about your Treatment and payment for your Treatment so you can review and/or ask for copies. Under limited circumstances, we may deny you access to a portion of your records. If you want to access your records, you may obtain a record request form from the Privacy Office. Return the completed form to the Privacy Office. If you request copies, we will charge you the amount listed on the rate sheet. We will also charge you for our postage costs, if you request that we mail the copies to you. For a copy of records, material, or information that cannot routinely be copied on a standard photocopy machine, such as x-ray films or pictures, we may charge for the reasonable cost of the copy.

E. Right to Amend Your Records. You have the right to request that we amend PHI maintained in medical record files, billing records, and other records used to make decisions about your Treatment and payment for your Treatment. If you want to amend your records, you may obtain an amendment request form from the Privacy Office. Return the completed form to the Privacy Office. We will comply with your request unless we believe that the information that would be amended is correct and complete or that other circumstances apply.

F. Right to Receive an Accounting of Disclosures. You may ask for an accounting of certain disclosures of your PHI made by us on or after April 5, 2006. These disclosures must have occurred before the time of your request, and we will not go back more than six (6) years before the date of your request. If you request an accounting more than once during a twelve (12) month period, we will charge you based on the rate sheet. Direct your request for an accounting to the Privacy Office.

G. Right to Receive Paper Copy of this Notice. If you ask, you may obtain a paper copy of this Notice, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically.

VI. Effective Date and Duration of This Notice

A. Effective Date. This Notice is effective as of April 5, 2006.

B. Right to Change Terms of this Notice. We may change the terms of this Notice at any time. If we change this Notice, we may make the new notice terms effective for all Protected Health Information that we maintain, including any information created or received prior to issuing the new notice. If we change this Notice, we will post the new notice in the common area of our our clinic, and on our Internet site at http://www.arthritiscured.com. You also may obtain any new notice by contacting the Privacy Office.

VII. Privacy Office

You may contact the Privacy Office at:

The Center for Advanced Medicine
America #539 Norte, Col. Centro
Monterrey, MX 64000
USA Telephone Number: (360) 547-1100
Monterrey Telephone Number: 8303-0788

Our office hours are from 9-5 Central time.