Privacy Information
CIGNA Privacy Statement
CIGNA HealthCare:
- Notices of Privacy Practices (07/01/2004)
- Reminder Regarding Access to Notice of Privacy Practices (06/24/07)
- Gramm-Leach-Bliley Privacy Notice (09/01/06)
- Privacy Forms (for requests)
CIGNA International:
- Expatriate Benefits Notice of Privacy Practices
- Expatriate Benefits Privacy Forms (for requests)
CIGNA Group Insurance (Life, Accident & Disability):
- Privacy Notice

Tel-Drug

This Notice is Effective as of July 1, 2004

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Tel Drug, Inc. and Tel-Drug of Pennsylvania, L.L.C. (collectively, "Tel-Drug") Notice of Privacy Practices ("Notice")

This Notice Describes How Health Information About You, as a Patient of Tel-Drug, May Be Used And Disclosed, And How You Can Get Access To This Information. Please Review It Carefully.

Our Commitment to Privacy Tel-Drug knows how important your individually identifiable health information is and we are committed to protecting it. In conducting our business, we will create records regarding you and the prescription drugs and services we provide to you. We are required by law to maintain the confidentiality of health information that identifies you. We are also required by law to provide you with this notice of our legal duties and our privacy practices.

The terms of this notice apply to all records containing your protected health information (PHI) that are created or retained by Tel-Drug, including the designated record set. The designated record set generally would include the prescriptions we have received for you, the pharmaceutical products we have provided to you, any medical information we may have obtained in the process of completing your prescription order, and our billing records on your prescription drug orders. We reserve the right to revise or amend this Notice. Any revision or amendment to this Notice will be effective for all your records that Tel-Drug has created or maintained in the past, and for any records that we may create or maintain in the future. You may request a copy of our current notice of privacy practices, with which we are required to comply, at any time by calling our Customer Service Department or by visiting our website.

Use and Disclosure of PHI We may use and disclose PHI in order to fill your prescription request, obtain payment for products and services provided to you and conduct our "Health Care Operations" (E.G., Internal Administration, Quality Improvement and Customer Service) as detailed below:

Treatment. We use and disclose PHI to fill prescription orders submitted by you, or your physician on your behalf. For instance, we may use a specialty pharmacy with expertise in compounding medications to fill a prescription for such a medication.
Payment. We may use and disclose PHI to obtain payment for prescriptions that we provide to you - for example, submitting information on such prescriptions to your health insurer or calling your health insurer to verify that it will pay for a prescription.
Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose PHI for our health care operations, which include internal administration and quality assessment and/or improvement activities. For example, we may use PHI in providing a refill reminder or sending you, or your physician, information about other drug alternatives. We may also share prescription information with your health plan for its use in disease management programs it operates to help you better manage your health.
Disclosure to Persons Involved in Your Care. We may disclose PHI about you or your child to persons who are involved in your or your child's care or payment for that care. For example, we might disclose PHI about you to your spouse or PHI about your child to your former spouse who is the parent of your child. We will disclose only the information that is relevant to the care or payment. Callers will be asked to provide identifying information and, if they are asking about a claim, they will have to show knowledge of that claim before we will answer their questions. You have the right to stop or limit this kind of disclosure by requesting a restriction on the disclosure of your PHI as described below under "Right to Request Additional Restrictions."
Disclosures to your Employer as Sponsor of Your Health Plan. We may disclose your PHI to your employer or to a company acting on your employer's behalf, so that it can monitor, audit and otherwise administer the employee health benefit plan in which you participate. Your employer is not permitted to use the PHI we disclose for any purpose other than administration of your health benefit plan. See your employer's health benefit plan documents for information on whether your employer receives PHI and the identity of the employees who are authorized to receive your protected health information.
Disclosures to Tel-Drug Vendors and Accreditation Organizations. We may disclose your PHI to companies with whom we contract if they need it to perform the services we've requested - for example, vendors who help us provide important information and guidance to members with chronic conditions like diabetes and asthma. Tel-Drug also discloses PHI to accreditation organizations such as the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) when the NCQA auditors collect Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS^®)** data for quality measurement purposes. When we enter into these types of arrangements, we obtain a written agreement to protect your protected health information.
Promotional Gifts. We may use your PHI or disclose it to a mailing vendor so that we may provide you with a promotional gift of nominal value such as a pen or a calendar. We will not disclose your PHI to other companies for their marketing purposes.

We may also disclose PHI for the following reasons:

Public Health Activities.We may disclose your PHI for the following public health activities and purposes: (1) to report health information to public health authorities that are authorized by law to receive such information for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability; (2) to report child abuse or neglect to a government authority that is authorized by law to receive such reports; (3) to report information about a product or activity that is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to a person responsible for the quality, safety or effectiveness of the product or activity; and (4) to alert a person who may have been exposed to a communicable disease, if we are authorized by law to give this notice.
Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose your PHI to a government agency that is legally responsible for oversight of the health care system or for ensuring compliance with the rules of government benefit programs, such as Medicare or Medicaid, or other regulatory programs that need health information to determine compliance.
For Research. Under very limited circumstances, your PHI may be used and disclosed for research without an authorization - for example, an authorization would not be necessary if your name, street address and other identifying information were removed.
To Comply with the Law. We may use and disclose your PHI to comply with the law.
Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. We may disclose your PHI in a judicial or administrative proceeding or in response to a legal order.
Law Enforcement Officials. We may disclose your PHI to the police or other law enforcement officials, as required by law or in compliance with a court order or other processes authorized by law.
Health or Safety. We may disclose your PHI to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to your health or safety or the health and safety of the general public.
Government Functions. We may disclose your PHI to the U.S. military or to authorized federal officials for purposes specified by federal law.
Workers' Compensation. We may disclose your PHI when necessary to comply with workers' compensation laws.

Please note that should your participation in the Tel-Drug program terminate, we will continue to safeguard your protected health information. It will be used and disclosed only for the purposes described above and in accordance with the policies and procedures described in this Notice.

Use and Disclosures Requiring Your Written Authorization We will not use or disclose your PHI for any purpose other than the purposes described in this Notice, without your written authorization. For example, we would not supply PHI to a research organization or to a prospective employer without your signed authorization. You may revoke your authorization by sending a written request to our Privacy Office, but not with respect to any actions we already have taken.

Tel-Drug complies with state laws that place further restrictions on the disclosure of your personal health information without your authorization. For example, many states have laws that do not permit us to disclose a diagnosis of AIDS or mental illness. These laws have some limited exceptions.

Your Individual Rights

Right to Request Additional Restrictions.You may request restrictions on our use and disclosure of PHI for treatment, payment and health care operations in addition to those explained in this Notice. All requests for such restrictions must be made in writing. While we will consider all requests for additional restrictions carefully, we are not required to agree to a requested restriction. If you wish to request additional restrictions, please obtain a request form from our Customer Service Department.
Right to Receive PHI Communications. You may request, and we will accommodate, any reasonable written request for you to receive PHI by alternative means of communication or at alternative locations.
Right to Inspect and Copy Your Health Information. You may request access to your prescription record file and billing records maintained by us in order to inspect and request copies of the records. All requests for access must be made in writing. Under limited circumstances, we may deny you access to your records. If you desire access to your records, please obtain a record request form from our Customer Service Department.
Right to Amend Your Records. You have the right to request that we amend PHI maintained in your prescription record file or billing records. If you desire to amend your records, please obtain an amendment request form from our Customer Service Department. All requests for amendments must be in writing. We will comply with your request unless we believe that the information that you desire to amend is accurate and complete or other special circumstances apply.
Right to Receive an Accounting of Disclosures. Upon request, you may obtain an accounting of disclosures we have made of your protected health information. The accounting that we provide will not include disclosures made before April 14, 2003, disclosures made for treatment, payment or health care operations, disclosures made earlier than six years before the date of your request, and certain other disclosures that are excepted by law. If you request an accounting more than once during any 12-month period, we will charge you a reasonable fee for each accounting statement after the first one.
Right to Receive Paper Copy of this Notice. Upon written request, you may obtain a paper copy of this Notice, even if you agreed to receive such notice electronically.

If you wish to make any of the requests listed above under "Individual Rights," you must complete and mail us the appropriate form. To obtain the form please contact our Customer Service Department. After we receive your signed, completed form, we will respond to your request.

For More Information or Complaints. If you want more information about your privacy rights, do not understand your privacy rights, are concerned that we have violated your privacy rights or disagree with a decision that we made about access to your protected health information, you may contact our Privacy Office. You may also file written complaints with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Please call our Privacy Office to obtain the correct address for the Secretary. We will not take any action against you if you file a complaint with the Secretary or us.

Privacy Office
You may contact our Privacy Office at:

CIGNA HealthCare
Attn: Privacy Officer
P.O. Box 5400
Scranton, PA 18505
Telephone Number: 800-762-9940
Fax Number: 860-226-9513

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 PHI that we maintain, including any information created or received prior to issuing the new notice. If we change this Notice, we will send you a new notice if you are utilizing Tel-Drug at the time of the Notice change and we will post any new notice on our Internet site at www.teldrug.com or www.discountprescriptioncenter.com. You may also obtain any revised notice by contacting our Customer Service Department.