Privacy Policy

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: August 1, 2021

The terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices (“Notice”) apply to Windy City Cannabis and its employees. Windy City Cannabis will share protected health information of patients as necessary to carry out treatment, payment, and health care operations as permitted by law and for the purposes described below. We are required by the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to maintain the privacy of our patients’ protected health information and to provide patients with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with the respect to protected health information. We are required to abide by the terms of this Notice for as long as it remains in effect. We reserve the right to change the terms of this Notice as necessary and to make a new Notice effective for all protected health information collected by Windy City Cannabis. We are also required to inform you that there may be a provision of State law that relates to the privacy of your health information that may be more stringent than a standard or requirement under HIPAA, and we will comply with the more stringent standard. A copy of any revised Notice or information pertaining to a specific State law may be obtained by mailing a request to the Windy City Cannabis Privacy Officer, 444 N. Michigan Ave., Ste 1200, Chicago IL 60611.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Get a copy of your paper or electronic medical record (e.g. medical marijuana purchase history)
• Correct your paper or electronic medical record
• Request confidential communication
• Ask us to limit the information we share
• Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information
• Get a copy of this privacy notice
• Choose someone to act for you
• File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated

Your Choices

You have some choices in the way that we use and share information as we:

• Tell family and friends about your condition or status as a medical marijuana patient
• Provide disaster relief
• Share your information as detailed below

Our Uses and Disclosures

We may use and share your information as we:

• Treat you
• Run our organization
• Get paid for your medical marijuana
• Help with public health and safety issues
• Do research • Comply with the law
• Respond to organ and tissue donation requests
• Work with a medical examiner or funeral director
• Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests
• Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

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 an electronic or paper copy of your medical record

• You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you. Ask us how to do this.
• We will provide a copy or a summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

Ask us to correct your medical record

• 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’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days.

Request confidential communications

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

Ask us to limit what we use or share

• 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.

Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared information

• You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve 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’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months. We will inform you of the amount of the fee in advance and you can decide not to receive the additional accounting.

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 of Privacy Practices for Protected Health Information is also available at info@windycitycannabis.com.

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 us using the information on page 1.
• 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, such as your designated caregiver
• 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

In the case of a Breach of your information:

• We will notify you in writing as quickly as possible and no later than 60 days following our discovery of a Breach.
• You should contact the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation at FPR@medicalcannabis@illinois.gov and the Illinois Department of Public Health at DPH.medicalcannabis@illinois.gov.

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.

Treat you

We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you, as allowed by law.

Example: A doctor treating you asks us for information related to your care.

Run our organization

We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary.

Example: We use health information about you to manage your treatment and services and improve the quality of care. We also share health information with your treating providers for these purposes.

Get paid for your medical marijuana

We can use your health information to get paid for your medical marijuana or to check that the correct amount was charged for your medical marijuana.

Example: We may share payment information with your designated caregiver.

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:

• Preventing disease
• Helping with product recalls
• Reporting adverse reactions to medications
• Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
• Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety

Do research

We can 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 State Department of Public Health, State Department of Business Regulations, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.

Respond to organ and tissue donation requests

We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.

Work with a medical examiner or funeral director

We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, 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 for activities authorized by law
• 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 if certain conditions are met to provide you with notice or to obtain an order protecting the 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 will also let state and federal regulators know as required by applicable laws and regulations.
• 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.
• We never market or sell personal information without your written permission.
• We will not share any substance abuse treatment records without your written permission, except in extremely limited situations such as research activities if certain conditions are met, medical emergencies, audit evaluation activities, and court order. 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 web site.

For Further Information

To exercise your rights, for questions, or further assistance regarding this Notice, you may contact the Privacy Officer by email at pknight@windycitycannabis.com by telephone (773) 571-4199, or by writing to: 444 N. Michigan Ave, Ste 1200 Chicago IL 60611