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APS Pharmacy
2595 Tampa Road
Suite E
Palm Harbor, FL 34684
Tel: (888) 547-2654
Fax: (866) 541-6444 |
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Our Privacy info |
Pharmacy Notice of Privacy Practices
The protection of your private information is very important to
us. Since our founding, APS Pharmacy has made and will continue
to make every effort to ensure your personal health information
is protected. The Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) created national standards to further
ensure this protection. As of April 14, 2003, all accredited
retail pharmacies, including APS Pharmacy, are required to
provide you with this Notice of Privacy Policies.
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APS Pharmacy
Notice of Privacy Practices
Effective Date: April 14, 2003
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.
Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of
1996 (HIPAA), APS Pharmacy. must take steps to protect the
privacy of your “protected health information” (PHI). PHI
includes information that we have created or received regarding
your health or payment for your health. It includes both your
medical records and personal information such as your name,
social security number, address, and other identifying
information. APS Pharmacy is required to maintain the privacy of
your PHI, to follow the terms of this Notice, and to provide you
with this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with
respect to your PHI. Additional copies of this Notice may be
obtained online at http://www.APSmeds.com. To request a paper
copy of this Notice, call 1-800-drugstore (1-800-378-4786).
How APS Pharmacy May Use or Disclose Your PHI
We protect the privacy of your health information. For some
activities, we must have your written authorization to use or
disclose your PHI. However, the law permits APS Pharmacy to use
or disclose your health information for the following purposes
without your authorization:
· For Treatment We may use your PHI to treat you. For example,
if you are being treated for an injury, we may share your PHI
with your primary physician so they can provide proper care. We
may also use it to send you information about products or
services that may be of interest to you.
· For Payment We may use and disclose your PHI to collect
payment for products and services. For example, we may contact
your third party payor (i.e. insurer) to determine whether your
program will pay for your prescription. We will bill you and/or
a third party payor for the cost of the prescription dispensed
to you. The information on or accompanying the bill may include
your identification, as well as the prescriptions you are
taking.
· For Health Care Operations We will use and disclose PHI to
carry out health care operations. For example, we may use
information in your health record to monitor the quality of our
pharmacists performance, to train pharmacy personnel, or to ship
prescriptions to you.
· As Required by Law We will disclose your PHI when required to
do so by local, state or federal law, including workers’
compensation laws.
· Public Health and Safety Risks We may use and disclose your
PHI to an authorized public health authority or individual to
(1) protect public health and safety; (2) prevent or control
disease, injury, or disability; (3) report vital statistics such
as births or deaths; (4) investigate or track problems with
prescription drugs, foods, supplements and other health
products; (5) post marketing surveillance to enable product
recalls, repairs or replacements; and (6) to government entities
authorized to receive reports regarding abuse, neglect, or
domestic violence.
· Oversight Agencies We may use and disclose your PHI to health
oversight agencies for certain activities such as audits,
investigations, inspections, and licensures.
· Legal Proceedings We may disclose your PHI in the course of
any legal proceeding in response to an order of a court or
administrative agency and, in certain cases, in response to a
subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process.
· Law Enforcement To law enforcement officials in limited
circumstances for law enforcement purposes. For example,
disclosures may be made to identify or locate a suspect,
witness, or missing person; to report a crime; or to provide
information concerning victims of crimes.
· Military Activity and National Security To the military as
required by military command authorities when the patient is a
member of the armed forces; to authorized federal officials for
intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security
activities authorized by law; and to authorized federal
officials so they may provide protection to the president, other
authorized persons, or foreign heads of state or conduct special
investigations.
· Business Associates Some of our services are offered through
companies termed “Business Associates.” For example, your PHI
may be shared with Rite Aid to fulfill prescription medicine
orders. HIPAA requires us to enter into Business Associate
contracts to safeguard your PHI as required by APS Pharmacy and
by law.
When APS Pharmacy May Not Use or Disclose Your PHI
Except as described in this Notice or as permitted by law, we
will obtain your written authorization before using or
disclosing PHI about you. You may revoke an authorization in
writing at any time. Forms for making revocations are available
online in the ‘your account’ section at www.apsmeds.com and may
be submitted electronically or mailed to: Privacy Office, APS
Pharmacy, 2595 Tampa Rd. Suite E, Palm Harbor, FL 34684. Upon
receipt of the written revocation, we will stop using or
disclosing your PHI, except to the extent that we have already
taken action in reliance on the authorization.
You Have the Following Rights With Respect to Your Health
Information
· You have the right to request that we restrict how your PHI is
used or disclosed in carrying out treatment, payment, or health
care operations. We are not required to agree to the requested
restrictions, but will accommodate reasonable requests. If we do
agree to the requested restrictions, that agreement will be
binding on us.
· You have the right to inspect and copy your PHI for as long as
we maintain the health information. We may charge a reasonable
fee for the costs of copying, mailing, or other supplies that
are necessary to grant your request. In certain situations we
may deny your request and will tell you why we are denying it.
In some cases you may have the right to ask for a review of our
denial.
· If you feel that the PHI we maintain about you is incomplete
or incorrect, you may request that we amend it. You may request
an amendment for as long as we maintain the PHI. You must
include a reason that supports your request. In certain cases,
we may deny the request. If the request for amendment is denied,
you have the right to file a statement of disagreement with the
decision, and we may give a rebuttal to your statement. We will
include a copy of both statements in your file.
· You have the right to receive an accounting of disclosures of
your PHI that we have made after April 14, 2003 for purposes
other than (1) for APS Pharmacy’s treatment, payment, or health
care operations, (2) to you or based upon your authorization and
(3) for certain government functions. The right to receive an
accounting is subject to certain other exceptions, restrictions,
and limitations. The time period for the requested accounting
must be specified and it may not be longer than six years. The
first accounting you request within a 12-month period will be
provided free of charge, but you may be charged for the cost of
additional accountings within that period. We will notify you of
the cost involved and you may choose to withdraw or modify the
request at that time.
· You have the right to request that our communications to you
concerning your PHI be made by alternative means or to
alternative locations. For example, you may wish us to
communicate in some way other than calling your home telephone
number. We will comply with a reasonable request for such an
alternative.
If you would like to exercise one or more of these rights, you
must send a written request to: Privacy Office, APS Pharmacy,
2595 Tampa Rd. Suite E, Palm Harbor, FL 34684. Forms for
exercising each of these rights are available online in the
‘your account’ section at www.apsmeds.com or by calling
1-888-547-2654.
Changes to this Notice of Privacy Practices
APS Pharmacy reserves the right to change this Notice at any
time. We reserve the right to apply the revised Notice to all
PHI we already maintain, as well as any information we receive
in the future. If we change any of the practices described in
this Notice, we will post the revised Notice at http://www.apsmeds.com
For More Information or to Report a Problem
This Notice describes how we will treat your personal health
information pursuant to the requirements of the Federal HIPAA
privacy rules. State privacy laws may impose certain additional
requirements. For a more complete description of state privacy
issues, please go to the Notice posted at http://www.apsmeds.com
If you have questions or would like additional information about
our privacy practices, you may contact the Privacy Office by
emailing privacy@apsmeds.com, by phone at (727) 547-2654or by
writing to: Privacy Office, APS Pharmacy, 2595 Tampa Rd.
Suite E, Palm Harbor, FL 34684.. Forms for filing a written
complaint to APS Pharmacy are available online at
http://www.apsmeds.com. If you believe your privacy rights have
been violated, you can file a complaint with APS Pharmacy’s
Privacy Office or with the Secretary of Health and Human
Services. There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint
and APS Pharmacy will maintain information in a manner
consistent with company policies.
APS Pharmacy, inc.
Notice of Privacy Policy Addendum
State Laws More Stringent
ALABAMA We will not disclose your personal health records to
anyone without your authorization, except where it is in your
best interest or where the law requires the disclosure.
ARIZONA We will not disclose any confidential communicable
disease related information unless the subject of that
information has authorized us in writing to do so or unless
state or federal law authorizes or requires the disclosure.
CALIFORNIA We may disclose your medical information as follows:
(a) to providers of health care, health care service plans,
contractors or other health care professionals or facilities for
purposes of diagnosis or treatment of the patient. This
includes, in an emergency situation, the communication of
patient information by radio transmission or other means between
licensed emergency medical personnel at the scene of an
emergency, or in an emergency medical transport vehicle, and
licensed emergency medical personnel at a health facility;
(b) to an insurer, employer, health care service plan, hospital
service plan, employee benefit plan, governmental authority,
contractor or any other person or entity responsible for paying
for health care services rendered to the patient to the extent
necessary to allow responsibility for payment to be determined
and payment to be made. If the patient is, by reason of a
comatose or other disabling medical condition, unable to consent
to the disclosure or medical information and no other
arrangements have been made to pay for the health care services
being rendered to the patient, the information may also be
disclosed to a governmental authority to the extent necessary to
determine the patient’s eligibility for, and to obtain, payment
under a governmental program for health care services provided
to the patient. The information may also be disclosed to another
provider of health care or health care service plan as necessary
to assist the other provider or health care service plan in
obtaining payment for health care services rendered by that
provider of health care or health care service plan to the
patient;
(c) to any person or entity that provides billing, claims
management, medical data processing, or other administrative
services for providers of health care or health care service
plans or for any of the persons or entities specified above in
paragraph (b). However, no information so disclosed may be
further disclosed by the recipient in any way that would be
violative of California laws governing the use and disclosure of
medical information without authorization from the patient;
(d) to organized committees and agents of professional societies
or of medical staffs of licensed hospitals, licensed health care
service plans, professional standards review organizations,
independent medical review organizations and their selected
reviewers, utilization and quality control peer review
organizations, contractor’s or persons or organizations
insuring, responsible for, or defending professional liability
that a provider may incur, if the committees, agents, health
care service plans, organizations, reviewers, contractors or
persons are engaged in reviewing the competence or
qualifications of health care professionals or in reviewing
health care services with respect to medical necessity, level of
care, quality of care, or justification of charges;
(e) a provider of health care or health care service plan that
has created medical information as a result of
employment-related health care services to an employee conducted
at the specific prior written request and expense of the
employer may disclose to the employee’s employer that:
i. is relevant in a law suit, arbitration, grievance, or other
claim or challenge to which the employer and the employee are
parties and in which the patient has placed in issue his or her
medical history, mental or physical condition, or treatment,
provided that information may only be used or disclosed in
connection with that proceeding;
ii. describes functional limitations of the patient that may
entitle the patient to leave from work for medical reasons or
limit the patient’s fitness to perform his or her present
employment, provided that no statement of medical cause is
included in the information disclosed;
(f) unless the provider of health care or health care service
plan is notified in writing of an agreement by the sponsor,
insurer, or administrator to the contrary, the information may
be disclosed to a sponsor, insurer, or administrator of a group
or individual insured or uninsured plan or policy that the
patient seeks coverage by or benefits from, if the information
was created by the provider of health care or health care
service plan as the result of services conducted at the specific
prior written request and expense of the sponsor, insurer, or
administrator for the purpose of evaluating the application for
coverage or benefits;
(g) to a health care service plan by providers of health care
that contract with the health care service plan and may be
transferred among providers of health care that contract with
the health care service plan, for the purpose of administering
the health care service plan. Medical information may not
otherwise be disclosed by a health care service plan except in
accordance with the provisions of this part;
(h) to an insurance institution, agent or support organization
of medical information if the insurance institution, agent, or
support organization has complied with all requirements for
obtaining the information pursuant to the requirements of the
California Insurance Code provisions;
(i) to an organ procurement organization or a tissue bank
processing the tissue of a decedent for transplantation into the
body of another person, but only with respect to the donating
decedent for the purpose of aiding the transplant;
(j) to a third party for purposes of encoding, encrypting, or
otherwise anonymizing data. However, no information may be
further disclosed by the recipient in any way that would be
unauthorized manipulation of coded or encrypted medical
information that reveals individually identifiable medical
information;
(k) for purposes of disease management programs and services,
information may be disclosed to any entity contracting with a
health care service plan or the health care service plan’s
contractors to monitor or administer care of enrollees for a
covered benefit, provided that the disease management services
and care are authorized by a treating physician or to any
disease management organization that complies fully with the
physician authorization requirements, provided that the health
care service plan or its contractor provides or has provided a
description of the disease management services to a treating
physician or to the health care service plan’s or contractor’s
network of physicians.
CONNECTICUT We will not sell your individually identifiable
medical record information. We will not disclose information
about pharmaceutical services rendered to you to third parties
without your consent, except to the following persons:
(a) the prescribing practitioner or a pharmacist or another
prescribing practitioner presently treating you when deemed
medically appropriate;
(b) a nurse who is acting as an agent for a prescribing
practitioner that is presently treating you or a nurse providing
care to you in a hospital;
(c) third party payors who pay claims for pharmaceutical
services rendered to you or who have a formal agreement or
contract to audit any records or information in connection with
such claims;
(d) any governmental agency with statutory authority to review
or obtain such information;
(e) any individual, the state or federal government or any
agency thereof or court pursuant to a subpoena; and
(f) any individual, corporation, partnership or other legal
entity which has a written agreement with the pharmacy to access
the pharmacy’s database provided the information accessed is
limited to data which does not identify specific individuals.
FLORIDA We will not disclose your pharmacy records without your
written authorization, except to:
(a) you;
(b) your legal representative;
(c) the Department of Health pursuant to existing law;
(d) in the event that you are incapacitated or unable to request
your records, your spouse; and
(e) in any civil or criminal proceeding, upon the issuance of a
subpoena from a court of competent jurisdiction and proper
notice to you or your legal representative, by the party seeking
the records.
GEORGIA Unless authorized by you, we will not disclose your
confidential information to anyone other than you or your
authorized representative, except to the following persons or
entities:
(a) the prescriber, or other licensed health care practitioners
caring for you;
(b) another licensed pharmacist for purposes of transferring a
prescription or as part of a patient’s drug utilization review,
or other patient counseling requirements;
(c) the Board of Pharmacy, or its representative; or
(d) any law enforcement personnel duly authorized to receive
such information.
We may also disclose your confidential information without your
consent pursuant to a subpoena issued and signed by an
authorized government official or a court order issued and
signed by a judge of an appropriate court. We will not disclose
AIDS confidential information, except in situations where the
subject of the information has provided us with a written
authorization allowing the release or where we are authorized or
required by state or federal law to make the disclosure.
HAWAII We will not disclose any HIV/AIDS/ARC-related
information, except in situations where the subject of the
information has provided us with prior written consent allowing
the release or where we are authorized or required by state or
federal law to make the disclosure.
IOWA We will not disclose any HIV/AIDS-related information,
except in situations where the subject of the information has
provided us with a written authorization allowing the release or
where we are authorized or required by state or federal law to
make the disclosure.
IDAHO We will not release your identifiable prescription
information to anyone other than you or your designee, unless
requested by any of the following persons or entities:
(a) the Board of Pharmacy, or its representatives, acting in
their official capacity;
(b) the practitioner, or the practitioner’s designee, who issued
your prescription;
(c) other licensed health care professionals who are responsible
for the your care;
(d) agents of the Department of Health and Welfare when acting
in their official capacity with reference to issues related to
the practice of pharmacy;
(e) agents of any board whose practitioners have prescriptive
authority, when the board is enforcing laws governing that
practitioner;
(f) an agency of government charged with the responsibility for
providing medical care for you;
(g) the federal Food and Drug Administration, for purposes
relating to monitoring of adverse drug events in compliance with
the requirements of federal law, rules or regulations adopted by
the FDA; and
(h) the authorized insurance benefit provider or health plan
that provides your health care coverage or pharmacy benefits.
INDIANA We will disclose your confidential information only when
it is in your best interests, when the information is requested
by the Board of Pharmacy or its representatives or by a law
enforcement officer charged with the enforcement of laws
pertaining to drugs or devices or the practice of pharmacy, or
when disclosure is essential to our business operations.
KENTUCKY We will only use your information to provide pharmacy
care. We will not disclose your patient information or the
nature of professional services rendered to you without your
express consent or without a court order, except to the
following authorized persons:
(a) members, inspectors, or agents of the Board of Pharmacy;
(b) you, your agent, or another pharmacist acting on your
behalf;
(c) another person, upon your request;
(d) licensed health care personnel who are responsible for your
care;
(e) certain state government agents charged with enforcing the
controlled substances laws;
(f) federal, state, or municipal government officers who are
investigating a specific person regarding drug charges; and
(g) a government agency that may be providing medical care to
you, upon that agency’s written request for information.
MAINE We will not disclose your health care information for
fundraising purposes or to coroners or funeral directors,
without your authorization. We will only disclose patient
identifiable communicable disease information to Department of
Human Services for adult or child protection purposes or to
other public health officials, agents or agencies or to
officials of a school where a child is enrolled, for public
health purposes. In a public health emergency, as declared by
the state health officer, we may also release your information
to private health care providers and agencies for the purpose of
preventing further disease transmission.
MICHIGAN Unless authorized by you, we will not disclose your
prescription or equivalent record on file, except to the
following persons:
(a) you, or another pharmacist acting on your behalf;
(b) the authorized prescribed who issued the prescription, or a
licensed health professional who is currently treating you;
(c) an agency or agent of government responsible for the
enforcement of laws relating to drugs and devices; or
(d) a person authorized by a court order.
We will not disclose AIDS-related information about an
individual except in situations where the subject of the
information has provided us with a written authorization
allowing the release or where we are authorized or required by
state or federal law to make the disclosure.
MINNESOTA We will not disclose your prescription orders or the
contents thereof, except to:
(a) you, your agent, or another pharmacist acting on your behalf
or your agent’s behalf;
(b) the licensed practitioner who issued the prescription;
(c) the licensed practitioner who is currently treating you;
(d) a member, inspector, or investigator of the board or any
federal, state, county, or municipal officer whose duty it is to
enforce the laws of this state or the United States relating to
drugs and who is engaged in a specific investigation involving a
designated person or drug;
(e) an agency of government charged with the responsibility of
providing medical care for you;
(f) an insurance carrier or attorney on receipt of written
authorization signed by you or your legal representative,
authorizing the release of such information; and
(g) any person duly authorized by a court order.
Unless we have obtained your oral or written consent, we will
not disclose the nature of pharmaceutical services rendered to
you, except as follows:
(a) pursuant to an order or direction of a court;
(b) to other pharmacies;
(c) to you; or
(d) drug therapy information to your physician.
MISSOURI Unless specifically authorized by you, we will not
release your pharmacy records to anyone other than:
(a) you or any other person authorized by you to receive the
information;
(b) the authorized prescriber who issued the prescription order,
or a licensed health professional who is currently treating you;
(c) in response to lawful requests from a court or grand jury;
(d) a person authorized by a court order;
(e) to transfer medical or prescription information between
pharmacists as provided by law; or
(f) government agencies acting within the scope of their
statutory authority.
We will not disclose any HIV/AIDS-related information, except in
situations where the subject of the information has provided us
with a written authorization allowing the release or where we
are authorized or required by state or federal law to make the
disclosure.
MONTANA We will not disclose information concerning persons
infected, or reasonably suspected to be infected with a sexually
transmitted disease, except to:
(a) personnel of the Department of Public Health and Human
Services;
(b) a physician who has obtained the written consent of the
person whose record is requested; or
(c) a local health officer.
NEVADA We will not disclose the contents of your prescriptions
or disclose any copies of your prescriptions, other than to you,
except to:
(a) the practitioner who issued the prescription;
(b) the practitioner who is currently treating you;
(c) a member, inspector or investigator of the Board of
Pharmacy, an inspector of the FDA, or an agent of the
investigation division of the department of public safety;
(d) an agency of state government charged with the
responsibility of providing medical care for you;
(e) an insurance carrier, on receipt of your written
authorization or your legal guardian authorizing the release of
information;
(f) any person authorized by an order of a district court;
(g) a member, inspector, or investigator of a professional
licensing board that licenses the practitioner who orders the
prescriptions filled at the pharmacy; and
(h) other registered pharmacists for the limited purpose of and
to the extent necessary for the exchange of information
regarding persons suspected of misusing prescriptions to obtain
excessive amounts of drugs or failing to use a drug in
conformity with the directions for its use, or taking a drug in
combination with other drugs in a manner that could result in
injury to that person.
We will not disclose any personal information about an
individual who has, or is suspected of having, a communicable
disease, without the individual’s written consent, except as
follows:
(a) for statistical purposes, as long as the identity of the
person is not discernible from the information disclosed;
(b) in a prosecution for a violation or a proceeding for an
injunction brought pursuant to the communicable disease laws;
(c) neglect of a child or elderly person;
(d) to any person who has a medical need to know the information
for his own protection or for in reporting the actual or
suspected abuse or the well-being of a patient or dependent
person, as determined by the health authority in accordance with
regulations of the state board of health;
(e) pursuant to specified statutes that require the reporting of
certain test results;
(f) if the disclosure is made to the department of human
resources and the person about whom the disclosure is made has
been diagnosed as having AIDS or an illness related to HIV and
is a recipient of or an applicant for Medicaid;
(g) to a fireman, police officer or person providing emergency
medical services if the board has determined that the
information relates to a communicable disease significantly
related to that occupation and the information is disclosed in
the manner prescribed by the state board of health; and
(h) if the disclosure is authorized or required by specific
statute.
NEW HAMPSHIRE We will not use, release, or sell your
identifiable medical information for the purpose of sales or
marketing of services or products unless you have provided us
with a written authorization permitting such activity. We will
only disclose your professional records if:
(a) we have obtained your permission to do so;
(b) it is an emergency situation and it is in your best interest
for us to disclose the information; or
(c) the law requires us to disclose the information.
NEW MEXICO Unless we receive a written consent from you, we will
not disclose your confidential information to anyone other than
you or your authorized representative, except to the following
persons or entities:
(a) pursuant to the order or direction of a court;
(b) to the prescriber or other licensed practitioner caring for
you;
(c) to another licensed pharmacist where it is in your best
interest;
(d) to the Board of Pharmacy or its representative or to such
other persons or governmental agencies duly authorized by law to
receive such information;
(e) to transfer a prescription to another pharmacy as required
by the provisions of patient counseling;
(f) to provide a copy of a nonrefillable prescription to you;
(g) to provide drug therapy information to physicians or other
authorized prescribers for their patients; or
(h) as required by the provisions of the patient counseling
regulations.
NEW YORK We may not give a patient a copy of a prescription for
a controlled substance, and for copies of other types of
prescriptions, we must indicate that the copy is for
informational purposes only.
NORTH CAROLINA We will not disclose or provide a copy of your
prescription orders on file, except to:
(a) you;
(b) your parent or guardian or other person acting in loco
parentis if you are a minor and have not lawfully consented to
the treatment of the condition for which the prescription was
issued;
(c) the licensed practitioner who issued the prescription or who
is treating you;
(d) a pharmacist who is providing pharmacy services to you;
(e) anyone who presents a written authorization for the release
of pharmacy information signed by you or your legal
representative;
(f) any person authorized by subpoena, court order or statute;
(g) any firm, company, association, partnership, business trust,
or corporation who by law or by contract is responsible for
providing or paying for medical care for you;
(h) any member or designated employee of the Board of Pharmacy;
(i) the executor, administrator or spouse of a deceased patient;
(j) Board-approved researchers, if there are adequate safeguards
to protect the confidential information; and
(k) the person who owns the pharmacy or his licensed agent.
NORTH DAKOTA We will not disclose the nature of the services we
provide to you to anyone other than you, without first obtaining
your oral or written consent, except that we may disclose such
information:
(a) to other pharmacies;
(b) to your physician; or
(c) as ordered or directed by a court.
OHIO Unless we have obtained your written consent, we will only
disclose your pharmacy records to:
(a) you;
(b) the prescriber who issued the prescription or medication
order
(c) certified/licensed health care personnel who are responsible
for your care;
(d) a member, inspector, agent, or investigator of the state
board of pharmacy or any federal, state, county, or municipal
officer whose duty is to enforce the laws of this state or the
United States relating to drugs and who is engaged in a specific
investigation involving a designated person or drug;
(e) an agent of the state medical board when enforcing the
statutes governing physicians and limited practitioners;
(f) an agency of government charged with the responsibility of
providing medical care fo |
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