Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Treatment to help health care providers manage or coordinate your health care and related services. For example, we may use and disclose information about you to inform providers of medications you take or to remind you of appointments. Payment to obtain payment for your coverage, pay claims for your health benefits, or help another health plan or health care provider in its payment activities. For example, we may use or disclose information about you to make coverage determinations, administer claims, or coordinate benefits with other coverage you may have. Health Care Operations to perform other activities necessary for the operation of our business, including customer service, disease management, and determining how to improve the quality of care. For example, we may use or disclose information about you to respond to your call to customer service, arrange for medical review of your claims, or conduct quality assessment and improvement activities. Legal Compliance to comply with applicable law. For example, we may be required to use or disclose information about you to respond to regulatory authorities responsible for oversight of government benefit programs or our business operations; to parties or courts in the course of judicial or administrative proceedings; or pursuant to workers compensation laws. Government Agencies under limited circumstances established by law, to public health authorities, coroners or medical examiners, law enforcement, or other government officials Research for health-related research studies that meet legal standards for protection of the individuals involved in the studies and their personal information. We may also create a database of our members information that does not include individual identifiers and use the database for research or other purposes, provided that the information cannot be traced back to specific members. To Your Employer (or other plan sponsor), if applicable , for administration of its health plan. This applies only if you receive coverage through an employer-sponsored plan (or plan sponsored by your union or other entity). For example, we may disclose information about you to your employer (or other plan sponsor) to confirm enrollment in the plan or (if the employer or other plan sponsor is self-insured) for claim review and audits. We will disclose your information only to designated individuals. That, along with legal prohibitions on use of your personal information for discriminatory purposes, helps protect your information from unauthorized use. To carry out these purposes, we share information with entities that perform functions for us subject to contracts that limit use and disclosure for intended purposes. We use physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect your privacy. Even when allowed, we limit uses and disclosures of your information to the minimum amount reasonably necessary for the intended task. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) generally does not override other laws that give people greater privacy protections. As a result, we