Scope of Notice
This Notice of Privacy Practices ("Notice") applies to all Protected Health Information about you held or transmitted by Southern Orthodontic Partners ("we", "our", "us"). Protected Health Information is any individually identifiable health information about your past, present, or future physical or mental health condition or payment for healthcare or about the provision of care to you. Protected Health Information may include information about your condition or treatment, diagnostic tests and images, and related dental or other health information.
Our Responsibilities
We are required by law to maintain the privacy of Protected Health Information, to provide individuals with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to protected health information, and to notify affected individuals following a breach of unsecured protected health information. We must follow the privacy practices that are described in this Notice while it is in effect.
You may request a copy of our Notice at any time. For more information about our privacy practices, or for additional copies of this Notice, please contact us using the information listed at the end of this Notice.
How We May Use and Disclose Your Protected Health Information
The following categories describe the different ways that we may use and disclose your Protected Health Information without an authorization. For all the following categories, when state or federal law (including the substance use disorder requirements at 42 CFR Part 2) is more restrictive, we are required to follow the more restrictive state applicable law. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. Your Protected Health Information may be stored in paper, electronic or other form and may be disclosed electronically and by other methods:
Treatment. We may use and disclose your Protected Health Information for your treatment. For example, we may disclose your Protected Health Information to a specialist providing treatment to you.
Payment. We may use and disclose your Protected Health Information to obtain reimbursement for the treatment and services you receive from us or another entity involved with your care. Payment activities include billing, collections, claims management, and determinations of eligibility and coverage to obtain payment from you, an insurance company, or another third party. For example, we may send claims to your dental health plan containing certain Protected Health Information.
Healthcare Operations. We may use and disclose your Protected Health Information in connection with our healthcare operations. Healthcare operations include quality assessment and improvement activities, arranging for legal services, conducting training programs, reviewing the competence and qualifications of healthcare professionals, and licensing activities. We may also use your Protected Health Information to notify you about our health-related products and services, to recommend possible treatment options or alternatives that may be of interest to you, to send you patient satisfaction surveys, or to send you appointment reminders. We may make incidental disclosures of limited Protected Health Information, such as by using sign-in sheets in our waiting rooms or calling out names in our waiting rooms when calling back patients for their appointments.
Business Associates. We may disclose your Protected Health Information to one or more of our service providers, known as "business associates," in order for them to provide services to us or on our behalf pursuant to a written business associate agreement. Our business associates are required to safeguard your Protected Health Information.
Health Information Exchanges. We may participate in one or more Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) and may electronically share your Protected Heath Information for treatment, payment, healthcare operations and other permitted purposes with other participants in the HIE. HIEs allow your health care providers to efficiently access and use your PHI as necessary for treatment and other lawful purposes.
Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care. We may disclose your Protected Health Information to your family or friends, or any other individual identified by you when they are involved in your care or in the payment for your care. Additionally, if a person has the authority by law to make health care decisions for you, we may disclose information about you to such patient representative and treat that patient representative the same way we would treat you with respect to your Protected Health Information. We may also disclose your Protected Health Information to a public or private entity authorized by law to assist in disaster relief efforts to notify, or assist in notifying, a family member or personal representative about your location, general condition, or death.
Required by Law. We may use or disclose your Protected Health Information when we are required to do so by law, such as to report suspected abuse or neglect.
Public Health Activities. We may disclose your Protected Health Information for public health activities, such as to prevent or control disease, injury or disability, report child abuse or neglect, or notify a person of a recall, repair, or replacement of products or services.
Abuse, Neglect or Domestic Violence. If we reasonably believe that you are a victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, we may disclose protected health information about you to a government authority, including a social service protective agency, authorized by law to receive reports of abuse, neglect or domestic violence.
Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose your Protected Health Information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure actions. For example, we may disclose Protected Health Information about you to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services if it requests such information to determine that we are complying with federal privacy law.
Law Enforcement. We may disclose your Protected Health Information for law enforcement purposes as permitted by HIPAA, as required by law, or in response to a subpoena or court order.
Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. We may disclose your Protected Health Information in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose health information about you in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process instituted by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made, either by the requesting party or us, to tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.
Serious Threat to Health or Safety. We may disclose your Protected Health Information when permitted by law to avert a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public.
Specialized Government Functions. To the extent applicable, we may release your Protected Health Information for specialized government functions, including military and veterans activities, national security and intelligence activities, and correctional institutions.
Worker's Compensation. We may disclose your Protected Health Information to the extent authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with laws relating to worker's compensation or other similar programs established by law.