We may use and disclose your health information for different purposes, including treatment, payment, and health care operations. For each of these categories, we have provided a description and an example. Some information, such as HIV-related information, genetic information, alcohol and/or substance abuse records, and mental health records may be entitled to special confidentiality protections under applicable state or federal law. We will abide by these special protections as they pertain to applicable cases involving these types of records.

Treatment: While we are providing you with health care services, we may share your protected health information (PHI) including electronic protected health information (ePHI) with other health care providers, business associates and their subcontractors or individuals who are involved in your treatment, billing, administrative support or data analysis. These business associates and subcontractors through signed contracts are required by Federal law to protect your health information. We have established “minimum necessary” or “need to know” standards that limit various staff members’ access to your health information according to their primary job functions. Everyone on our staff is required to sign a confidentiality statement.

Payment. We may use and disclose your 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 health information.

Healthcare Operations.We will use and disclose your health information to keep our practice operable. Examples of personnel who may have access to this information include, but are not limited to, our medical records staff, insurance operations, health care clearinghouses and individuals performing similar activities.

Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care. We may disclose your 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, we may disclose information about you to a patient representative. If a person has the authority by law to make health care decisions for you, we will treat that patient representative the same way we would treat you with respect to your health information.

Disaster Relief. We may use or disclose your health information to assist in disaster relief efforts.

Required by Law. We may use or disclose your health information when we are required to do so by law. (Court or administrative orders, subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process.) We will use and disclose your information when requested by national security, intelligence and other State and Federal officials and/or if you are an inmate or otherwise under custody of law enforcement.

Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Records: In limited situations, our dental practice may receive substance use disorder (SUD) treatment records from a program that is subject to 42 C.F.R. Part 2. When Part 2 applies, it may further limit certain uses and disclosures that might otherwise be permitted under HIPAA. Part 2-protected SUD treatment records (or testimony relaying the content of those records) may not be used or disclosed in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceedings against you unless the disclosure is based on your written consent or a court order that meets Part 2 requirements (including notice and an opportunity to be heard); any such court order must be accompanied by a subpoena or other legal requirement compelling disclosure.

Abuse or Neglect: We may disclose your health information to appropriate authorities if we reasonably believe that you are a possible victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence or the possible victim of other crimes. This information will be disclosed only to the extent necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health or safety or that of others.

Public Health Activities. We may disclose your health information for public health activities, including disclosures to:

• Prevent or control disease, injury or disability;
• Report child abuse or neglect;
• Report reactions to medications or problems with products or devices;
• Notify a person of a recall, repair, or replacement of products or devices;
• Notify a person who may have been exposed to a disease or condition; or
• Notify the appropriate government authority if we believe a patient has been the victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.

National Security. We may disclose to military authorities the health information of Armed Forces personnel under certain circumstances. We may disclose to authorized federal officials, health information required for lawful intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities. We may disclose to correctional institution or law enforcement official having lawful custody the protected health information of an inmate or patient.

Secretary of HHS. We will disclose your health information to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services when required to investigate or determine compliance with HIPAA.

Worker’s Compensation. We may disclose your PHI 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.

Law Enforcement. We may disclose your PHI for law enforcement purposes as permitted by HIPAA, as required by law, or in response to a subpoena or court order.

Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose your PHI to an oversight agency for activities authorized by law. These oversight activities include audits, investigations, inspections, and credentialing, as necessary for licensure and for the government to monitor the health care system, government programs, and compliance with civil rights laws.

Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. If you are involved in a lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose your PHI 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.

Research. We may disclose your PHI to researchers when their research has been approved by an institutional review board or privacy board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your information.

Coroners, Medical Examiners, and Funeral Directors. We may release your PHI to a coroner or medical examiner. This may be necessary, for example, to identify a deceased person or determine the cause of death. We may also disclose PHI to funeral directors consistent with applicable law to enable them to carry out their duties.

Marketing Health-Related Services: We will not use your health information for marketing purposes unless we have your written authorization to do so. Effective March 26, 2013, we are required to obtain an authorization for marketing purposes if communication about a product or service is provided and we receive financial remuneration (getting paid in exchange for making the communication). No authorization is required if communication is made face-to-face or for promotional gifts.

Fundraising: We may use certain information (name, address, telephone number or e-mail information, age, date of birth, gender, health insurance status, dates of service, department of service information, treating physician information or outcome information) to contact you for the purpose of raising money and you will have the right to opt out of receiving such communications with each solicitation. Effective March 26, 2013, PHI that requires a written patient authorization prior to fundraising communication include diagnosis, nature of services and treatment. If you have elected to opt out we are prohibited from making fundraising communication under the HIPAA Privacy Rule.

Sale of PHI: We are prohibited to disclose PHI without an authorization if it constitutes remuneration (getting paid in exchange for the PHI). “Sale of PHI” does not include disclosures for public health, certain research purposes, treatment and payment, and for any other purpose permitted by the Privacy Rule, where the only remuneration received is “a reasonable cost-based fee” to cover the cost to prepare and transmit the PHI for such purpose or a fee otherwise expressly permitted by law. Corporate transactions (i.e., sale, transfer, merger, consolidation) are also excluded from the definition of “sale.”

Appointment Reminders: We may use your health records to remind you of recommended services, treatment or scheduled appointments.