Joie Pediatric Dentistry Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy is designed to help you understand how we collect, use, and safeguard your personal information. By using our website and our services, you consent to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

We may collect the following types of information when you visit our website or use our services:
Personal Information: We may collect personal information, such as your name, contact information (email address, phone number), and date of birth, to schedule appointments and provide dental care services.
Health Information: To provide you with the best possible dental care, we may collect your medical and dental history, information about your dental conditions, and treatment preferences.
Usage Information: We may collect information about how you use our website, such as your browsing activity, pages visited, and the date and time of your visits.
Appointment Reminders: We will collect your consent to send appointment reminders through email and text messages.

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
Appointment Scheduling: To schedule and manage your dental appointments.
Communication: To send you appointment reminders, updates, and important information regarding your dental care.
Improving Our Services: To enhance the quality of our dental care services and improve our website.
Legal and Regulatory Compliance: To comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

Automated Messages:
As part of our services, we may send out automated messages, such as, but not limited to, reminders regarding your appointment(s) and post-op instructions, through SMS or E-mail (when provided). You agree to receive these automated messages at any time. Message frequency varies and data rates may apply depending on your mobile and/or e-mail provider plan. You can reply STOP to unsubscribe from our SMS messages or the opt-out link in our e-mail messages at any time.

Sharing of Information:
We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer your personal information to outside third-parties. Your information is kept confidential within our dental practice, and it is only accessible to authorized personnel who need this information to perform their duties.

Mobile Information:
No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. Information sharing to subcontractors in support services, such as customer service is permitted. All other use case categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.

Your Consent for Appointment Reminders:
By providing your email address and phone number, you explicitly consent to receiving appointment reminders via email and text messages. You can opt out of these reminders at any time by contacting us or following the instructions provided in the reminders.

Security Measures:
We take the security of your personal information seriously. We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information when you enter or submit your details on our website.

Cookies and Tracking:
Our website may use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your experience. You can set your browser to refuse cookies, but this may affect your experience on our website.

Third-Party Links:
Our website may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these websites. We encourage you to review their privacy policies.

Changes to the Privacy Policy:
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with the updated date. We encourage you to check this page regularly to stay informed about our privacy practices.

Contact Us:
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your rights as described herein, please contact us.

By using our website and services, you agree to the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy. Your privacy and the security of your information are important to us, and we are committed to protecting them to the best of our abilities.

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       THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL or DENTAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY

     We respect our legal obligation to keep health information that identifies you private. We are obligated by law to give you notice of our privacy practices. This Notice describes how we protect your health information and what rights you have regarding it.

TREATMENT, PAYMENT AND HEALTH CARE OPERATIONS

    The most common reason why we use or disclose your health information is for treatment, payment or health care operations. Examples of how we use or disclose information for treatment purposes are: setting up an appointment for you; examining your teeth, mouth, and oral health; prescribing medications and faxing them to be filled; prescribing dental appliances and dental prostheses; showing you treatment options; referring you to another dentist for specialty care; or getting copies of your health information from another professional that you may have seen before us. Examples of how we use or disclose your health information for payment purposes are: asking you about your dental or medical care plans, or other sources of payment; preparing and sending bills or claims; and collecting unpaid amounts (either ourselves or through a collection agency or attorney). “Health care operations” mean those administrative and managerial functions that we have to do in order to run our office. Examples of how we use or disclose your health information for health care operations are: financial or billing audits; internal quality assurance; personal decisions; participation in managed care plans; defense of legal matters; business planning; and outside storage of our records.

    We routinely use your health information inside our office for these purposes without any special permission.  If we need to disclose your health information outside of our office for these reasons, (we will) (we usually will not) ask you for special permission.

     We will ask for special written permission in the following situations: anything related to HIV/AIDS status, any sale of information, any use of information for marketing or fundraising purposes.

USES AND DISCLOSURES FOR OTHER REASONS WITHOUT PERMISSION

    In some limited situations, the law allows or requires us to use or disclose your health information without your permission. Not all of these situations will apply to us; some may never come up at our office at all. Such uses or disclosures are:

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.

SUD Treatment Information.  If we receive or maintain any information about you from a substance use disorder treatment program that is covered by 42 CFR Part 2 (a “Part 2 Program”) through a general consent you provide to the Part 2 Program to use and disclose the Part 2 Program record for purposes of treatment, payment or health care operations, we may use and disclose your Part 2 Program record for treatment, payment and health care operations purposes as described in this Notice.  If we receive or maintain your Part 2 Program record through specific consent you provide to us or another third party, we will use and disclose your Part 2 Program record only as expressly permitted by you in your consent as provided to us.

In no event will we use or disclose your Part 2 Program record, or testimony that describes the information contained in your Part 2 Program record, in any civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceedings by any Federal, State, or local authority, against you, unless authorized by your consent or the order of a court after it provides you notice of the court order.  

• when a state or federal law mandates that certain health information be reported for a specific purpose;
• for public health purposes, such as contagious disease reporting, investigation or surveillance; and notices to and from federal Food and Drug Administration regarding drugs or medical devices;
• disclosures to governmental authorities about victims of suspected abuse, neglect or domestic violence;
• uses and disclosures for health oversight activities, such as for the licensing of doctors; for audits by Medicare or Medicaid; or for investigation of possible violations of health care laws;
• disclosures for judicial and administrative proceedings, such as in response to subpoenas or orders of courts or administrative agencies;
• disclosures for law enforcement purposes, such as to provide information about someone who is or is suspected to be a victim of a crime; to provide information about a crime at our office; or to report a crime that happened somewhere else;
• disclosure to a medical examiner to identify a dead person or to determine the cause of death; or to funeral directors to aid in burial; or to organizations that handle organ or tissue donations;
• uses or disclosures for health related research;
• uses and disclosures to prevent a serious threat to health or safety
• uses or disclosures for specialized government functions, such as for the protection of the president or high ranking government officials; for lawful national intelligence activities; for military purposes; or for the evaluation and health of members of the foreign service;
• discloses of de-identified information;
• disclosures relating to worker’s compensation programs;
• disclosures of a “limited data set” for research, public health, or health care operations;
• incidental disclosures that are unavoidable by-product of permitted uses or disclosures;
• disclosures to “business associates” who perform health care operations for us and who commit to respect the privacy of your health information.

APPOINTMENT REMINDERS

    We may call or write or text to remind you of scheduled appointments, or that it is time to make a routine appointment. We may also call or write to notify you of other treatments or services available at out office that might help you. Unless you tell us otherwise, we will mail you an appointment reminder on a postcard, and/or leave you a reminder message on your home answering machine or with someone who answers your phone if you are not home.

OTHER USES AND DISCLOSURES

    We will not make any other uses or disclosures of your health information unless you sign a written “authorization form.” The content of an “authorization form” is determined by federal law. Sometimes, we may initiate the authorization process if the use or disclosure is our idea. Sometimes, you may initiate the process it it’s your idea for us to send your information to someone else. Typically, in this situation you will give us a properly completed authorization form, or you can use one of ours.

    If we initiate the process and ask you to sign an authorization form, you do not have to sign it. If you do not sign the authorization, we cannot make the use or disclosure. If you do sign one, you may revoke it at any time unless we have already acted in reliance upon it. Revocations must be in writing. Send them to the office contact person named at the beginning of this Notice.

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION

    The law gives you many rights regarding your health information. You can:

• Ask us to restrict our uses and disclosures for purposes of treatment (except emergency treatment), payment or health care operations. We do not have to agree to do this, but if we agree, we must honor the restrictions that you want. We must honor a restriction not to send information to a health care plan regarding any service for which you have already made full payment. To ask for a restriction, send a written request to the office contact person at the address, fax or Email shown at the beginning of this Notice.
• Ask us to communicate with you in a confidential way, such as by phoning you at work rather than at home, by mailing health information to a different address, or by using Email to your personal Email address. We will accommodate these requests if they are reasonable, and if you pay us for any extra cost. If you want to ask for confidential communications, send a written request to the office contact person at the address, fax or Email shown at the beginning of this Notice.
• Ask to see or get photocopies of your health information. By law, there are a few limited situations in which we can refuse to permit access or copying. For the most part, however, you will be able to review or have a copy of your health information within 10 days of asking us. You may have to pay for photocopies in advance. If we deny your request, we will send you a written explanation, and instructions about how to get an impartial review of our denial if one is legally available. If you want to review or get photocopies of your health information, send a written request to the office contact person at the address, fax or Email shown at the beginning of this Notice.
• Ask us to amend your health information if you think that it is incorrect or incomplete. If we agree, we will amend the information within 60 days from when you ask us. We will send the corrected information to persons who we know got the wrong information, and others that you specify. If we do not agree, you can write a statement of your position, and we will include it with your health information along with any rebuttal statement that we may write. Once your statement of position and/or our rebuttal is included in your health information, we will send it along whenever we make a permitted disclosure of your health information. By law, we can have one 30-day extension of time to consider a request for amendment if we notify you in writing of the extension. If you want to ask us to amend your health information, send a written request, including your reasons for the amendment, to the office contact person at the address, fax or Email shown at the beginning of this Notice.
• Get a list of the disclosures that we have made of your health information within the past six years (or shorter period if you want). By law, the list will not include: disclosures for purposes of treatment, payment or health care operations; disclosures with your authorization; incidental disclosures; disclosures required by law; and some other limited disclosures. You are entitled to one such list per year without charge. If you want more frequent lists, you will have to pay for them in advance. We will usually respond to your request within 60 days of receiving it, but by law we can have one 30-day extension of time if we notify you of the extension in writing. If you want a list, send a written request to the office contact person at the address, fax or Email shown at the beginning of this Notice.
• Get additional paper copies of this Notice of Privacy Practices upon request. It does not matter whether you got one electronically or in paper form already. If you want additional paper copies, send a written request to the office contact person at the address, fax or Email shown at the beginning of this Notice.

You will be notified by us in a timely manner of any breach of the privacy and confidentiality of your unsecured protected health information, which we will provide to you in accordance with law and take all appropriate measures to address.

Fundraising. We may contact you to provide you with information about our sponsored activities, including fundraising programs, as permitted by applicable law. If you do not wish to receive such information from us, you may opt out of receiving the communications.

OUR NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

   By law, we must abide by the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices until we choose to change it. We reserve the right to change this notice at any time as allowed by law. If we change this Notice, the new privacy practices will apply to your health information that we already have as well as to such information that we may generate in the future. If we change our Notice of Privacy Practices, we will post the new notice in our office, have copies available in our office, and post it on our website.

COMPLAINTS

   If you think we have not properly respected the privacy of your health information, you are free to complain to us of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. We will not retaliate against you if you make a complaint. If you want to complain to us, send a written complaint to the office contact person at the address, fax or Email shown at the beginning of this Notice. If you prefer, you can discuss your complaint in person or by phone.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

   If you want more information about our privacy practices, call or visit the office contact person at the address or phone number shown at the beginning of this Notice.