This notice explains how your health information may be used, disclosed, and accessed. Please take a close look at it. We are obligated by law to maintain the privacy of your health information, and we are dedicated to doing so.
This notice explains how your health information may be used both inside PDA and outside of it. The rights you have regarding your personal health information are also outlined in this notice. We must provide you with a copy of this notice and adhere to the requirements outlined in it. If you have any questions, please contact us after carefully reading this notice.
Without your consent, we may use or disclose your health information for specific purposes. However, your consent is needed for some uses and disclosures of your health information. We may use or share your health information in the ways listed below.
In order to give you dental care or services, like cleaning or examining your teeth or carrying out dental procedures, we might use your health information. Additionally, we may share your health information with other medical professionals involved in your care, such as dentists, doctors, nurses, technicians, and others who require it to treat you.
Additionally, we may use and disclose your health information to get in touch with you to tell you about health-related services that are available to you or to discuss potential treatment options or alternatives.
In order to receive payment for the services or supplies we provide to you, we may use and disclose your health information to insurers and health plans. For instance, before paying us for your treatment, your health plan or insurance provider might request access to some of your medical records.
Your health information may be used and shared by us to manage our organization, enhance your care, and get in touch with you as needed. For instance, we use your health information to administer your services and treatments.
Your health information may be used or disclosed by us in order to remind you of appointments (via letters, postcards, or voicemails).
Family Members and Others Involved in Your Care:
If you don’t object, we might share your health information with a close friend or family member who is involved in your medical care or who helps pay for it. In order to assist in finding a friend or family member in a disaster, we might also give disaster relief organizations access to your health information.
If your health information is required for our third-party service providers (referred to as “Business Associates”) to carry out tasks on our behalf or offer us services, we may disclose it to them. For instance, we might employ a Business Associate to help us with practice management software maintenance. All of our business associates have a contract with us that requires them to protect the privacy of your information and prohibits them from using or disclosing any information other than what is specified in our contract.
Sometimes we are required by federal, state, or local laws to reveal the health information of our patients. For example, we must provide the U with patient health information. The S. Department of Health and Human Services in order for it to look into complaints or assess our HIPAA compliance. Additionally, we must provide information about work-related injuries to Workers’ Compensation Programs.
Public Health Activities:
For the sake of public health, we might disclose specific health information. For example, we have to notify the state government of births, deaths, and infectious diseases. Additionally, we might have to notify patients of product or medication recalls or report adverse reactions to foods or medications.
In certain situations, we may reveal health information for the sake of public safety. In response to a search warrant or a grand jury subpoena, we might provide health information to law enforcement. Additionally, we may divulge health information to help law enforcement identify or locate a person, prosecute violent crimes, report deaths that may have been caused by criminal activity, and report criminal activity within PDA. In order to avoid a major risk to your health or safety, we may also share your health information with law enforcement and other parties.
Health Oversight Activities:
In order for the government to properly oversee the health care system, certain government benefit programs, and compliance with specific civil rights laws, we may provide health information to a government agency that manages PDA or its employees.
Coroners, Medical Examiners, and Funeral Directors:
In order to help coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors perform their duties, we may provide them with information about deceased patients.
Military, Veterans, National Security and Other Government Purposes:
If you serve in the military, we may disclose your health information to the Department of Veterans Affairs or as mandated by military command authorities. Additionally, PDA may provide health information to federal officials for presidential protective services, intelligence, and national security.
Organ and Tissue Donation:
Organ procurement organizations and others who obtain, bank, or transplant organs, eyes, or tissues may use or disclose health information to us.
If a court orders PDA to do so, or if a search warrant or subpoena is served, PDA may reveal health information. In most cases, you will be informed in advance of this disclosure so that you have an opportunity to object to the sharing of your health information.
Marketing/Sale of Information:
Unless you provide us with written consent, we will never sell your information or use it for marketing. You can request that we not get in touch with you again if we get in touch with you about any fundraising initiatives.
Information with Additional Protection:
State and federal laws provide extra protection for some types of health information. Health information about HIV/AIDS and communicable diseases, drug and alcohol abuse treatment, genetic testing, and the diagnosis and treatment of a serious mental illness, for example, is handled differently than other types of health information. In many situations, PDA must obtain your consent before sharing that kind of information with third parties.
Your Written Authorization for Any Other Use or Disclosure of Your Health Information:
PDA will request your consent if it wants to use or disclose your health information for a purpose not covered in this notice. Unless we have already relied on your consent to use or disclose information, you are free to revoke your authorization to PDA at any time. Please give written notice to the Privacy Officer if you ever want to withdraw your authorization.
Restrictions on disclosure of PHI to Health Plan:
If a request to limit PHI disclosure to a health plan is made for payment or health care operations and relates to a medical item or service that the patient has fully paid for out of pocket, PDA must comply.
Right to Request Your Health Information:
You are entitled to view and obtain a copy of your personal health records. Please be aware that there may be legal exceptions. (We are required by law to preserve the original record. This includes the records we use to make decisions about your care, such as your billing record and health record. Contact the Privacy Officer at the following address by phone or letter to request your health information. We will bill you for the cost of copying your data if you ask for a copy. The cost of this copying will be communicated to you beforehand. You are not charged to view your record.
Right to Request Amendment of Health Information You Believe is Erroneous or Incomplete:
You can request that we update your record if you review your health information and think that some of it is inaccurate or lacking. Send a written request to the address below if you would like us to change your health information. We will reply to your request with an explanation within 60 days, even if we reject it.
Right to Get a List of Certain Disclosures of Your Health Information:
A list of many of the disclosures we make about your health information is available upon request. Please send a written request to the address below if you would like to receive such a list. We will give you the first list for free, but if you need more lists in the same year, we might charge you. The cost of this list will be disclosed to you beforehand, and you will have the option to change or withdraw your request at that point.
Right to Request Restrictions on How PDA Will Use or Disclose Your Health Information for Treatment, Payment, or Health Care Operations:
You have the right to request that we not use or disclose your health information for the purpose of treating you, collecting payment for your care, or running the system. Although we are not obligated to grant your request, we will abide by it if we do. To request a restriction, send a letter with a detailed description to the Privacy Officer at the address below.
Right to Request Confidential Communications:
You are entitled to request that we speak with you in a more private manner. For instance, you can request that we only communicate by mail rather than by calling your house. Please talk to your caregiver about this or send a written request to the Privacy Officer at the following address. Simply ask your healthcare providers if you would like to have a private conversation with them away from other patients.
Right to be Notified Following a Breach of Unsecured PHI:
If your health information is compromised, you have the right to be informed as soon as possible, but in any case, no later than sixty (60) days after we discover the breach.
Right to Choose a Representative:
Someone can exercise your rights and make decisions regarding your health information if you have granted them a medical power of attorney or if they are your legal guardian. Before we do anything, we will confirm that this person is authorized to act on your behalf.
We may occasionally alter our procedures regarding the use, disclosure, or implementation of patient rights with regard to their health information. We reserve the right to amend this notice and apply its provisions to all health information we keep. We will post an updated Notice of Privacy Practices at our office if we make any changes to these procedures. At any time, you can obtain a copy of our most recent Notice of Privacy Practices by contacting the Privacy Officer at the following address.
Please let us know if you have any issues or worries about PDA’s use or disclosure of your health information or your right to privacy.
Please get in touch with the Privacy Officer if you have any concerns. You can also send a letter to the U.S. government to file a complaint if PDA is unable to address your issue. The S. Office for Civil Rights, Department of Health and Human Services. Web. hhs . gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/
If you file a complaint with the federal government, you will not be punished or subjected to any form of retaliation.
The terms of the current notice and the provision of this notice are required by law for PDA to give you this notice. Please contact the Privacy Officer if you have any inquiries regarding this notice or if you have any further inquiries regarding the use and disclosure of your health information by PDA.
This notice was published and becomes effective 30th March 2026.
To learn more about how your health information is used, review our PDA Notice of Information and Privacy Practices.
