The following examples describe ways that we may use your protected health information for your treatment, payments, healthcare operations, etc., but please be advised that not every use or disclosure in a particular category will be listed.

Treatment: We may use and disclose your protected health information to provide you with treatment. This includes disclosing your protected health information to other medical providers, trainees, therapists, medical staff, and office staff that are involved in your health care.

For example, your medical provider might need to consult with another provider to coordinate your care. Also, the office staff may need to use and disclose your protected health information to other individuals outside of our office, such as the pharmacy, when a prescription is called in.

Payment: Your protected health information may also be used to obtain payment from an insurance company or another third party. This may include providing an insurance company with your protected health information for pre-authorization for a medication we prescribed.

Health Care Operations: We may use or disclose your protected health information in order to operate this medical practice. These activities include training students, reviewing cases with employees, utilizing your information to improve the quality of care, and contacting you by telephone, email, or text to remind you of your appointments.

If we have to share your protected health information with third-party “business associates” such as a billing service, if so, we will have a written contract that contains terms that will protect the privacy of your protected health information.

We may also use and disclose your protected health information for marketing activities. For example, we might send you a thank you card in the mail with a coupon for specialized servicesor products. We may also send you information about products or services that might be of interest to you. You can contact us at any point to stop receiving this information.

We will not use or disclose your protected health information for any purpose other than those identified in this policy without your written Authorization. You may give us written authorization to use your protected health information or to disclose it to anyone for any purpose. You can revoke this authorization at any time, but it will not affect the protected health information that was shared while the authorization was in effect.

Appointment reminders: We may contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment for your initial visit, follow-up visit, or lab work via text, phone, or email.

Others Involved in Your Health Care: We may disclose protected health information about you to your family members or friends if we obtain your verbal agreement to do so, or if we give you an opportunity to object to such a disclosure and you do not raise an objection. For example, we may assume that if your spouse or friend is present during your evaluation, we can disclose protected professional information to this person. If you are unable to agree or object to such a disclosure, we may disclose such information as necessary if we determine that it is in your best interest based on our professional judgment if there is an urgent or emergent need.

Research: We will not use or disclose your health information for research purposes unless you give us authorization to do so.

Organ Donation: If you are an organ donor, we may release protected health information to organizations that handle organ procurement or organ, eye, or tissue transplantation if it is necessary to facilitate this process.

Public Health Risks: We may disclose your protected health information, if necessary, in order to prevent or control disease, report adverse events from medications or products, and prevent injury, disability, or death. This information may be disclosed to healthcare systems, government agencies, or public health authorities. We may have to disclose your protected health information to the Food and Drug Administration to report adverse events, defects, problems, enable recalls, etc., if required by FDA regulation. Health

Oversight Activities: We may disclose protected health information to health oversight agencies for audits, investigations, inspections, or licensing purposes. These disclosures might be necessary for state and federal agencies to monitor healthcare systems and compliance with civil law.

Required by Law: We will disclose protected health information about you when required to do so by federal, state, and/or local law.

Workman’s compensation: We may disclose your protected health information to workman’s comp or similar programs.

Lawsuits: We may disclose your protected health information in response to a court action, administrative action, or a subpoena.

Law Enforcement: We may release protected health information to a law enforcement official in response to a court order, subpoena, or warrant, subject to all applicable legal requirements.