Effective Date: February 16, 2026
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
Your Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities.
When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.
For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions.
If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example, if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.
We may contact you for fundraising efforts, but you can tell us not to contact you again. If we create or maintain substance use disorder records protected under 42 CFR Part 2, we will provide you with a clear and conspicuous opportunity to opt out of fundraising communications before using or disclosing such records for that purpose.
Some information, such as HIV-related information, genetic information, alcohol and/or substance use disorder treatment 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.
Federal law (42 CFR Part 2) provides additional privacy protections for records relating to substance use disorder diagnosis, treatment, or referral created by federally assisted programs. Our dental practice may receive these records as part of your health history or through coordination of care with other providers.
If we receive information about you from a substance use disorder treatment program covered by 42 CFR Part 2 (a “Part 2 Program”) through a general consent you gave that program for treatment, payment, and/or health care operations, we may use and share your record for those same purposes as explained in this Notice. If we receive your record with a specific consent that limits how it may be used, we will only use and share the information as expressly permitted in that consent.
Restrictions on Use in Legal Proceedings: Substance use disorder treatment records received from programs subject to 42 CFR Part 2, or testimony relaying the content of such records, shall not be used or disclosed in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceedings against you unless based on your written consent, or a court order issued after notice and an opportunity to be heard is provided to you or the holder of the record, as provided in 42 CFR Part 2. A court order authorizing use or disclosure must be accompanied by a subpoena or other legal requirement compelling disclosure before the requested record is used or disclosed.
Consent: With certain exceptions, substance use disorder records come with a patient consent form permitting the Part 2 Program to disclose the patient’s information. A patient may provide a single consent for all future uses or disclosures for treatment, payment, and health care operations purposes. This consent may be revoked at any time.
Information that we disclose pursuant to this Notice or with your authorization may be subject to redisclosure by the recipient and may no longer be protected by the HIPAA Privacy Rule. However, substance use disorder treatment records protected under 42 CFR Part 2 have additional restrictions on redisclosure. Any re-disclosure of Part 2 records must comply with the requirements of that regulation.
We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.
We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you.
Example: A doctor treating you for an injury asks another doctor about your overall health condition.
We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary.
Example: We use health information about you to manage your treatment and services.
We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities.
Example: We give information about you to your dental insurance plan so it will pay for your services.
We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes.
Note: Where uses or disclosures described in this Notice are limited by other applicable laws that are more stringent than HIPAA, including but not limited to 42 CFR Part 2 (governing substance use disorder records) and applicable state laws, we will comply with the more restrictive requirements of those laws.
We can use or share your information for health research.
We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.
We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.
We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies.
We can use or share health information about you:
We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.
We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, in our office, and on our website.
This Notice of Privacy Practices applies to all the organizations on this site. For questions about this notice, to exercise any of your rights, or to file a complaint, please see the appropriate page for contact information.