Notice Of Privacy Practices

Effective Date: Jan 20, 2020 
Revised: Feb 16, 2026 

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NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES 
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND  HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY. 
THE PRIVACY OF YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION IS IMPORTANT TO US. 

Our Legal Duty 
We are required by applicable federal and state law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information. We are also required to give you this Notice about our privacy practices, our legal duties, and your rights concerning your protected health information. We must follow the privacy practices that are described in this Notice while it is in effect. This Notice takes effect on the above date, and will remain in effect until we replace it. 
We reserve the right to change our privacy practices and the terms of this Notice at any time, provided such changes are permitted by applicable law. We reserve the right to make the changes in our privacy practices and the new terms of our  Notice effective for all health information that we maintain, including health information we created or received before we made the changes. Before we make a significant change in our privacy practices, we will change this Notice and provide the new  Notice at our practice location and on our website, and we will distribute it upon request. 
You may request a copy of our Notice at any time. For more information about our privacy practices, or for additional copies of this Notice, please contact us using the information listed at the end of this Notice. 

Uses and Disclosures of Health Information  
We use and disclose health information about you without authorization for the purposes of treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. 

Treatment: We may use or disclose your health information for your treatment. For example, we may disclose your health information to a doctor or other healthcare provider providing treatment to you. 

Payment: We may use and disclose your health information to obtain payment for services we provide to you. For example, we may share your health information with your health insurance plan so that it will pay for your services.

Healthcare Operations: We may use and disclose your health information in connection with our healthcare operations. For example, healthcare operations include quality assessment and improvement activities; reviewing the competence or qualifications of healthcare professionals; evaluating practitioner and provider performance; and conducting training programs, accreditation, certification, licensing or credentialing activities. 

Your Authorization: In addition to our use of your health information for the following purposes, you may give us written authorization to use your health information or to disclose it to anyone for any purpose. If you give us an authorization, you may revoke it in writing at any time. Your revocation will not affect any use or disclosures permitted by your authorization while it was in effect. Unless you give us your written authorization, we will not use or disclose your health information for any reason that is not described in this Notice or otherwise permitted by applicable law.  

Persons Involved in Care: We may use or disclose health information to notify, or assist in the notification of a family member, your personal representative or another person responsible for your care, of your location, your general condition, or death. If you are present, then prior to use or disclosure of your health information, we will provide you with an opportunity to object to such uses or disclosures. In the event of your absence or incapacity or in emergency circumstances, we will disclose health information based on a determination using our professional judgment, and we will disclose only health information that is directly relevant to the person’s involvement in your healthcare.  

Marketing or Sale: We will not use your health information for marketing communications, nor disclose your health information in exchange for remuneration, without your written authorization.  

Required by Law: We may use or disclose your health information when we are required to do so by law. 
Public Health and Public Benefit: We may use or disclose your health information to report abuse, neglect, or domestic violence; to report disease, injury, and vital statistics; to report certain information to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA);  to alert someone who may be at risk of contracting or spreading a disease; for health oversight activities; for certain judicial and administrative proceedings; for certain law enforcement purposes; to avert a serious threat to health or safety; and to comply with workers’ compensation or similar programs.
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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 institutions or law enforcement officials having lawful custody the health information of an inmate or patient under certain circumstances. 

Correspondence: We may use or disclose your health information to provide you with appointment reminders (such as voicemail messages, postcards, or letters), other correspondence, and missed appointment notifications. 

Patient Rights 
Access: You have the right to look at or get copies of your health information, with limited exceptions. You may request that we provide copies in a format other than photocopies. We will use the format you request unless we cannot readily produce the requested format. You must make a request in writing to obtain access to your health information. You may obtain a form to request access by using the contact information listed at the end of this Notice. You may also request access by sending us a letter to the address at the end of this Notice. If you prefer, we will prepare a summary or an explanation of your health information. We may charge you a reasonable cost-based fee for a copy or summary of your health information. Contact us using the information listed at the end of this Notice for a full explanation of our fee structure. 

Accounting of Disclosures and Breach Notification: You have the right to receive a list (an “accounting”) of instances in which we or our business associates disclosed your health information for purposes other than treatment, payment, healthcare operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you authorized us to make) during the 6 years prior to the date you ask for the list. If you request this accounting more than once in a 12-month period, we may charge you a reasonable, cost-based fee for responding to these additional requests. You have the right to be notified following a breach of your unsecured protected health information. 

Restriction: You have the right to request that we place additional restrictions on our use or disclosure of your health information. In most cases we are not required to agree to these additional restrictions, but if we do, we will abide by our agreement (except in certain circumstances, such as an emergency, for public health activities, or when disclosure is required by law). We must comply with a request to restrict the disclosure of protected health information to a health plan for purposes of carrying out payment or health care operations (as defined by HIPAA) if the protected health information pertains solely to a health care item or service for which we have been paid out of pocket in full. 

Alternative Communication: You have the right to request that we communicate with you about your health information by alternative means or at alternative locations. You must make your request in writing by using the contact information listed at the end of this Notice. Your request must specify the alternative means or location, and provide satisfactory explanation of how payments will be handled under the alternative means or location you request. 

Amendment: You have the right to request that we amend your health information. Your request must be in writing, and it must explain why the information should be amended. We may deny your request under certain circumstances. 

Electronic Notice: You may receive a paper copy of this notice upon request, even if you have agreed to receive this notice electronically on our website or by electronic mail (e-mail). 

Substance Use Disorder Treatment Records: In the event we receive any of your substance use disorder (“SUD”)  treatment records from your SUD provider, we will not further disclose such SUD records without your express written consent or in response to a valid court order.  

Questions and Complaints 
If you want more information about our privacy practices or have questions or concerns, please contact our Privacy Official,  1549 Ringling Blvd. Suite 520, Sarasota, FL 34236, Ph #: (941) 955-3150. 

If you are concerned that we may have violated your privacy rights, or you disagree with a decision we made about your request to access or amend your health information, restrict the use or disclosure of your health information, or to have us communicate with you by alternative means or at alternative locations, you may complain to us using the contact information listed at the end of this Notice. You also may submit a written complaint to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  We will provide you with the address to file your complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services upon request. We support your right to the privacy of your health information. We will not retaliate in any way if you choose to file a complaint with us or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.