HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices

Our Commitment to Your Privacy

Lodi MedSpa is committed to protecting the privacy of your health information. We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information (PHI), to provide you with this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, and to follow the terms of this notice currently in effect.

Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information

We may use and disclose your PHI for the following purposes without your written authorization:

Treatment

We may use your PHI to provide, coordinate, or manage your healthcare and related services. This includes consultations between providers about your care, referrals to specialists, and sharing information necessary to provide you with safe and effective treatments.

Payment

We may use and disclose your PHI to obtain payment for services provided to you. This includes billing, claims management, collections, and other payment-related activities.

Healthcare Operations

We may use and disclose your PHI for our healthcare operations, including quality assessment, staff training, business planning, compliance activities, and other administrative functions necessary to run our practice.

Appointment Reminders and Communications

We may use your PHI to contact you with appointment reminders, treatment follow-up information, and health-related services that may be of interest to you. This includes communications sent via phone, text message (SMS), email, or through our AI receptionist system.

As Required by Law

We may use or disclose your PHI when required by federal, state, or local law, including for public health activities, reporting abuse or neglect, health oversight activities, judicial and administrative proceedings, law enforcement purposes, and to avert a serious threat to health or safety.

Uses and Disclosures Requiring Your Authorization

Other uses and disclosures of your PHI not described in this notice will be made only with your written authorization. You may revoke your authorization at any time by submitting a written request to our office. Revocation will not affect any uses or disclosures made before we received your revocation.

We will obtain your written authorization before using or disclosing your PHI for:

• Marketing purposes
• Sale of your PHI
• Most uses of psychotherapy notes (if applicable)
• Any purpose not described in this notice

Your Rights Regarding Your Health Information

You have the following rights regarding your PHI:

• Right to Inspect and Copy: You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of your health information maintained by our practice. Requests must be made in writing. We may charge a reasonable fee for copies.
• Right to Request Amendments: You may request that we amend your health information if you believe it is incorrect or incomplete. Requests must be made in writing with a reason for the amendment. We may deny your request under certain circumstances.
• Right to an Accounting of Disclosures: You have the right to request a list of certain disclosures of your PHI that we have made. This does not include disclosures for treatment, payment, healthcare operations, or disclosures you authorized in writing.
• Right to Request Restrictions: You may request restrictions on how we use or disclose your PHI for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations. We are not required to agree to your request, except in limited circumstances (such as restricting disclosure to a health plan for services you paid for in full out of pocket).
• Right to Request Confidential Communications: You may request that we communicate with you about health matters using a specific method or at a certain location (for example, calling only your cell phone or sending mail to a different address).
• Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice: You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you previously agreed to receive it electronically.
• Right to Be Notified of a Breach: You have the right to be notified if there is a breach of your unsecured PHI.

Our Duties

• We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your PHI.
• We are required to provide you with this notice of our privacy practices and our legal duties regarding your health information.
• We are required to abide by the terms of this notice currently in effect.
• We will notify you if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.

Changes to This Notice

We reserve the right to change this notice and to make the revised notice effective for PHI we already have about you as well as any information we receive in the future. The current notice will be posted on our website and available at our office.

Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with our office or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. You will not be retaliated against for filing a complaint.

To file a complaint with HHS, visit www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints or call 1-877-696-6775.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this notice, wish to exercise any of your rights, or want to file a complaint, please contact: