HIPAA Policy

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

Spine & Joint Center Fort Lauderdale

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.

Effective Date: October 20, 2026

This notice applies to the health information we create or receive about you in the course of providing chiropractic care. It describes how we may use and disclose that information, and what rights you have over it.

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

1. How we may use and disclose your health information

We may use and disclose your information for the following purposes without your written authorization.

For treatment. We use your information to provide, coordinate and manage your care. For example, if part of your care is provided by another health care provider, we may share the information that provider needs in order to treat you.

For payment. We use and disclose your information to obtain payment for the care we provide. For example, we may submit a claim to your health insurer, or to an auto insurer for personal injury protection benefits, and we may contact your plan to confirm your coverage or to obtain authorization before care is provided.

For health care operations. We use your information to run the practice and to make sure the care we provide is appropriate. For example, we may review treatment records to assess and improve the quality of care, train our doctors and our front office staff, arrange for professional licensing and credentialing, and carry out administrative and business functions.

Other purposes permitted or required without your authorization. We may also use or disclose your information without your written authorization to: contact you about appointments and treatment alternatives; inform you about health-related services we offer; comply with federal, state or local law; respond to a court order, subpoena or lawful request from a public authority; report suspected abuse, neglect or domestic violence as required by law; prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to your health or safety or that of another person; assist in disaster relief efforts so that family or others can be notified; conduct health oversight activities such as audits and investigations; support medical research that has been approved through a required review process; work with a coroner, medical examiner or funeral director; support organ and tissue donation; and carry out specialized government functions such as military and national security activities.

Uses and disclosures that require your written authorization. Some uses and disclosures need your written permission — including most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes, most uses and disclosures for marketing purposes, and any disclosure that is a sale of protected health information. Any use or disclosure not described in this notice will be made only with your written authorization. You may revoke an authorization at any time in writing, and we will stop using or disclosing your information for the purpose you authorized, except where we have already acted in reliance on it.

Redisclosure. Once we disclose your information to a recipient as described above or as you authorize, the recipient may be permitted to redisclose it, and it may then no longer be protected by this notice or by federal privacy law.

2. Your rights

You have the following rights regarding your health information.

Right to request restrictions. You may ask us to restrict how we use or disclose your information for treatment, payment or health care operations. We are not required to agree to a requested restriction, except in the case where federal law requires us to agree — ask us and we will explain that exception. Any restriction we do agree to will be honoured except when we need the information to provide emergency treatment.

Right to confidential communications. You may ask us to contact you in a specific way, or at a specific location — for example, by email rather than by telephone, or at a different address. We will accommodate reasonable requests, and we will not ask you why you are making the request.

Right to inspect and copy. You may inspect and obtain a copy of the health information we maintain about you, in paper or electronic form. We will respond within the time required by law and may charge a cost-based fee for copies.

Right to amend. You may ask us to correct information you believe is wrong or incomplete. If we agree, we will amend the record and tell others who need to know. If we disagree, we will tell you in writing and explain your options.

Right to an accounting of disclosures. You may request a list of the disclosures we have made of your information — the date, to whom, and why — for the period required by law. This does not include disclosures for treatment, payment or health care operations, disclosures you authorized, or certain other disclosures the law excludes.

Right to a paper copy of this notice. You may ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, including if you have agreed to receive this notice electronically. We will give you one.

3. Our duties, and changes to this notice

We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your health information, to give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, and to notify affected individuals following a breach of unsecured health information. We are required to abide by the terms of the notice currently in effect.

We reserve the right to change this notice, and to make the changed terms effective for all health information we maintain — including information we created or received before the change. If we make a material change, we will revise this notice and post the revised notice on our website with its revision date, keep a copy available at our office for you to take with you, and provide a copy on request. The revised notice will state the date it takes effect.

We will not use or disclose your information other than as described here without your written authorization.

We do not use or disclose your information to sell it, to share it with marketing firms or data brokers, for advertising or remarketing, or on social media or other public channels. We do not maintain fundraising communications, we do not use or disclose genetic information for underwriting purposes, and we do not maintain records subject to the federal rules for substance use disorder treatment records. None of those activities apply to this practice, which is why no further description of them appears in this notice.

4. Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us, or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.

With us: call (954) 561-4700, or write to the Privacy Officer at the address at the end of this notice.

With the federal government: Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — https://www.hhs.gov/ocr

You will not be retaliated against for filing a complaint, and your care will not be affected.

5. Contact

For questions about this notice, or to exercise any right described in it, contact:

Privacy Officer
Spine & Joint Center Fort Lauderdale
410 NE 44th St, Oakland Park, FL 33334
Telephone: (954) 561-4700
Email: info@spineandjointcenterfortlauderdale.com

6. How we handle information you send us electronically

When you contact us through our website, or by email, we collect your name and contact details, your appointment preferences, and anything else you choose to tell us. If you choose to include clinical details — for example a description of your symptoms — that information is treated as protected health information. Our website transmits it over an encrypted connection (HTTPS), and correspondence is handled through Google Workspace, with which we hold a business associate agreement. For urgent medical matters, please telephone rather than use a web form.

7. How long we keep your information

We keep your treatment records for the period required by Florida Board of Chiropractic Medicine rule 64B2-17.006 — currently not less than four years. Where a longer period applies at the end of a practice, we follow the period the law requires.