THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL AND HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
This Notice applies to the information, data, and clinical records we maintain regarding your health, health status, and the healthcare services you receive at our office. We are required by applicable federal and state laws (including HIPAA) to maintain the absolute privacy and security of your protected health information (PHI). We are also required to provide you with this comprehensive description of our data privacy practices, legal duties, and your rights. We must strictly adhere to the practices detailed in this active Notice.
This policy is jointly issued and maintained by Sweet Dentistry & Orthodontics, Sweet Orthodontics & Pediatric Dentistry, and Sweet Dentistry, which are the doing-business-as brand names legally operated by Duong Dental, Inc. (collectively referred to as “the Practice,” “we,” “us,” or “our”).
I. How We May Use and Disclose Health Information About You
The Practice utilizes and shares your health data for core administrative and clinical functions without requiring an explicit separate authorization, categorized under Treatment, Payment, and Health-Care Operations:
For Treatment: We may use and share your health information to provide, coordinate, or manage your dental or orthodontic care. For example, a clinician performing a procedure may review your entire medical history to see if you have underlying conditions or allergies that could alter the care strategy, or we may send imaging records to a specialized dental laboratory or external specialist participating directly in your multi-disciplinary care plan.
For Payment: We use and disclose your PHI so that the treatment and services rendered at our clinic can be billed and collected from you, an insurance company, or a third-party payer. For instance, we submit data regarding your diagnostic dental codes and clinical charting to your insurance company so they can process payment or verify pre-authorization requirements for upcoming orthodontic aligner or bracket treatments.
For Health-Care Operations: We use your information to ensure our practice runs efficiently and maintains top-tier quality benchmarks. This includes evaluating clinician performance, conducting internal audits, training staff members, and analyzing operational workflows to refine our patient experiences.
Appointment and Milestone Reminders: We may contact you via telephone, voicemail, mail, or secure email to remind you of a pending appointment, follow up on a clinical checkup milestone, or notify you regarding prescription availability and care instructions.
Treatment Alternatives and Health Services: We may communicate with you to outline potential clinical treatment options, alternative paths of care, or health-related products and services that directly align with your long-term oral health needs.
Surveys: We may reach out to you via email or standard communication channels to request your participation in voluntary patient-satisfaction surveys or quality improvement feedback questionnaires.
II. Special Situations Permitted or Required by Law
Under specific federal and state statutory conditions, the Practice is legally permitted or required to release your health data without your direct consent or authorization:
To Avert a Serious Threat: When critically necessary to prevent or mitigate a severe, imminent threat to your safety or the health and safety of another individual or the general public.
Required by Law: Whenever mandated by federal, state, or local laws, including judicial or administrative proceedings, court orders, valid subpoenas, or statutory reporting requirements.
Public Health Risks: To designated public health authorities for tracking or preventing disease outbreaks, reporting vital statistics, notifying individuals of product recalls, or reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.
Health Oversight Activities: To government oversight bodies authorized to perform audits, investigations, inspections, and licensures necessary to monitor the broader healthcare infrastructure and compliance.
Law Enforcement and Legal Disputes: In response to explicit administrative or judicial warrants, summons, or legal processes, or to assist law enforcement officials in executing specialized statutory duties.
Workers’ Compensation: To comply with active laws and regular administrative regulations governing state workers’ compensation programs or similar workplace injury structures.
Coroners, Medical Examiners, and Funeral Directors: To identify a deceased individual, determine an official cause of death, or enable funeral directors to execute their lawful obligations.
Family and Friends: We may disclose relevant health metrics to a family member, close personal friend, or guardian who is directly involved in your practical care or payment coordination, provided you verbally agree, do not object when given an explicit opportunity, or if an emergency scenario prevents an objection and our clinical staff determines it is in your absolute best medical interest.
De-Identified Information: We may utilize or disclose data that has been completely stripped of personally identifiable elements, rendering it anonymous under HIPAA standards.
III. Uses and Disclosures Requiring Your Explicit Authorization
Your specific, written authorization is mandatory before the Practice can execute any of the following data actions:
Marketing Purposes: We will not utilize your PHI to transmit paid communications about external products, therapies, or healthcare settings unless you give explicit written permission, excluding nominal promotional gifts or direct face-to-face clinical interactions.
Sale of Health Information: The Practice is strictly prohibited from selling or receiving remuneration for your health records or contact data without your formal written authorization.
Highly Sensitive Data: Certain clinical classifications—such as formal psychotherapy records, substance abuse treatment details, or specific communicable disease diagnoses (e.g., HIV status)—carry enhanced state-level protections and require distinct written consent before any external release.
If you grant us written authorization, you maintain the legal right to revoke that authorization in writing at any time. Your revocation will immediately halt any future use or disclosure under that authorization, though it cannot retroactively undo disclosures already completed in good faith prior to your revocation request.
IV. Your Explicit Individual Rights Regarding Your Data
You possess the following statutory rights regarding the personal and medical records maintained by the Practice:
Right to Inspect and Copy: You have the right to look at and obtain an official copy of your complete medical, clinical, and financial billing records. All requests must be submitted in writing to our Privacy Officer. A reasonable, cost-based administrative fee may apply for copying, materials, or postal delivery.
Right to Request an Amendment: If you review your file and firmly believe that the clinical or demographic information is inaccurate or incomplete, you may submit an official Dental Record Amendment/Correction Form to our Privacy Officer. Your request must be written and provide a clear, valid supporting rationale. We may deny requests if the records are verified as accurate, complete, or were originally generated by an external entity no longer available.
Right to an Accounting of Disclosures: You have the right to request a formal log detailing specific disclosures of your medical information made by our practice for purposes other than routine treatment, payment, or healthcare operations. Your written request must define a specific look-back timeframe, which cannot exceed six years.
Right to Request Restrictions: You can request that we restrict or place limits on how we share your health data for treatment, billing, or operational purposes. While we review all requests with care, we are not legally obligated to agree to a restriction unless it pertains to a service or item you paid for entirely out-of-pocket, and you request that the information not be transmitted to your health insurance plan.
Right to Confidential Communications: You have the right to request that our team only communicates with you regarding confidential medical or administrative tasks in a highly specific manner or location (e.g., only calling a specific work number or routing letters to an alternative address). We will accommodate all reasonable structural requests.
Right to a Breach Notification: You have an absolute right to receive formal notification if our practice or data vendors discover an unauthorized breach or compromise of your unsecured protected health information.
Right to a Paper Copy: You retain the right to request a physical paper copy of this complete Notice at any time, even if you previously elected to review it electronically.
V. Revisions to This Privacy Policy
The Practice reserves the explicit right to amend, update, or entirely replace this policy and our Notice of Privacy Practices at any time. Any updated terms will apply retroactively to all records we currently hold, as well as any data generated or captured in the future. A physical copy of our current notice summary will always be posted visibly in our primary clinical reception area, and the most up-to-date document can be requested at any time via email.
VI. Questions, Contact, and Privacy Complaints
If you have any questions, wish to exercise your data rights, or believe your personal privacy rights have been violated, you may file a formal, non-penalized complaint directly with our internal management or with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. You will never face retaliation or modification of your care for filing a privacy complaint.
Note: For text messaging terms, opt-out guidelines, or carrier data non-liability updates, please refer entirely to our standalone SMS Messaging Program Terms & Conditions document.