Privacy Policy

Text and Email Policy
Aréte Orthodontics affiliated offices can email and/or text you appointment reminders and general information about our services. By signing below, you consent to receive appointment reminders and other communications/information via email or text from our practice sent to any email address or phone number you provide to us. To opt-out at any moment, reply 'STOP'. Any email or text messages we send may not be encrypted or otherwise protected and could be intercepted by a third party. By executing this consent, you assume the risk that the information contained in any such communication will be intercepted. We will not charge you for sending texts or emails, but charges from your carrier may apply. I understand that this request to receive emails and/or text messages will apply to all future appointment reminders and communications sent by our practice until I request a change in writing.

Non-Discrimination Policy
DISCRIMINATION IS AGAINST THE LAW. Aréte Orthodontics complies with applicable federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. Aréte Orthodontics does not exclude people or treat them differently because of race, color people with, national origin, age, disability, or sex. Aréte Orthodontics provides free aids and services to people with disabilities to communicate effectively with us, such as: qualified sign language interpreters, and written information in other formats (large print, audio, accessible electronic formats, other formats). Aréte Orthodontics provides free language services to people whose primary language is not English, such as: qualified interpreters, and information written in other languages.

Notice of Privacy Practices
This notice describes how your medical information may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully. The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a federal program requiring all medical records and other individually identifiable health information used or disclosed by us in any form, whether electronically, on paper, or orally, are kept properly confidential. This Act gives, you, the patient, significant new rights to understand and control how your health information is used. HIPAA provides penalties for covered entities that misuse personal health information.

The following is an explanation of how we are required to maintain the privacy of our health information and how we may use and disclose your health information.

We may use and disclose your medical records only for each of the following purposes: treatment, payment, and health care operations.

Treatment means providing coordination or managing health care and related services by one or more health care providers. An example of this would include sending documents to an oral surgeon for a tooth extraction or contacting your regular dentist regarding treatment.

Payment means such activities as obtaining reimbursement for services, confirming coverage, billing or collection activities, and utilization review. An example of this would be sending a bill for your treatment to your insurance company for payment.

Healthcare operations include the business aspects of running our practice, such as conducting quality assessment and improvement activities, auditing functions, cost-management analysis, and customer service.

We may also create and distribute de-identified health information by removing all references to individually identifiable information.

We may contact you to provide customer service reminders or information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.
Any other uses and disclosures will be made only with your written authorization. You may revoke suchauthorization in writing, and we are required to honor and abide by that written request, except to the extent thatwe have already taken actions relying on your authorization.

You have the following rights with respect to your protected health information, which you may exercise by presenting a written request to our Privacy Officer:

  • The right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of protected health information, including those related to disclosures to family members, other relatives, close personal friends, or any other person identified by you. We are, however, not required to agree to a requested restriction. If we do agree to a restriction, we must abide by it unless you agree in writing to remove it.
  • The right to reasonable requests to receive confidential communications of protected health information from us by alternative means or at alternative locations.
  • The right to inspect and copy your protected health information.
  • The right to amend your protected health information.
  • The right to receive an accounting of disclosures of protected health information.
  • The right to obtain a paper copy of this notice from us upon request.

We have the following duties under the privacy rules:

  • By law, to maintain the privacy of protected health information and to provide you with this notice setting forth our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to such information
  • To abide by the terms of our Privacy Notice that is currently in effect
  • To advise you of our right to change the terms of this Privacy Notice and to make the new notice provisions effective for all protected health information maintained by us, and that if we do so, we will provide you with a copy of the revised Privacy Notice

Please note that we are not obligated to:

  • Honor any request by you to restrict the use or disclosure of your protected health information
  • Amend your protected health information if, for example, it is accurate and complete
  • Provide an atmosphere that is totally free of the possibility that your protected health information may be incidentally overheard by other patients and third parties

This Privacy Notice is effective as of 01/01/2023.
If you have any questions about the information in this Notice, please ask for our Privacy Officer.