Privacy Policy and HIPAA Notice

Our Commitment to Your Privacy

We understand that information about your health is profoundly personal. We are dedicated to protecting your health information and ensuring its security.

• We will not sell, rent, or lease your personal information to any third party.
• This notice covers all records of your care generated by Boulder Dynamic Acupuncture, whether created by us or others involved in your care.
• Our goal is to ensure the highest standards of medical privacy in Boulder, CO.

HIPAA Compliance for Your Acupuncture Clinic

Boulder Dynamic Acupuncture is a “covered entity” under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

• We are legally required to maintain the privacy of your Protected Health Information (PHI).
• We must provide you with this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to PHI.
• We are required to abide by the terms of the notice currently in effect, ensuring full HIPAA compliance for our acupuncture services.

Understanding Your Health Information (PHI)

Your health information (PHI) includes:

• Demographic details: such as your name, address, phone number, and email.
• Information related to your health: past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition.
• Associated healthcare services: symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment plans, and billing information.

This information is crucial for providing effective acupuncture treatment.

For Treatment

We may use and disclose your health information to provide you with medical treatment or services.

• Example: We may disclose health information about you to other healthcare providers involved in your diagnosis or treatment to ensure coordinated and effective acupuncture care.

For Payment

We may use and disclose your health information so that the treatment and services you receive at Boulder Dynamic Acupuncture may be billed to and collected from:

• You
• Your insurance company
• A third party

• Example: We may need to provide your health plan with information about services you received so they will pay us or reimburse you.

For Healthcare Operations

We may use and disclose health information about you for Boulder Dynamic Acupuncture’s operational activities. These uses and disclosures are necessary to:

• Manage our practice efficiently.
• Improve the quality of care.
• Ensure all our patients receive high-quality acupuncture services.
• Examples: Reviewing our treatment and services, evaluating practice performance, and for business planning and development.
• We may also exchange health information electronically through secure health information exchange organizations, such as the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization (CORHIO), to facilitate coordinated care and maintain HIPAA standards.

Appointment Reminders

• We may use and disclose health information to contact you as a reminder of upcoming appointments or to suggest scheduling a new appointment for your acupuncture sessions.
• This may be done via phone, email, or text message.

Treatment Alternatives/Health-Related Services

• We may use and disclose health information to inform you about health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you, including new treatments or programs offered by Boulder Dynamic Acupuncture.

Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care

• Unless you object, we may release health information about you to a family member, personal representative, or any other person identified by you who is involved in your medical care or payment for your care, always respecting your health information privacy.

Research

• We may use and disclose your health information for research purposes when the research has been approved by an institutional review board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your health information.

Public Health Activities

• We may disclose health information about you for public health activities, such as:
  • Preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability.
  • Reporting births and deaths.
  • Reporting child abuse or neglect.
  • Reporting reactions to medications.
  • Notifying individuals exposed to a communicable disease.

Health Oversight Activities

• We may disclose health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, including:
  • Audits
  • Investigations
  • Inspections
  • Licensure
• These activities are essential for monitoring the healthcare system and ensuring HIPAA compliance.

Lawsuits and Disputes

• If you are involved in a lawsuit or dispute, we may disclose health information about you in response to a court or administrative order.
• We may also disclose health information in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process, but only if efforts have been made to notify you or obtain an an order protecting the information.

Law Enforcement

We may release health information if requested by a law enforcement official in response to:

• A court order, subpoena, warrant, or similar process.
• To identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person.
• About a crime victim.
• About a death believed to be the result of criminal conduct.
• About criminal conduct at our practice.
• In emergency circumstances to report a crime.

Coroners, Medical Examiners, and Funeral Directors

• We may release health information to a coroner or medical examiner to identify a deceased person or determine the cause of death.
• We may also release health information to funeral directors as necessary to carry out their duties.

Organ and Tissue Donation

• We may release health information to organizations handling organ procurement, transplantation, or to an organ donation bank, as necessary to facilitate organ or tissue donation and transplantation.

Military and Veterans

• If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release health information about you as required by military command authorities.

National Security and Intelligence Activities

• We may release health information about you to authorized federal officials for intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities authorized by law.

Protective Services for the President and Others

• We may disclose health information about you to authorized federal officials so they may provide protection to the President, other authorized persons, or foreign heads of state or conduct special investigations.

Workers’ Compensation

• We may disclose health information about you for workers’ compensation or similar programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illnesses.

Specific Authorizations Required

Certain types of disclosures require your specific written authorization:

• Mental Health Records: We will obtain specific authorization to release mental health records when required by law.
• Drug and Alcohol Program Records: Records relating to drug and alcohol abuse programs are protected by federal law and require specific authorization for disclosure.
• Marketing Purposes: We will not use or disclose your PHI for marketing purposes without your explicit written authorization, except for face-to-face communications or promotional gifts of nominal value.
• Sale of PHI: We will not sell your PHI without your explicit written authorization.

Right to Inspect and Copy

• You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of health information that may be used to make decisions about your care (typically medical and billing records).
• To inspect and copy your health information, you must submit your request in writing to our Privacy Officer.
• We may charge a reasonable fee for the costs of copying, mailing, or other supplies associated with your request.

Right to Amend

• If you believe that health information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information.
• You have the right to request an amendment for as long as the information is kept by or for Boulder Dynamic Acupuncture.
• To request an amendment, your request must be made in writing and submitted to our Privacy Officer, along with a reason supporting your request.
• We may deny your request if it is not in writing or does not include a valid reason.

Right to an Accounting of Disclosures

• You have the right to request an “accounting of disclosures.” This is a list of certain disclosures we made of health information about you for purposes other than treatment, payment, or healthcare operations, or those made with your authorization.
• To request this list, you must submit your request in writing to our Privacy Officer, stating a time period (not longer than six years and not including dates before April 14, 2003).

Right to Request Restrictions

• You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the health information we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations.
• You also have the right to request a limit on the health information we disclose about you to someone involved in your care or payment for your care, like a family member or friend.
• To request restrictions, you must make your request in writing to our Privacy Officer.
• We are not required to agree to all requested restrictions, except if you request that we restrict disclosure of your PHI to a health plan for a healthcare service for which you have paid out-of-pocket in full.

Right to Request Confidential Communications

• You have the right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way or at a specific location (e.g., only at work or by mail).
• To request confidential communications, you must make your request in writing to our Privacy Officer. We will accommodate all reasonable requests.

Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice

• You have the right to a paper copy of this notice. You may ask us to give you a copy of this notice at any time.
• Even if you have agreed to receive this notice electronically, you are still entitled to a paper copy.
• You may obtain a copy of this notice at our clinic or by contacting our Privacy Officer.

Our Responsibilities

Boulder Dynamic Acupuncture is required to:

• Maintain the privacy and security of your health information.
• Provide you with this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices.
• Abide by the terms of this notice.
• Notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction.
• Accommodate reasonable requests you may have for confidential communications.
• Notify you of any breach of your unsecured Protected Health Information.
• Implement security measures to protect your data, including physical, administrative, and technical safeguards.
• Ensure that any third-party vendors who handle PHI on our behalf (Business Associates) also comply with HIPAA and have signed Business Associate Agreements (BAAs).

We reserve the right to change this notice. We reserve the right to make the revised or changed notice effective for health information we already have about you as well as any information we receive in the future. We will post a copy of the current notice in our clinic and on our website. The notice will contain the effective date on the first page.

Personal Information

• When you fill out forms on our website (e.g., contact forms, appointment request forms), we may collect information such as your name, email address, and phone number.

Usage Data

We automatically collect information that your browser sends whenever you visit our website. This “Usage Data” may include:

• Your computer’s Internet Protocol (IP) address
• Browser type and version
• Pages of our website that you visit
• Time and date of your visit
• Time spent on those pages
• Unique device identifiers
• Other diagnostic data

Cookies

• We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our website and hold certain information.
• Cookies are small data files that may include an anonymous unique identifier.
• You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Service.

This non-PHI information is used to:

• Provide and maintain our website services.
• Improve our website and user experience.
• Offer customer support.
• Analyze how our website is used.

We implement security measures to protect this data. We do not sell or trade this non-PHI personal information to outside parties without your explicit consent.

Changes to This Notice

We reserve the right to update or change our Privacy Policy and HIPAA Notice at any time.

• The “Effective Date” at the top of this page will indicate when it was last revised.
• We encourage you to review this notice periodically for any changes.
• Your continued use of our website and services after we post any modifications to the Privacy Policy on this page will constitute your acknowledgment of the modifications and your consent to abide and be bound by the modified Privacy Policy.

Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with Boulder Dynamic Acupuncture or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

• To file a complaint with Boulder Dynamic Acupuncture, contact our Privacy Officer.
• All complaints must be submitted in writing.
• You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.

Contact Information

If you still have questions after reviewing the privacy policy and terms of service for Boulder Dynamic Acupuncture, don’t wait—contact us today. Let’s make sure you feel confident, informed, and supported during every step of your journey.