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.

We understand that your medical information is personal. We are committed to protecting medical information about you, including your vision examinations, prescription history, and billing records. We are required by law to maintain the privacy of this protected health information (PHI) and to provide you with this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices.

We may use and disclose your health information for the following core purposes without requiring your specific written authorization:

• For Treatment: We use your health information to provide, coordinate, or manage your eye care. For example, we may disclose information to an ophthalmologist if we are referring you for surgery, or to an external optical laboratory to fabricate your custom prescription lenses.
• For Payment: We use and disclose your information so that the treatment and services you receive may be billed and collected from you, an insurance company, or a third party. For example, we send data to your vision or medical insurance plan to confirm eligibility and process claims for your hardware or clinical exam.
• For Health Care Operations: We use your information to run our practice efficiently and ensure all patients receive quality care. This includes internal quality assessments, staff training, and updating our secure electronic health record systems.
• Appointment Reminders: We may use your information to contact you via phone, email, or text message to remind you of an upcoming vision examination or to notify you that your contact lenses or glasses are ready for pickup.

In specific scenarios, federal and state laws allow or require us to disclose your PHI without your consent:

• Public Health and Safety: To prevent or control disease, injury, or disability; to report adverse reactions to medications; or to notify a person who may have been exposed to a disease.
• Law Enforcement and Legal Proceedings: In response to a court order, subpoena, warrant, or similar legal process, or to comply with workers' compensation laws.
• Required by Law: We will disclose health information about you when required to do so by federal, state, or local law.

Certain categories of health information benefit from stricter protections under federal and state law.

Note on Restricted Records: In strict accordance with federal confidentiality regulations (including 42 CFR Part 2 regarding Substance Use Disorder (SUD) patient records), any information regarding a patient's substance use disorder treatment, specific mental health records, or genetic testing will not be disclosed or shared for standard treatment, payment, or operational activities without your explicit, separate written consent, except in a bona fide medical emergency or under a specific court order.

You possess the following rights regarding the medical information we maintain about you:

• Right to Inspect and Copy: You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of your clinical chart, optical prescriptions, and billing records. You may request these in a paper or secure electronic format.
• Right to Request Restrictions: You have the right to request a restriction on how we use or disclose your PHI. If you pay for a service or optical hardware entirely out-of-pocket and request that we not submit this data to your insurance company, we are legally required to honor that restriction.
• Right to Amend: If you feel that health information we have is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the record. Your request must be made in writing and provide a supporting reason.
• Right to an Accounting of Disclosures: You have the right to request a list of certain disclosures we have made of your PHI for purposes other than treatment, payment, or operations.
• Right to a Paper Copy: You have the right to a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive it electronically.

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

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a written complaint with our office's Privacy Officer or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). You will not be penalized or retaliated against for filing a complaint.