Lake Eola Dental HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices

Effective Date: May 9, 2026

Lake Eola Dental respects the privacy of our patients and is committed to protecting your health information. This Notice explains how we may use and disclose your protected health information, also called PHI, and describes your rights regarding that information.

This Notice applies to patient information maintained by Lake Eola Dental in any form, including electronic, paper, verbal, photographic, radiographic, billing, insurance, claim, and appointment information.

Office Contact Information

Our Duties Under HIPAA

We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your PHI, to provide you with this Notice, to follow the duties and privacy practices described in this Notice, and to notify you as required by law if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.

We will not use or disclose your PHI except as described in this Notice or as otherwise permitted or required by law. If we need your written authorization for a use or disclosure, you may revoke that authorization in writing at any time, except to the extent we have already relied on it.

How We May Use and Disclose Your Information

We may use or disclose your PHI for treatment, payment, and health care operations without your written authorization, as allowed by HIPAA.

Additional Uses and Disclosures Permitted by Law

• Appointment reminders and communications: We may contact you by phone, voicemail, text message, email, mail, or patient portal for appointments, treatment follow-up, billing, insurance, recalls, and office communications. You may request a different contact method.
• Family members, caregivers, or others involved in your care: Unless you object, we may share information with a person you identify as involved in your care or payment for your care, limited to what is relevant to that person's involvement.
• Business associates: We may share PHI with vendors and service providers who help us operate the practice, such as billing companies, claims clearinghouses, IT support, practice management software vendors, imaging vendors, labs, accountants, attorneys, consultants, collection agencies, and secure document storage or destruction vendors. We require appropriate HIPAA safeguards and agreements when required by law.
• Dental laboratories and specialists: We may share relevant PHI, images, prescriptions, impressions, scans, photographs, or treatment notes with laboratories, oral surgeons, periodontists, endodontists, orthodontists, physicians, pharmacies, or other providers involved in your care.
• Public health, safety, and legal duties: We may disclose PHI when required or permitted by federal, state, or local law, including reporting abuse, neglect, domestic violence, threats to health or safety, communicable diseases, or other legally required information.
• Health oversight and compliance: We may disclose PHI to government agencies, licensing boards, auditors, accreditation entities, or oversight agencies for audits, investigations, inspections, or compliance reviews.
• Law enforcement, courts, and legal proceedings: We may disclose PHI in response to a court order, subpoena, discovery request, administrative order, warrant, or other lawful process when permitted or required by law.
• Workers' compensation and other government requests: We may disclose PHI as authorized by law for workers' compensation, military, national security, correctional institution, or other government functions.
• Coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors: We may disclose PHI when permitted by law after a patient's death.
• Research: We do not routinely use patient information for research. If research use is proposed, we will follow HIPAA authorization or waiver requirements and applicable law.

Uses and Disclosures That Require Written Authorization

We will ask for your written authorization before using or disclosing your PHI for purposes not described in this Notice or otherwise permitted by law. Your written authorization is generally required for:

• Marketing communications, except for limited communications allowed by HIPAA.
• Sale of PHI.
• Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes, if we ever maintain them. Lake Eola Dental does not ordinarily create psychotherapy notes.
• Disclosure of dental records to people or entities not otherwise allowed by HIPAA or applicable law.

You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time. The revocation will not affect actions we already took in reliance on your authorization before receiving your written revocation.

Special Protections for Certain Information

Some categories of health information may receive special protection under federal or state law. Where another law provides greater privacy protection than HIPAA, Lake Eola Dental will follow the more protective law.

• Substance use disorder treatment records: Lake Eola Dental is not a substance use disorder treatment program. If we receive or maintain records from a program covered by 42 CFR Part 2, we will use and disclose those records only as permitted by HIPAA, 42 CFR Part 2, your written consent, or a court order, as applicable. We will not use or disclose such records in a civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceeding against you unless permitted by your written consent or a court order.
• Sensitive health information: We will apply additional privacy protections when required by law for information such as certain mental health, HIV/AIDS, genetic, reproductive health, or other specially protected records.

Your Rights Regarding Your Health Information

Minimum Necessary Standard

When HIPAA requires us to limit the information we use or disclose, we will make reasonable efforts to use, disclose, and request only the minimum necessary PHI needed for the purpose. This standard does not apply to treatment disclosures, disclosures to you, disclosures made with your authorization, or disclosures otherwise excluded by HIPAA.

Electronic Communications and Patient Convenience

Lake Eola Dental may communicate with you through phone calls, voicemail, text messages, email, patient portal messages, or other electronic methods for appointment reminders, insurance, treatment, billing, and office communications. Electronic communications may carry privacy risks depending on the method used. We use reasonable safeguards, but standard text messages and email may not be fully secure. You may request alternate communication methods or ask us to limit certain communications.

No Retaliation

Lake Eola Dental will not retaliate against you for exercising your HIPAA rights, filing a privacy complaint, requesting records, requesting corrections, asking for restrictions, or contacting the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.

Changes to This Notice

We may change the terms of this Notice at any time, and the changes will apply to all PHI we maintain. If we make a material change, we will update the effective date and make the revised Notice available upon request, in our office, and on our website if applicable.

How to Contact Us or File a Complaint

To ask questions, request records, request a restriction, request confidential communications, request an amendment, obtain a copy of this Notice, or file a privacy complaint with Lake Eola Dental, contact:

You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. Lake Eola Dental will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.