Legal

Notice of Privacy Practices

Effective Date: July 29, 2026 · Last Updated: July 29, 2026

First Coast Dental Center ("we," "us," or "our") is required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to maintain the privacy of your protected health information ("PHI"), to provide you with this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your PHI, and to notify affected individuals following a breach of unsecured PHI.

1. Our Commitment to Your Privacy

We are required to abide by the terms of this Notice for as long as it remains in effect. We reserve the right to change the terms of this Notice and to make the revised Notice effective for all PHI we maintain, as described in the "Changes to This Notice" section below.

2. How We May Use and Disclose Your Health Information

The following describes the ways we may use and disclose your PHI.

Treatment

We may use and disclose your PHI to provide, coordinate, or manage your dental care and any related services, including coordination with other health care providers, specialists, or facilities involved in your treatment.

Payment

We may use and disclose your PHI to obtain payment for services we provide to you, including billing, claims management, and collection activities with dental and health insurance plans.

Health Care Operations

We may use and disclose your PHI for our health care operations, which include quality assessment, staff training, licensing, and business planning and management activities.

3. Uses and Disclosures That Do Not Require Your Authorization

We may use or disclose your PHI without your written authorization for the following purposes, as permitted or required by law:

As required by law: we will disclose PHI when required to do so by federal, state, or local law.
Public health activities, including reporting of disease, injury, vital events, and public health surveillance, investigations, or interventions.
Health oversight activities, such as audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure actions.
Judicial and administrative proceedings, in response to a court or administrative order, subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process.
Law enforcement purposes, as required by law or in response to a valid legal process.
To avert a serious threat to health or safety.
For workers' compensation and similar programs.
Appointment reminders and treatment alternatives, including by phone, email, or text message.

4. Uses and Disclosures That Require Your Written Authorization

Other than as described above, we will not use or disclose your PHI without your written authorization. This includes, for example, most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes, uses and disclosures for marketing purposes, and disclosures that constitute a sale of PHI. If you provide authorization, you may revoke it in writing at any time, except to the extent we have already relied on it.

5. Your Rights Regarding Your Health Information

Right to Inspect and Copy. You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of your PHI, with certain exceptions.
Right to Amend. You have the right to request an amendment to your PHI if you believe it is incorrect or incomplete.
Right to an Accounting of Disclosures. You have the right to request a list of certain disclosures we have made of your PHI.
Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your PHI.
Right to Request Confidential Communications. You have the right to request that we communicate with you about your health matters in a certain way or at a certain location.
Right to a Paper Copy. You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this Notice at any time upon request.
Right to be Notified of a Breach. You have the right to be notified in the event of a breach of your unsecured PHI.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information in the "Contact Us" section below.

6. Our Duties

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

7. Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us using the contact information below, or with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

8. Changes to This Notice

We reserve the right to change this Notice at any time. The revised Notice will be effective for all PHI we already maintain, as well as any PHI we create or receive in the future. A copy of the current Notice will always be available on this page and posted in our office.

9. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Notice or would like to exercise any of the rights described above, please contact us:

First Coast Dental Center
10991 San Jose Blvd #54, Jacksonville, FL 32223
Phone: (904) 372-1314