Privacy Policy | Cozy Family Dental Office PLLC

Effective Date: April, 2016
Last Updated: May, 2025

At Cozy Family Dental Office PLLC, we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal health information. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information, in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and applicable state laws.

1. 📋 Information We Collect

When you visit our office or use our website, we may collect the following types of information:

Personal Information: Name, date of birth, address, phone number, email
Health Information (PHI): Dental and medical history, treatment records, diagnostic results, insurance details
Payment Information: Billing addresses, insurance claims, payment method data
Online Data (if applicable): IP addresses, appointment request forms, email inquiries

2. 🏥 How We Use Your Information

We may use your health and personal information for the following purposes:

To provide dental care and treatment
To process billing and insurance claims
To communicate with you about your care (appointment reminders, follow-ups, etc.)
For internal quality assurance and clinical improvement
To comply with legal and regulatory requirements

We only collect and use the minimum necessary information to fulfill these purposes.

3. 🔄 Disclosure of Your Information

We may disclose your PHI in the following situations:

To You or Your Authorized Representative
For Treatment (e.g., referrals to specialists or labs)
For Payment (e.g., submitting claims to insurance providers)
For Healthcare Operations (e.g., administrative tasks, auditing)
When Required by Law (e.g., public health reporting, court orders)
With Your Authorization: Any use or disclosure not listed above requires your written consent

We do not sell or share your PHI for marketing purposes without your explicit authorization.

4. 🔐 Your Rights Under HIPAA

As a patient, you have the following rights regarding your PHI:

Right to Access: You may request a copy of your health records.
Right to Amend: You may request corrections to inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to an Accounting of Disclosures: You may ask for a list of disclosures of your PHI.
Right to Request Restrictions: You may ask us not to use or share certain information.
Right to Confidential Communications: You can request contact through specific methods or locations.
Right to File a Complaint: You may file a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us in writing at the address below.

5. 🔒 Safeguarding Your Information

We implement physical, technical, and administrative safeguards to protect your PHI from unauthorized access, disclosure, or misuse. This includes:

Secure storage of physical records
HIPAA-compliant software for digital records
Staff training on privacy and data protection

6. 🧾 Website & Online Communications

If you submit personal or medical information through our website (e.g., appointment requests or contact forms), it will be treated with the same confidentiality as in-office data. However, please avoid sending sensitive health information via unencrypted email.

Our website may use cookies or analytics tools to improve user experience, but these do not collect or store PHI.

7. 📞 Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your HIPAA rights, please contact us:

Cozy Family Dental Office PLLC
600 Ann Street Stroudsburg, PA 18360
Phone: 570-421-2320
You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

8. 📝 Policy Updates

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. All changes will be posted on our website with the updated effective date. Your continued use of our services after changes are posted signifies your acceptance of the new terms.