Taking Care of You and Your Health Information + Our Clinic respects your confidentiality and privacy
Privacy Policy
At Lifetime Smiles Dental Hygiene Clinic (further identified as LSDHC) we are dedicated to safe-guarding the personal and health information we have or control concerning any individual. We recognize the importance of client privacy and the sensitivity of the personal information we have collected regarding our clients. LSDHC is responsible for the personal and health information gathered under our control and have a designated Privacy Officer who is committed to ensure our compliance with this policy. In compliance with PIPA (Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act) and the HIA, LSDHC continues to follow safe practices in ensuring all gathered information is protected.
What Personal Information Do We Collect?
Personal information is any information that identifies you, such as your personal contact information, or medical information. In Alberta, business contact information such as your office address, job title, business phone number, email address, fax number or other related business contact information is not considered personal information. This policy does not apply to information that is publicly available.
Why We Collect Personal Information
We collect, use and disclose personal information for the purposes of serving our clients. We require information to:
Open and update patient files
Maintain accurate records of services and treatment
Invoice patients for dental services, to process credit card payments, or to collect unpaid accounts
Process claims for payments or reimbursement from third party health benefit providers and insurance companies
The above collections, uses and disclosures are a necessary part of your relationship with us. We cannot provide treatment without your consent to the above collections, uses and disclosures. Your consent to receive treatment will be relied upon by us as your consent to the above.
We may also collect and use your personal information for the following purposes:
Send reminders to patients concerning the need for further dental examination or treatment
send patient information material about our Dental Hygiene practice;
Provide referrals to other dental or health practitioners.
If you do not want us to use your personal information for these additional purposes you may at any time provide written notice to our Privacy Officer, identified below. You will not be refused services merely because you advised us to stop using information in these ways.
Before using or disclosing personal information for a purpose not previously identified, we will identify the new purpose and obtain your consent unless the use or disclosure is authorized or required by law.
How Do We Collect Your Personal Information?
We collect information only by lawful and fair means. We will most often collect personal information directly from you. When we make directed individual requests for your relevant personal information from a particular organization or business such as other medical professionals or dental practitioners, we will obtain your written consent.
Consent
Our practice is to request either your written or express oral consent, which may be given in person or over the telephone if your identity is authenticated. However, there may be times where it is reasonable to accept your consent in other ways. Your consent can be express, implied or given through an authorized representative such as a lawyer or personal agent, such as a caregiver.
Consent may be provided orally, in writing, electronically, through inaction (such as when you fail to notify us that you do not wish your personal information collected/used/disclosed for optional purposes following reasonable notice of same) or otherwise.
We may ask for your consent at any time during the course of your treatment. Our Privacy Policy is your notice of the purposes for which we collect, use or discloses your personal information or business contact information.
If you volunteer to provide relevant personal information orally or in writing, we assume that you are consenting to the collection, use and disclosure of your information as described in this Policy. As well, when you initiate contact with us, we may determine that consent has been implied for us to collect, use and disclose necessary personal information in a reasonable manner. There are certain circumstances where we are required or permitted by law to collect, use or disclose personal information without consent. We will handle all personal information confidentially and will substantiate the legal authority to collect, use and disclose personal information in these circumstances.
Under certain circumstances, we will disclose your personal information without your consent:
When we are required or authorized to do so by law, for example if a Court issues a subpoena;
When the use of the information is necessary to respond to an emergency that threatens the life, health or security of an individual or the public;
When it is necessary to establish or collect our fees; or
If the information is already publicly known.
Use of Your Information:
We use your personal information for the purposes it was collected, to generally provide dental hygiene services to you, and to administer our business incidental to providing those services, such as client billing. We may send you information about our other dental services, or about new developments or business services. You may at anytime withdraw your consent by notifying us and we will not send you any such material.
We will not disclose or sell your personal information or business contact information to any third party to enable them to market their products or services.
Who Do We Release Information to?
Your personal or medical information may be disclosed to:
Third party health benefit providers and insurance companies where you have submitted a claim for reimbursement or payment of all or part of the cost for dental treatment or have asked us to submit a claim on your behalf;
Third party dentists or dental specialists, where we are seeking a second a opinion and you have consented to us obtaining that second opinion;
Third party dentists or dental specialists if you, with consent, have been referred to us by a dentist or other dental specialist for treatment;
Third party dentists or dental specialists where those dentists have asked us, with your consent, to provide a second opinion;
Other health care professionals, such as physicians if you, with your consent have been referred by us to the other health care professional for either a second opinion or treatment;
A family member or caretaker, with your express consent.
Destruction of Your Information
We will destroy, erase or make anonymous documents or other records containing personal information as soon as it is reasonable to assume that the original purpose is no longer being served by retention of the information and retention is no longer necessary for legal or business purposes.
We will take due care when destroying personal information so as to prevent unauthorized access to the information.
Accuracy of Your Information
You have the right to request a correction of the personal information that we hold about you. We rely on you to provide us with accurate and up to date personal and business contact information for the purposes of providing you with dental hygiene services and to make contact with you. If, during the course of our professional relationship, any of your information changes, please inform us so that we may make any necessary changes.
How Do We Protect Your Personal Information?
In order to protect your personal information, we will:
Not collect, use or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than those we identified to you or are reasonably evident;
Only disclose your personal information to those persons who have a need to know your personal information for the purposes stated in this Privacy Policy;
Keep your personal information only for as long as needed to fulfill the state of purposes or as required by law;
Maintain your personal information in as accurate, complete and up to date form as possible;
Keep your personal information physically secure, for example, in locked or secure offices, rooms and or filing cabinets;
Maintain technological safeguards such as passwords or encryption for your personal information.
Access to Your Personal Information
You may request access to your personal information that we have about you. The request must be in writing and directed to our Privacy Officer. We may charge a reasonable fee for retrieval and copying of your personal information. If the retrieval or copying of your request is extensive, we will notify you of the fee prior to retrieval and copying.
We May Deny Access to Your Personal Information
There are exceptions to your right to access your personal information. By law, we must deny access when:
Your file contains personal information on a third party and the information cannot be severed to maintain the privacy of the third party information; and
Required or authorized by law.
If we deny your request for access, or refuse a request to correct information, we will explain why. In all cases we will attempt to mediate a resolution, if possible.
Communications by Email
Email is not a secure, confidential method of communicating your confidential and personal information with us. We will only use email to send personal or confidential information if you expressly authorized this form of communication and accept all the inherent risks associated with this type of communication. We will do our utmost to ensure the email is secure and encrypted.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may review and change our Privacy Policy from time to time in order to update our privacy commitment to you in keeping with current privacy laws.
Contact Information and Resources
Please contact our Privacy Officer at the address below if you wish to access your personal information or wish to change your consent regarding the manner in which we collect, use or disclose your personal information as outlined in this Privacy Policy. You may also contact the Privacy Officer if you have any other concerns on how we have handled your personal information.
Lifetime Smiles Dental Hygiene Clinic C/O Sally Lloyd Suite 204, 11150 Bonaventure Drive SE Calgary, AB T2J 6R9 403-457-2044
