Notice of Privacy Practices & Privacy Policy.

01About this Notice

The Brentwood Dentist ("the Practice," "we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting the privacy of every patient and visitor. This Notice describes how medical and dental information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.

This Notice covers two related but distinct areas of privacy:

• Protected Health Information (PHI) that we collect, use, and disclose as a HIPAA-covered healthcare provider. This includes information related to your dental care, diagnosis, treatment, billing, and any communications with us as a patient.
• Information collected through this website (www.thebrentwooddentist.com), including form submissions, cookies, analytics data, and advertising pixels.

02How we may use and disclose your Protected Health Information

The following describes the ways we may use and disclose your PHI without your specific authorization. Not every use or disclosure is listed; however, all uses and disclosures we are permitted to make will fall within one of these categories.

Treatment

We may use your PHI to provide, coordinate, or manage your dental care and any related services. This includes coordination with other healthcare providers, dental laboratories, dental specialists, imaging providers, and pharmacists involved in your care. For example, we may share your treatment plan with a dental specialist to whom we are referring you, or with a dental laboratory fabricating your veneers, crown, or implant restoration.

Payment

We may use and disclose your PHI to bill and receive payment for the dental care we provide. This includes communications with your dental insurance plan, medical insurance plan when applicable, and third-party financing providers. For example, we may share information about your treatment to obtain pre-authorization or to process insurance claims.

Healthcare operations

We may use and disclose your PHI in connection with our healthcare operations, including quality assessment, training programs, licensing, accreditation, business management, and general administration of the Practice. For example, we may use your information to evaluate the performance of our clinical staff or to plan ongoing dental services.

Appointment reminders & care communications

We may contact you to remind you of upcoming appointments, recall visits, hygiene cleanings, or follow-up care. These communications may be made by phone, voicemail, text message, email, or postal mail using the contact information you provide. You may request that we contact you only by certain methods; see Section 4 (Your rights).

Treatment alternatives & health-related benefits

We may inform you about treatment alternatives, dental products, or services that may be relevant to your dental health, including educational materials about cosmetic dentistry, preventive care, periodontal care, or restorative options.

Required by law

We will use and disclose your PHI when required to do so by federal, state, or local law, including reporting suspected child abuse or neglect, reporting certain communicable diseases, responding to a court order, subpoena, or warrant, or cooperating with health oversight activities.

Public health activities

We may disclose your PHI for public health activities, including disease prevention, reporting adverse events related to medications or dental products, and reporting to public health authorities authorized by law to receive such information.

Other lawful disclosures

We may also disclose your PHI to coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors as authorized by law; for organ donation; for workers' compensation purposes; to military authorities for armed forces personnel; for national security and intelligence activities; and to correctional institutions for inmates.

03Uses and disclosures requiring your written authorization

The following uses and disclosures of PHI will be made only with your written authorization:

• Marketing communications that involve direct or indirect remuneration to us from a third party.
• Sale of PHI — we do not sell your PHI.
• Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes, where applicable.
• Use of photographs, before-and-after images, video, or testimonials in any marketing material, social media post, advertisement, or website content. We will never use a recognizable image of you for marketing purposes without your separate written consent, which you may revoke in writing at any time.

You may revoke any authorization in writing at any time, except to the extent we have already taken action in reliance on it.

04Your rights as a patient under HIPAA

You have the following rights with respect to your PHI:

Right to inspect and copy

You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of your dental record and billing information, with limited exceptions. You may request a paper or electronic copy. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for copies as permitted by law.

Right to amend

If you believe information in your record is incorrect or incomplete, you may request an amendment. We may deny your request under certain circumstances, in which case you have the right to file a written statement of disagreement.

Right to an accounting of disclosures

You have the right to receive a list of certain disclosures we have made of your PHI, generally for the six years prior to your request, excluding disclosures made for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations and certain other categories.

Right to request restrictions

You have the right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your PHI for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations. We are not required to agree to your request, except in limited circumstances. If you pay for a service or item out-of-pocket in full, you have the right to request that we not disclose information about that service to your health plan.

Right to confidential communications

You have the right to request that we communicate with you about dental matters in a specific way or at a specific location — for example, only at your home address or only by mobile phone. We will accommodate reasonable requests.

Right to a paper copy of this Notice

You have the right to a paper copy of this Notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive it electronically.

Right to be notified of a breach

You have the right to be notified in the event of a breach of unsecured PHI that affects you.

Right to file a complaint

You have the right to file a complaint with us or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint. See Section 13 for our contact information. To file with HHS, visit www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints.

05Our duties

We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your PHI, to provide individuals with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, to notify affected individuals following a breach of unsecured PHI, and to follow the terms of the Notice currently in effect.

06Breach notification

In the unlikely event of a breach of unsecured PHI affecting your information, we will notify you in writing without unreasonable delay and within the timeframes required by federal and state law. The notification will describe what happened, what information was involved, what we are doing in response, and steps you can take to protect yourself.

07Website privacy & cookies

This section describes how we collect and use information through our website, separate from PHI handled in the Practice.

Information you provide

• Your name, email, phone, preferred appointment day and time, areas of dental interest, and any notes you submit through the contact or intake form on this site.
• Records of any phone calls or text messages you initiate from this website.

Information collected automatically

• IP address, browser type, device type, operating system, referring URL, pages visited, and time spent on the site.
• Cookies and similar tracking technologies for analytics, performance monitoring, and advertising attribution.

How we use website information

• To respond to inquiries and schedule consultations.
• To improve site performance, content, and user experience.
• To measure marketing effectiveness and reach prospective patients with relevant content.

We do not sell or rent the personal information you submit through this website. Information submitted through forms on this site is not, by itself, treated as PHI unless and until you become a patient of the Practice; once you become a patient, all information about your dental care is treated as PHI and protected under HIPAA.

08Tracking pixels & advertising

This website may use the following tracking technologies provided by third parties to measure marketing performance and serve relevant advertising. None of these technologies are used to transmit PHI or the contents of patient communications.

• Meta (Facebook) Pixel — measures conversions and supports retargeting on Meta-owned platforms.
• Google Analytics 4 / Google Ads conversion tags — measures site usage and ad performance.
• Google Tag Manager — manages deployment of marketing tags.
• LinkedIn Insight Tag — measures campaign effectiveness on LinkedIn.
• TikTok Pixel (when in use) — measures conversions on TikTok.

You may opt out of much advertising tracking through tools provided by these networks, by adjusting your browser settings to block third-party cookies, by using browser privacy extensions, or by visiting www.aboutads.info/choices and www.networkadvertising.org/choices.

09California consumer rights (CCPA / CPRA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), gives you specific rights regarding your personal information collected through this website. PHI handled under HIPAA is generally exempt from CCPA, but information you submit through this website before becoming a patient may be subject to CCPA.

You have the right to:

• Know what categories of personal information we collect, the sources, and the purposes for which we use it.
• Request access to the specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you.
• Request deletion of personal information we hold, subject to certain exceptions.
• Request correction of inaccurate personal information.
• Opt out of any "sale" or "sharing" of personal information. We do not sell your personal information and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising in exchange for monetary consideration.
• Limit the use of any sensitive personal information.
• Be free from retaliation for exercising any of these rights.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the information in Section 13. We will verify your request before responding.

10Children's privacy

This website is not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 through this site. Pediatric and family dental care provided by the Practice is, of course, governed by HIPAA and our general PHI handling described above. Parents and legal guardians have rights over the dental records of their minor children consistent with applicable state and federal law.

11Records retention

Dental records and PHI are retained in accordance with California law and Practice policy. In general, dental records are retained for a minimum of seven years following the patient's last visit, and longer for minors and certain restorative procedures. Website form submissions and analytics data are retained only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Notice, after which they are deleted or anonymized.

12Changes to this Notice

We reserve the right to change this Notice at any time. Any changes will apply to all PHI we maintain. The current version will always be posted at www.thebrentwooddentist.com/privacy and will be made available in printed form at the Practice. The "Effective" date at the top of this Notice will be updated whenever changes are made.

13How to reach us

For questions about this Notice, to request a copy, to exercise any of your patient rights, or to file a privacy-related complaint, contact our Privacy Officer:

This Notice is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. The Practice may amend this Notice consistent with applicable law.