Privacy Policy

ECAST respects its legal obligation to keep health information that identifies you as private. ECAST is obligated by law to give you notice of its privacy practices. This Notice describes how ECAST protects your health information and what rights you have regarding it.

TREATMENT, PAYMENT, AND HEALTH CARE OPERATIONS The most common reason why ECAST uses or discloses your health information is for treatment, payment, or health care operations. Examples of how ECAST uses or discloses information for treatment purposes are: setting up an appointment for you; testing or examining your eyes; prescribing glasses, contact lenses, or eye medications and faxing them to be filled; showing you low vision aids; referring you to another doctor or clinic for eye care of low vision aids or services, or getting copies of your health information from another professional that you may have seen before us. Examples of how ECAST uses or discloses your health information for payment purposes are: asking you about your health care plans or other sources of payment; preparing and sending bills or claims, or collecting unpaid amounts (either ourselves or through a collection agency or attorney). “Health care operations” mean those administrative or managerial functions that ECAST has to do in order to run its office. Examples of how ECAST uses or discloses your health information for health care operations are: financial or billing audits; internal quality assurance; personnel decisions; participation in managed care plans; defense of legal matters; business planning; and outside storage of our records.

ECAST routinely uses your health information inside its office for these purposes without any special permission. If ECAST needs to disclose your health information outside of its office for these reasons, it will usually not ask you for special written permission. ECAST will ask for special written permission in the following situations; contact lens prescriptions; access to medical records by the patient, access to medical records of a minor, mental health records, communicable diseases records, alcohol and drug abuse records, and health records to accident and sickness insurance companies.

USES AND DISCLOSURES FOR OTHER REASONS WITHOUT PERMISSION
In some limited situations, the law allows or requires ECAST to use or disclose your health information without your permission. Not all of these situations will apply to ECAST; some may never come up at ECAST at all. Such uses or disclosures are:

• when a state or federal law mandates that certain health information be reported for a specific purpose
• for public health purposes, such as contagious disease reporting, investigation or surveillance and or notices to and from federal Food and Drug Administration regarding drugs or medical devices, coordinating care in the event of a disaster through Disaster Relief Organizations.
• disclosures to governmental authorities about victims of suspected abuse, neglect or domestic violence
• uses and disclosures for health oversight activities, such as for the licensing of doctors, for audits by Medicare or Medicaid, or for investigation of possible violations of health care laws
• disclosures for judicial and administrative proceedings, such as in response to subpoenas or orders of courts or administrative agencies
• disclosures for law enforcement purposes, such as to provide information about someone who is or is suspected to be a victim of a crime; to provide information about a crime at our office, or to report a crime that happened somewhere else
• disclosure to a medical examiner to identify a dead person or to determine the cause of death; to funeral directors to aid in a burial, or to organizations that handle organ or tissue donations
• uses or disclosures for health-related research
• uses and disclosures to prevent a serious threat to health or safety
• uses or disclosures for specialized government functions, such as for the protection of the president or high-ranking government officials; for lawful national intelligence activities; for military purposes, or for the evaluation and health of members of the foreign service
• disclosures of de-identification information
• disclosures relating to worker’s compensation programs
• disclosures of a “limited data set” for research, public health, or health care operations
• incidental disclosures that are an unavoidable by-product of permitted uses or disclosures
• disclosures to “business associates” who perform health care operations for us and who commit to respect the privacy of your health information
  Unless you object, ECAST will also share relevant information about your care with your family or friends who are helping you with your eye care.

APPOINTMENT REMINDERS
ECAST may call or write to remind you of scheduled appointments or that it is time to make a routine appointment. ECAST may also call or write to notify you of other treatments or services available at its office that may help you. Unless you tell ECAST otherwise, ECAST will mail you an appointment reminder on a postcard, and/or leave you a reminder message on your home answering machine or with someone who answers your phone if you are not home.

FUNDRAISING AND MARKETING
ECAST may use or disclose to a business associate or to an institutionally related foundation, demographic information and dates of care relating to you without your authorization. Upon receiving any written fundraising communication, you may elect to “opt out” of any further such communication. Any such election shall be treated as a revocation of authorization. To make such an election, send a written request to the ECAST privacy officer at the address shown above. Your authorization will be obtained prior to ECAST sending any marketing material to you that will result in financial remuneration to ECAST.

OTHER USES AND DISCLOSURES
ECAST will not make any other uses or disclosures of your health information unless you sign a written authorization. The content of the authorization is determined by federal law. Sometimes, ECAST may initiate the authorization process if the use or disclosure is its idea. Sometimes, you may initiate the process if it is your idea for ECAST to send your information to someone else. Typically, in this situation, you will give ECAST a properly completed authorization.

If ECAST initiates the process and asks you to sign an authorization form, you do not have to sign it. If you do not sign the authorization, ECAST cannot make the use or disclosure. If you do sign an authorization, you may revoke it at any time unless ECAST has already acted in reliance upon it. Revocations must be in writing. Send them to the ECAST privacy officer at the address shown above.

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION

• Ask ECAST to restrict its uses and disclosures for purposes of treatment (except emergency treatment), payment, or health care operations. ECAST does not have to agree to this, but if it agrees, ECAST must honor the restrictions that you want. To ask for a restriction, send a written request to the ECAST privacy officer at the address shown above.
• You can, however, request that ECAST restrict the disclosure of your PHI to a health plan if you have paid out-of-pocket fully and ECAST must honor it.
• Have access to an electronic copy of your healthcare records when PHI is maintained in electronic format.
• Ask ECAST to communicate with you in a confidential way, such as by phoning you at work rather than home or by mailing health information to a different address. ECAST will accommodate these requests if they are reasonable. If you want to ask for confidential communications, send a written request to the ECAST privacy officer at the address shown above.
• Be notified if a breach of confidentiality occurs that involves your PHI.
• Ask to see or to get photocopies of your health information. By law, there are a few limited situations in which ECAST can refuse to permit access or copying. For the most part, however, you will be able to review or have a copy of your health information within 30 days of asking us. You may have to pay for photocopies in advance. By law, ECAST can have one 30-day extension of time to give you access or photocopies if we send you a written notice extension. If you want to review or get photocopies of your health information, send a written request to the ECAST privacy officer at the address shown above.
• Ask ECAST to amend your health information if you think it is incorrect or incomplete. If ECAST agrees, it will amend the information within 60 days from the date requested. ECAST will send the corrected information to persons whom it knows received the wrong information, and to others whom you specify. If ECAST does not agree, you can write a statement of your position, and ECAST will include it with your health information along with any rebuttal it may write. Once your statement of position and/or ECAST’s rebuttal is included in your health information, it will send it along whenever it makes a permitted disclosure of your health information. By law, ECAST can have one 30-day extension to consider a request for amendment if it notifies you in writing of the extension. If you want to amend your health information, send a written request, which includes your reasons for the amendment, to the ECAST privacy officer shown above.
• Get a list of the disclosures ECAST has made of your health information within the past six years (or a shorter period). By law, the list will not include: disclosures for purposes of treatment, payment of health care operations; disclosures with your authorization; incidental disclosures; disclosures required by law; and some other limited disclosures. You are entitled to one such list per year without charge. If you want more frequent lists, you will have to pay for them in advance. ECAST will usually respond to your request within 30 days of receiving it, but by law, we can have one 30-day extension of time if ECAST notifies you of the extension in writing. If you want a list, send a written request to the ECAST privacy officer at the address shown above.
• Get additional paper copies of this Notice of Privacy Practices upon request. It does not matter whether you previously received one. If you want additional paper copies, send a written request to the privacy officer at the address shown above.

OUR NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
By law, ECAST must abide by the terms of the Notice of Privacy Practices until it chooses to change it. ECAST reserves the right to change this notice at any time as allowed by law. If ECAST changes this Notice, the new privacy practices will apply to your health information that it already has, as well as to such information that ECAST may generate in the future. If ECAST changes its Notice of Privacy Practices, it will post the new notice in its office, have copies available in its office, and post it on its website if applicable.

COMPLAINTS
If you think ECAST has not properly respected the privacy of your health information, you are free to complain to ECAST or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. ECAST will not retaliate against you if you make a complaint. If you want to complain to ECAST, send a written complaint to the ECAST privacy officer at the address shown above. If you prefer, you can discuss your complaint in person or by phone.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
If you want more information about ECAST’s privacy practices, write the ECAST privacy officer at the address shown at the beginning of this Notice.

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
EyeCare Associates of South Tulsa welcomes and encourages open discussion on its Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube pages. However, nothing placed on these sites is medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The contents of this site are not intended to be interpreted or relied upon as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This site is not intended to replace consultation with a qualified physician or other qualified health care professional. ALWAYS seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care professional. NEVER delay seeking medical advice or make determinations regarding treatment because of anything you have read on this site. In an emergency, dial 9-1-1.

Anything written or posted on our social media pages (including Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube) in regard to diagnostic procedures, therapeutic options, treatment, surgeries, procedures, or medications is not endorsed or recommended by EyeCare Associates of South Tulsa.

While EyeCare Associates of South Tulsa makes reasonable efforts to monitor and moderate content posted on our social media pages, we do not moderate all comments and cannot always respond in a timely manner to online requests for information.

Any and all opinions expressed are solely the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily the opinions of EyeCare Associates of South Tulsa. EyeCare Associates of South Tulsa reserves the sole right to review, edit, and/or delete any comments at any time, for any or no reason.

Any links to other websites provided on our social media pages (including Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube) are provided only as a service to readers; such linkage does not constitute endorsement of those sites by EyeCare Associates of South Tulsa, and we cannot be responsible for the content of external websites.

By submitting content to the EyeCare Associates of South Tulsa social media pages (including Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube), you understand and acknowledge that this information is available to the public, and that EyeCare Associates of South Tulsa may use such information for internal and external promotional purposes. You agree to only submit content that does not violate the law or infringe any party’s rights, including any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, right of publicity, right of privacy, or other proprietary right. You agree not to submit any content or information that is inappropriate, profane, vulgar, harmful, defamatory, pornographic, obscene, tortious, indecent, unlawful, immoral, or otherwise objectionable. In addition, from time to time EyeCare Associates of South Tulsa may promote or administer contests via its social media pages. Such contests will have separate rules that apply to your use of our social media pages in addition to this Social Media Policy. You understand and agree that EyeCare Associates of South Tulsa may remove any posted content at any time, for any or no reason.

While EyeCare Associates of South Tulsa respects your privacy, the open nature of Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube as well as Facebook’s Privacy Policy (available here: www.facebook.com/policy.php), Pinterest’s Privacy Policy (available here: https://about.pinterest.com/en/privacy-policy), Instagram’s Privacy Policy (available here: http://instagram.com/about/legal/privacy/#) and YouTube’s Privacy Policy (available here: https://www.youtube.com/static?template=privacy_guidelines) make it impossible for EyeCare Associates of South Tulsa to ensure the privacy of any content posted on our social media pages. EyeCare Associates of South Tulsa cannot be held responsible for any publication of personal information. BY SUBMITTING CONTENT VIA FACEBOOK, PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM, OR YOUTUBE, YOU UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT ANY AND ALL INFORMATION POSTED IS OR MAY BE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC, AND YOU SHOULD HAVE NO EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY WITH RESPECT TO SUCH INFORMATION.

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

When you visit or use our online services, we may collect personal information from or about you such as your name, email address, mailing address, telephone numbers, limited location information (for example, a zip code), or certain information about your use of our online services. For example, we may capture the IP address of the device you use to connect to the online services, the type of operating system and browser you use, and information about the site you came from, the parts of our online service you access, and the site you visit next. We or our third-party partners may also use cookies, web beacons, or other technologies to collect and store other information about your visit to, or use of, our online services. In addition, we may later associate the usage and other information we collect online with personal information about you.

We use the information discussed above in a number of ways, such as:

• Responding to your requests and communicating with you;
• Managing your preferences;
• Performing analytics concerning your use of our online services, including your responses to our emails and the pages and advertisements you view;
• Providing you tailored content and marketing messages;
• Operating, evaluating, and improving our business (including developing new products and services; improving existing products and services);
• For any other purposes that we may specifically disclose at the time you provide or we collect your information.

UNDERSTANDING WEB BEACONS, COOKIES, AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES

We, or our service providers, and other companies we work with may deploy and use cookies, web beacons, local shared objects, and other tracking technologies for various purposes, such as monitoring our advertising and marketing campaign performance. Some of these tracking tools may detect characteristics or settings of the specific device you use to access our online services.

“Cookies” are small amounts of data a website can send to a visitor’s web browser. They are often stored on the device you are using to help track your areas of interest. Cookies may also enable us or our service providers and other companies we work with to relate your use of our online services over time to customize your experience. Most web browsers allow you to adjust your browser settings to decline or delete cookies, but doing so may degrade your experience with our online services.

Clear GIFs, pixel tags, or web beacons – which are typically one-pixel, transparent images located on a webpage or in an email or other message – or similar technologies may be used on our sites and in some of our digital communications (such as email or other marketing messages). They may also be used when you are served advertisements or you otherwise interact with advertisements outside of our online services. These are principally used to help recognize users, assess traffic patterns, and measure site or campaign engagement.

Local Shared Objects, sometimes referred to as “flash cookies” may be stored on your hard drive using a media player or other software installed on your device. Local Shared Objects are similar to cookies in terms of their operations but may not be managed in your browser in the same way.

ONLINE ADVERTISING

You will see advertisements when you use many of our online services. These advertisements may be for our own products or services or for products and services offered by third parties. Which advertisements you see is often determined using the information we or our affiliates, service providers, and other companies that we work with have about you, including information about your relationship with us. To that end, where permitted by applicable law, we may share with others the information we collect from and about you.

Online behavioral advertising (“OBA”) refers to the practice of collecting information from a computer or device regarding a visitor’s web-browsing activities across non-affiliated websites over time in order to deliver advertisements that may be of interest to that visitor based on their browsing history. Through OBA, we hope to deliver advertisements that are most likely to be of interest to you using information about your other web-browsing activities (i.e., the web pages you visit, search terms you enter, and the way you move through our online services on your computer or device) or your personal profile (i.e., demographic or location information). Certain companies we work with may set cookies and use related tracking technologies, such as the clear GIFs discussed above, throughout our online services or in our communications to support these OBA efforts. If you do not want your information collected and used by the companies we work with for OBA purposes, you can opt out of this form of OBA. There are two ways that you can opt out of OBA from certain ads on third-party websites. One way is through the cross-industry Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising managed by the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA). To opt out of OBA, click on the following link and follow the instructions http://youradchoices.com. Another way to opt out of OBA is by clicking on the Advertising Options Icon featured on certain EyeCare Associates of South Tulsa ads on third-party websites.

LINKING TO THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES

We may provide links to websites that are owned or operated by other companies (“third-party websites”). When you use a link online to visit a third-party website, you will be subject to that website’s privacy and security practices, which may differ from ours. You should familiarize yourself with the privacy policy, terms of use, and security practices of the linked third-party before providing any information on that website.

CHANGES TO ONLINE POLICY

We may change this Online Policy from time to time. When we do, we will let you know by appropriate means such as posting the revised policy on this page. Any changes to this Online Policy will become effective when posted unless indicated otherwise.