Effective date: October 1, 2026

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

This notice applies to Central Care Orthopedic & Rehab and our workforce when providing orthopedic consultations and treatment, pain management treatment, and physical therapy. It covers protected health information in paper, electronic, and oral form.

Our responsibilities

We are required by law to protect the privacy of your protected health information, give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, and follow the notice currently in effect. We must notify you following a breach of your unsecured protected health information as required by law.

Treatment payment and health care operations

Subject to the additional protections described in this notice, we may use and disclose your health information for the following purposes:

Treatment. We use and share information to provide and coordinate your care. For example, your orthopedic provider may share examination findings with your physical therapist, or consult another treating provider about your pain management plan.

Payment. We use and share information to obtain payment for services. For example, we may send your insurer information about your diagnosis and treatment to process a claim or obtain approval, subject to any required authorization and your right to restrict certain disclosures for services paid in full.

Health care operations. We use and share information to manage our practice, improve care, and carry out permitted business activities. For example, we may review treatment records to evaluate care quality and train staff.

Service providers. We may use contractors for functions such as billing or maintaining electronic records. When required, these business associates must agree in writing to safeguard your information and use it only for permitted purposes.

How to exercise your rights

Contact our Privacy Officer at 305-433-4969, write to the address above, or email info@centralcareortho.com. We will explain the request process and any required written form. Please avoid including sensitive medical details in ordinary email. Your rights are described on the next page.

Your rights regarding your health information

Inspect or obtain your records

You may ask to inspect or receive an electronic or paper copy of medical, billing, and other records used to make decisions about you. We generally act within 30 days. If an extension is permitted and needed, we will explain the reason and completion date in writing. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee allowed by law. If access is denied, we will explain the reason and any right to review. A summary is provided instead of records only with your agreement.

Request a correction

You may ask in writing to amend information you believe is incorrect or incomplete and explain why. We generally respond within 60 days, with any lawful extension explained in writing. We may deny a request when the law permits, but we will explain why and how you may submit a statement of disagreement.

Request confidential communications

You may ask us to contact you in a particular way or at a different location, such as using a specific telephone number or mailing address. We will accommodate reasonable requests. Tell our Privacy Officer how or where you want to be contacted.

Request limits on uses and disclosures

You may ask us to restrict information used or shared for treatment, payment, or health care operations, or shared with people involved in your care. We generally do not have to agree, but we will follow restrictions we accept, subject to legally permitted exceptions such as emergency treatment.

If you or someone other than your health plan pays for a service or item out of pocket in full, you may require us not to disclose information solely about that item or service to your health plan for payment or health care operations, unless disclosure is required by law. Tell us before a claim is submitted so we can arrange the restriction.

Obtain an accounting of disclosures

You may request a list of certain disclosures made during the six years before your request, including who received information and why. This generally excludes disclosures for treatment, payment, or health care operations, disclosures to you or authorized by you, and other disclosures excluded by law. The first accounting in a 12-month period is free. We will tell you in advance about any permitted fee for additional requests so you may withdraw or modify your request.

Receive this notice and choose a representative

You may receive a paper copy of this notice promptly on request, even if you previously agreed to electronic delivery. A person legally authorized to act for you may exercise your rights to the extent of that authority. We verify authority and follow applicable rules for minors and circumstances where a representative’s access is limited.

Complain without retaliation

You may complain to our Privacy Officer or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy rights have been violated. We will not retaliate against you. Contact details and complaint instructions appear on the last page.

Other permitted or required disclosures

We may use or disclose information for the purposes below only when applicable legal conditions are satisfied. More protective laws, including Florida law and the substance-use-record rules on the next page, may require written permission or limit disclosure even when HIPAA would otherwise allow it.

Family friends and disaster relief

Where allowed by law, we may share information relevant to a family member’s, friend’s, or another person’s involvement in your care or payment when you agree or have an opportunity to object and do not. We may also share limited information for disaster relief or to notify others about your location or general condition. If you cannot express a preference, we may use professional judgment about your best interests, subject to any stricter legal limits.

Public health and safety

We may report information as permitted or required for public health activities, including disease prevention, product recalls, medication reactions, and reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence. We may disclose information to help prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to a person’s or the public’s health or safety, consistent with applicable law.

Health oversight and legal requirements

We may disclose information to oversight agencies for lawful audits, investigations, inspections, and licensing activities, and to the Department of Health and Human Services to determine compliance with privacy law. We disclose information when federal or state law requires it, within the limits of that law.

Lawsuits law enforcement and government functions

We may disclose information in response to a valid court or administrative order, or a subpoena or other legal process when applicable notice, authorization, protective-order, and other legal requirements are met. We may also make legally permitted disclosures for specified law enforcement purposes, workers’ compensation, military activities, national security, protective services, and certain correctional or custodial situations. A request alone does not automatically permit disclosure.

Research organ donation and deceased individuals

We may use or share information for research only with the authorization or other safeguards required by applicable law. Where Florida law requires written permission for identifiable records, we obtain it or use information that protects your identity. We may disclose information to authorized organ or tissue procurement organizations, coroners, medical examiners, or funeral directors to carry out legally permitted duties.

Additional Florida protections

Florida law generally limits release of patient records and discussion of a patient’s condition outside the patient, legal representative, and providers involved in care unless written authorization or a specific legal exception applies. HIV test results, certain mental health records, and other specially protected information may have additional confidentiality requirements. We follow those restrictions and obtain additional permission when required. We do not treat the general permissions in this notice as overriding more protective law.

Your choices and specially protected information

Uses requiring written authorization

We obtain your written authorization for uses and disclosures not described in this notice. Written authorization is generally required for marketing uses of your information, sales of protected health information, and most uses or disclosures of separately maintained psychotherapy notes. We also obtain any permission required by Florida law, including for use of patient information to solicit or market goods or services. You may revoke an authorization in writing through our Privacy Officer, except to the extent we have already relied on it.

Substance use disorder records

If we receive or maintain substance use disorder patient records protected by 42 CFR Part 2, we follow the additional protections that apply. A qualifying consent may allow their use and disclosure for treatment, payment, and health care operations, with further disclosures only as permitted by applicable law.

We will not use or disclose those records, or testimony describing their contents, in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative investigations or proceedings against you without your specific written consent or a qualifying court order issued after the required notice and opportunity to be heard. Before compelled disclosure, the court order must be accompanied by a subpoena or other legal requirement. A subpoena alone is not enough. These limits apply to all disclosure categories in this notice.

Care communications and fundraising

We may contact you with appointment reminders and information about your treatment, treatment alternatives, or related benefits and services, consistent with your confidential communication requests and applicable law. Our separate electronic communication consent addresses your text, email, and telephone preferences. Receiving this notice does not enroll you in marketing or authorize otherwise prohibited disclosures.

If we contact you for fundraising, you may opt out of future fundraising communications without affecting your treatment or payment. If protected Part 2 records would be used for fundraising, we first provide a clear and conspicuous opportunity to elect not to receive those communications.

Mobile Information Privacy:

We do not sell, rent, share, or otherwise disclose mobile information, including mobile phone numbers and related personal information, to third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes.

Changes to this notice

We reserve the right to change this notice and make revised provisions apply to information we already maintain and information received in the future, as permitted by law. The revised notice will show its effective date and will be available on request, in our office, and at www.centralcareortho.com.

Questions and complaints

Contact the Privacy Officer, Central Care Orthopedic & Rehab, 6085 Bird Road, Suite 101, Miami, FL 33155; telephone 305-433-4969; email info@centralcareortho.com. You may file a complaint with us by phone, mail, or email. Explain the concern and how we can contact you.

You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, at www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/index.html, by calling 1-877-696-6775, or by writing to 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201. You do not have to complain to us first. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.