Empire Vein & Vascular Specialists
Effective Date: November 5, 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.
The privacy of your medical information is important to us. We create a record of the care and services you receive so that we can provide quality care and comply with legal requirements. This notice explains how we may use and disclose your Protected Health Information (PHI), your rights regarding that information, and our responsibilities under federal law.
Our Responsibilities
We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your PHI, provide you with this notice, follow the terms of this Notice currently in effect, and notify you if a breach of your unsecured PHI occurs.
How We May Use and Disclose Your PHI
The following sections describe different ways that we may use and disclose your PHI. We may use and disclose your PHI for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. We may also disclose information for appointment reminders, notifications to family members involved in your care, public health activities, research in limited circumstances, legal proceedings, law enforcement, disaster relief, fundraising, and other purposes permitted or required by law. Some sensitive information, such as HIV-related information, genetic information, substance abuse records, and mental health records may be entitled to special confidentiality protections under applicable state or federal law. We will abide by these special protections as they pertain to sensitive information in your health records.
a. Treatment: Medical Information can be disclosed to individuals involved in your treatment such as employees within our practice, other healthcare providers involved in your care, pharmacists, and insurance companies.
b. Payment: Medical information can be disclosed in order to obtain payment for the services we provide.
c. Healthcare Operations: Medical information can be disclosed to operate this medical practice. It may be used to review or improve the quality of care, to obtain authorization for services, or for medical reviews, legal services, and audits including fraud and abuse detection.
d. Disclosures Required by Law: We may use and disclose your health information when we are required to do so by federal, state or local law. For example, we make disclosures when a law requires that we report information to government agencies and law enforcement personnel about victims of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence or when dealing with gunshot and other wounds.
e. About Victims of Abuse, Neglect, or Domestic Violence: We disclose your health information to a government authority if we reasonably believe you to be a victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.
f. Health Oversight Activities: We may disclose health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law for which health information is necessary for determining compliance. For example, audits, inspections, and other activities that oversee our activities.
g. Coroners, Medical Examiners and Funeral Directors: We may release health information to coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors as necessary for them to carry out their duties.
h. Organ and Tissue Donation: If you are an organ donor, we may release health information to organizations that handle organ procurement or organ, eye or tissue transplantation, or to an organ donation bank, as necessary to facilitate organ or tissue donation and transplantation, in accordance with applicable law.
i. Research: We may use or disclose your health information for research purposes, subject to the requirements of applicable law. All research projects are subject to protocols to continue to protect health information. When required, we will obtain authorization from you prior to using your health information for research.
j. To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety: As permitted by applicable law and standards of ethical conduct, we may disclose health information about you when, in good faith, we believe that the disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious or imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public.
k. Military and Veterans: If you are a member of the Armed Forces, domestic or foreign, we may release your health information to military command authorities as authorized or required by law.
l. National Security and Intelligence Activities: We may release your health information to authorized federal officials for intelligence, counterintelligence, or other national security activities that are authorized by law.
m. Protective Services for the President and Others: We may disclose your health information to authorized federal officials so that they may provide protection to the President, other authorized persons or foreign heads of state, or to conduct special investigations.
n. To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety: As permitted by applicable law and standards of ethical conduct, we may disclose health information about you when, in good faith, we believe that the disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious or imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public.
o. Disaster Relief Efforts: When permitted by law, we may also use and disclose health information about you with other health care providers and entities assisting in a disaster relief effort. If you do not want us to disclose your health information for this purpose, you must communicate this to your clinician so that we do not disclose this information unless done so in order to properly respond to the emergency.
p. Appointment Reminders: Medical information can be disclosed when contacting you to remind you about an appointment. If you would not like this information to be left on your phone or email, please notify our office staff.
q. Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care: We may disclose your health information to your family or friends or any other individual identified by you when they are involved in your care or in the payment for your care. Additionally, we may disclose information about you to a personal representative. If a person has the authority by law to make health care decisions for you, we will generally treat that personal representative the same way we would treat you with respect to your health information.
r. Public Health: We may be required by law to disclose your information to public health authorities for purposes such as: preventing or controlling disease/exposure, or reports to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding reactions or problems with certain medications. We may also report suspected elder or dependent abuse or domestic violence.
s. Judicial and Administrative Proceedings: We may be required by law to disclose your information in the course of an administrative court order such as in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process.
t. Law Enforcement and Correctional Institutions: We may disclose your health information to assist law enforcement officials with their law enforcement duties including, but not limited to, responding to a court order, valid subpoena, summons or similar process, identifying or locating a suspect, or reporting criminal conduct on our premises. If you are an inmate of a correctional institution, we may disclose to the institution or law enforcement officials so that their applicable duties can be carried out under the law.
u. Workers’ Compensation: We may release your health information for programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illnesses, in accordance with applicable law.
Substance Use Disorder Treatment Records
Substance use disorder treatment records received from programs subject to 42 C.F.R. Part 2, or testimony relaying the content of such records, shall not be used or disclosed in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceedings against you unless based on written consent, or a court order after notice and an opportunity to be heard is provided to you or the holder of the record. A court order authorizing use or disclosure must be accompanied by a subpoena or other legal requirement compelling disclosure before we can use or disclose the record.
Other Uses of Your Health Information
Other uses and disclosures of health information not covered by this Notice or by the laws that apply to us will be made only with your authorization, including certain marketing activities, sale of health information, and disclosure of psychotherapy notes. You have the right to revoke your authorization at any time, provided that the revocation is in writing, except to the extent that we have already taken action in reliance on your authorization or as authorized by law.
Potential for Redisclosure
PHI that is disclosed pursuant to the HIPAA Privacy Rule may be subject to redisclosure by the recipient and no longer protected by the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
Your Rights
a. Right to Request a Restriction: You have the right to request a restriction to limit certain uses and disclosures of your health information. We are not required to grant your request except in the case where the disclosure is to a health plan for purposes of carrying out payment or health care operations, is not otherwise required by law, and the information pertains solely to a health care item or service for which you, or a person on your behalf, has paid us in full. A request for restriction must be submitted in writing to our Privacy Officer.
b. Right to Inspect and Copy: With certain exceptions, you have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of your health records, in accordance with applicable federal and state law. If we maintain your health information electronically, you have the right to obtain a copy of your health information in an electronic format. You may also request that we transmit a copy of your health information to other individuals or entities that you have designated. However, this right is subject to a few exceptions, including disclosures of psychotherapy notes, information collected for certain legal proceedings, and any health information restricted by law. To inspect and/or to receive a copy of your information, you must submit your request in writing to our Privacy Officer. We may charge you a reasonable fee for the cost of copying and mailing your records as allowed by applicable law. If you are denied a request for access, in most cases, you have the right to have the denial reviewed in accordance with the requirements of applicable law.
c. Right to Request an Amendment: You have the right to request an amendment or correction to your health records, in accordance with applicable federal and state law. A request for amendment must be submitted in writing to our Privacy Officer, along with a description of the reason for your request. We may deny your request; however, if your request is denied, we will provide you with a written denial in accordance with applicable law.
d. Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice: You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this Notice upon request, even if you have previously agreed to receive this Notice electronically. You can always request a paper copy of the current version of this Notice from our Privacy Officer.
f. Right to Request Confidential Communications: You have the right to request that we communicate with you about your health matters in a certain way or at a certain location. To make such a request, you must submit your request in writing to our Privacy Officer.
g. Right to an Accounting of Disclosures: You have the right to obtain an accounting of disclosures of your health information made by us to individuals or entities other than you, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. To request an accounting of disclosures of your health information, you must submit your request in writing to our Privacy Officer.
h. Right to Notification of a Breach: We will notify you of any breach of your unsecured protected health information, as required by law.
Changes To This Notice
We reserve the right to change this Notice and make the revised Notice effective for health information we already have about you as well as any information we receive in the future. We will post the current Notice, including the effective date. If we amend this Notice, we will provide the revised version on our website, and we will provide you with a copy of the Notice that is currently in effect, upon your request.
Complaints
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with Empire Vein & Vascular Specialists by contacting the Privacy Officer listed below. You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/index.html.
You will not be penalized or retaliated against for filing a complaint.
Privacy Officer Contact Information
If you have any questions about this Notice, please contact:
Sarah Rodriguez
Privacy Officer
Empire Vein & Vascular Specialists
71780 San Jacinto Dr., Bldg. I
Rancho Mirage, CA 92270
Phone: (800) 827-4267
Email: contact@empirevein.com