Privacy Policy

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

Effective Date: January 14, 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.

CONTACT INFORMATION

For more information about our privacy practices, to discuss questions or concerns, or to get additional copies of this notice, please contact:

Privacy Officer:

ashley@sagehillsdentalcody.com or (307) 587-2951. 

OUR LEGAL DUTY

We are required by law to protect the privacy of your protected health information (“medical information”). We are also required to send you this notice about our privacy practices, our legal duties and your rights concerning your medical information.

We must follow the privacy practices that are described in this notice while it is in effect. This notice takes effect on the date set forth at the top of this page and will remain in effect unless we replace it.  We reserve the right at any time to change our privacy practices and the terms of this notice at any time, provided such changes are permitted by applicable law. We reserve the right to make any change in our privacy practices and the new terms of our notice applicable to all medical information we maintain, including medical information we created or received before we made the change in practices.

We may amend the terms of this notice at any time. If we make a material change to our policy practices, we will provide to you, the revised notice. Any revised notice will be effective for all health information we maintain. The effective date of a revised notice will be noted. A copy of the current notice in effect will be available in our facility and on our website. You may request a copy of the current notice at any time.  We collect and maintain oral, written and electronic information to administer our business and to provide products, services and information of importance to our patients. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards in the handling and maintenance of our patients’ medical information, in accordance with applicable state and federal standards, to protect against risks such as loss, destruction and misuse.

USES AND DISCLOSURES OF YOUR MEDICAL INFORMATION

Treatment: We may disclose your medical information, without your prior approval, to another dentist or healthcare provider working in our facility or otherwise providing you treatment for the purpose of evaluating your health, diagnosing medical conditions and providing treatment. For example, your health information may be disclosed to an oral surgeon to determine whether surgical intervention is needed.

Payment: We provide dental services. Your medical information may be used to seek payment from your insurance plan or from you. For example, your insurance plan may request and receive information on dates that you received services at our facility in order to allow your employer to verify and process your insurance claim.

Health Care Operations: We may use and disclose your medical information, without your prior approval, for health care operations. Health care operations include:

  • healthcare quality assessment and improvement activities;
  • reviewing and evaluating dental care provider performance, qualifications and competence, health care training programs, provider accreditation, certification, licensing and credentialing activities;
  • conducting or arranging for medical reviews, audits and legal services, including fraud and abuse detection and prevention; and
  • business planning, development, management and general administration including customer service, complaint resolutions and billing, de-identifying medical information, and creating limited data sets for health care operations, public health activities and research.

We may disclose your medical information to another dental or medical provider or to your health plan subject to federal privacy protection laws, as long as the provider or plan has had a relationship with you and the medical information is for that provider’s or health plan’s care quality assessment and improvement activities, competence and qualification evaluation and review activities, or fraud and abuse detection and prevention.

Your Authorization: You (or your legal personal representative) may give us written authorization to use your medical information or to disclose it to anyone for any purpose. Once you give us authorization to release your medical information, we cannot guarantee that the person to whom the information is provided will not disclose that information. You may take back or “revoke” your written authorization at any time, except if we have already acted based on your authorization. Your revocation will not affect any use or disclosure permitted by your authorization while it was in effect. Unless you give us written authorization, we will not use or disclose your medical information for any purpose other than those described in this notice. We will obtain your authorization prior to using your medical information for marketing, fundraising purposes or for commercial use. Once authorize, you may opt out of these communications at any time.

Family, Friends and Others involved in your care or payment for care: We may disclose your medical information to a family member, friend or any other person you involve in your care or payment for your health care. We will disclose on the medical information that is relevant to the person’s involvement.

We may use or disclose your name, location and general condition to notify, or to assist an appropriate public or private agency to locate and notify, a person responsible for your care in appropriate situations, such as a medical emergency or during disaster relief efforts.

We will provide you with an opportunity to object to these disclosures, unless you are not present or are incapacitated or it is an emergency or disaster relief situation. In those situations, we will use our professional judgment to determine whether disclosing your medical information is in your best interest under the circumstances.

Health-Related Products and Services: We may use your medical information to communicate with you about health-related products, benefits, services, payment for those products and services and treatment alternatives.

Reminders: We may use or disclose medical information to send you reminders about your dental care, such as appointment reminders via US Mail, email and telephone.  By providing your email address to us, you agree that you may receive reminders and breach notifications via email as a possible alternative to US Mail.  It is the policy of our office to leave a message on any voicemail or answering machine that may be attached to a number that you provide (home, cell or work).  If you prefer that we NOT leave a message to confirm treatment or your appointments, please check this box.

Plan Sponsors: If your dental insurance coverage is through an employer’s sponsored group dental plan, we may share summary health information with the plan sponsor.

Public Health and Benefit Activities: We may use and disclose your medical information, without your permission, when required by law and when authorized by law for the following kinds of public health and public benefit activities;

  • for public health, including to report disease and vital statistics, child abuse, adult abuse, neglect or domestic violence;
  • to avert a serious an imminent threat to health or safety;
  • for health care oversight, such as activities of state insurance commissioners, licensing and peer review authorities and fraud prevention agencies;
  • for research;
  • in response to court and administrative orders and other lawful process;
  • to law enforcement officials with regard to crime victims and criminal activities;
  • to coroners, medical examiners, funeral directors and organ procurement organizations;
  • to the military, to federal officials for lawful intelligence, counterintelligence, and national security activities, and to correctional institutions and law enforcement regarding persons in lawful custody; and
  • as authorized by state worker’s compensation laws.

Special protections for SUD records: Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Treatment records have enhanced protections. They cannot be used in legal proceedings without your consent or court order.

If a use or disclosure of health information described above in this notice is prohibited or materially limited by other laws that apply to us, it is our intent to meet the requirements of the more stringent law.

Business Associates: We may disclose your medical information to our business associates that perform functions on our behalf or provide us with services if the information is necessary for such functions or services. Our business associates are required, under contract with us, to protect the privacy of your information and are not allowed to use or disclose any information other than as specified in our contract.

Data Breach Notification Purposes: We may use your contact information to provide legally required notices of unauthorized acquisition, access or disclosure of your health information.

Additional Restrictions on use and disclosure: Certain federal and state laws may require special privacy protections that restrict the use and disclosure of certain health information, including highly confidential information about you. “Highly Confidential Information” may include confidential information under Federal laws governing reproductive rights, alcohol and drug abuse information and genetic information as well as state laws that often protect the following types of information:

1) HIV/AIDS;

2) Mental Health;

3) Genetic Tests (in accordance with GINA 2009);

4) Alcohol and drug abuse;

5) Sexually transmitted diseases and reproductive health information; and

6) Child or adult abuse or neglect, including sexual assault.

YOUR RIGHTS

  • You have a right to see and get a copy of your health records.
  • You have a right to amend your health information.
  • You have a right to ask to get an Accounting of Disclosures of when and why your health information was shared for certain purposes.
  • You are entitled to receive a Notice of Privacy Practices that tells you how your health information may be used and shared.
  • You may decide if you want to give your Authorization before your health information may be used or shared for certain purposes, such as marketing. It is the policy of our office NOT to sell or disclose your information to any outside firms or business partners.  Your information may be used, only within our office, for the purposes of presenting to you certain products or services which our dentist(s) or staff feel may present a benefit for you, your oral health or happiness with your smile.  If you would like to opt out of this level of service, you may do so by checking this box. 
  • You have the right to receive your information in a confidential manner and restrict certain communication methods.
  • You have a right to restrict who receives your information.
  • You have a right to request amendment to be made to your health records by submitting the request in writing to our privacy officer. Your request does not guarantee the amendment, but does guarantee that it will be reviewed and considered.
  • If you believe your rights are being denied or your health information is not being protected, you can:
    1. File a complaint with your provider or health insurer
    2. File a complaint with the U.S. Government
  • Right to opt out of fundraising activities. If you would like to opt out of any fundraising programs that our office may participate in, such as cancer walks, or other fundraising programs you may do so by checking this box.

COMPLAINTS

If you are concerned that we may have violated your privacy rights, or you disagree with a decision we made about access to your medical information, about amending your medical information, about restricting our use or disclosure of your medical information, or about how we communicate with you about your medical information (including a breach notice communication), you may contact our Privacy Officer to register either a verbal or written complaint.  You may also submit a written complaint to the Office for Civil Rights of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue, SW, Room 509F, Washington, DC, 20201. You may contact the Office for Civil Rights’ hotline at 1-800-368-1019.  We support your right to privacy of your medical information. We will not retaliate in any way if you choose to file a complaint with us or with the US Department of Health and Human Services.

SMS Messaging Privacy Policy
Updated 03 / 09 / 2026

Sage Hills Dental (“we”, “us”, “our”) are committed to protecting your privacy. This SMS Messaging Privacy Policy (“Policy”) governs how we collect and use information about you in relation to our text messaging program(s) (the “Messaging Service”).

By using the Messaging Service, you agree to the terms of this Policy. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to modify or change this Policy at any time with or without prior notice to you. The date of the last update will be posted at the top of this Policy for your convenience. This Policy, and any changes, are effective as soon as posted and supersede any prior Policies. Your continued use of the Messaging Service following the posting of any changes to the Policy constitutes your full acceptance of those changes.

Collection of Information

Through your use of the Messaging Service, we will receive Personal Information through our third-party service provider. “Personal Information” is information that individually identifies you, such as your mobile phone number you provided when signing up for the Messaging Service, any user or screen name that you select in connection with the Messaging Service, any comments or feedback regarding the Messaging Service that you send to us, or any other information that you choose to include in messages you send through the Messaging Service. When you send messages via the Messaging Service, we will also collect your messaging history and any information included in those messages.

We may also collect Personal Information about you using cookies or similar technologies. Cookies are pieces of information that are stored by your browser on the hard drive or memory of your device. Cookies enable personalization of your experience on the Messaging Service (e.g., sending you personalized text messages such as shopping cart reminders).

If you participate in a contest, sweepstakes, research study, or email survey associated with the Messaging Service, we will collect basic contact information and any other information you choose to provide in connection with these activities. We will also collect your contact information if you contact us with questions about the Messaging Service or for customer service.

Use of Information
We use Personal Information to deliver, analyze, maintain and support the Messaging Service. We may also use Personal Information to enhance the Messaging Service features and customize and personalize your experiences on the Messaging Service.

Sharing of Information
We will not rent or sell your Personal Information to other companies or individuals unless we have your consent. We may use or disclose Personal Information in any of the following limited circumstances:

  • We have your consent.
  • We need to enforce our Terms of Service.
  • We provide such information to trusted businesses or persons for the sole purpose of processing

Personal Information on our behalf or providing the Messaging Service to you. When this is done, it is subject to agreements that oblige those parties to process such information only on our instructions and in compliance with this Policy and appropriate confidentiality and security measures. If the third party fails to comply with our terms, Sage Hills Dental is not accountable in any way for any liability or reimbursement.

 

  • We provide Personal Information to a company controlled by, or under common control with, Sage Hills Dental for any purpose permitted by this Policy.
  • We transfer Personal Information about you if a Sage Hills Dental is, or its assets are, acquired by or merged with another company.
  • We believe disclosure of Personal Information is necessary or appropriate to: (i) comply with applicable law and legal processes; (ii) respond to requests from public and government authorities, including public and government authorities outside your country of residence; (iii) enforce a contract with us; (iv) protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property, and/or that of our affiliates, you or others; and (v) allow us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain.

From time to time, we may share aggregate or de-identified information about use of the Messaging Service and such aggregated or de-identified information may be shared with any third party, including advertisers, promotional partners, and sponsors.

No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.

Protection of Information
Sage Hills Dental takes precautions to ensure the security of your Personal Information, including ensuring that our third party service providers protect the security of your Personal Information. However, we cannot guarantee that hackers or unauthorized personnel will not gain access to your Personal Information despite our efforts. You should note that in using the Messaging Service, your information will travel through third
party infrastructures which are not under our control (such as a third party SMS delivery platform or your carrier network).

We cannot protect, nor does this Policy apply to, any information that you transmit to other users. You should never transmit personal or identifying information to other users.

Children
The Messaging Service is not intended for children under 13, and we does not knowingly collect information from children under the age of 13.

Children aged 13 or older should not submit any Personal Information without the permission of their parents or guardians. By using the Messaging Service, you are representing that you are at least 18, or that you are at least 13 years old and have your parents’ permission to use the service.

Retention of Information
We retain your Personal Information for as long as you participate in the Messaging Service or as needed to comply with applicable legal obligations. We will also retain and use your Personal Information as necessary to resolve disputes, protect us and our customers, and enforce our agreements.

Questions or concerns?
If you have any additional questions regarding this Policy, please feel free to contact us any time at ashley@sagehillsdentalcody.com or (307) 587-2951.

SMS Terms and Conditions
Use of the Sage Hills Dental text message-based services (the “Messaging Service”) is subject to the following Terms of Service. These terms constitute a legal agreement (the “Agreement”). Please read them carefully.

 

Sage Hills Dental will allow several different opportunities, such as a entering a phone number on a form, to opt-in to SMS services. When you sign up for our Messaging Service, you agree to receive the following type(s) of SMS from us:

 

  • Appointment reminders and scheduling
  • Follow-up care
  • Billing updates
  • Marketing

You can cancel the Messaging Service at any time. Just text “STOP” to unsubscribe. After you send the SMS message “STOP” to us, we will send you an SMS message to confirm that you have been unsubscribed. After this, you will no longer receive SMS messages from us. If you want to join again, just sign up as you did the first time or reply “START”, and we will start sending SMS messages to you again. If at any time you forget what keywords are supported, just text “HELP”. After you send the SMS message “HELP” to us, we will respond with instructions on how to use our Service as well as how to unsubscribe. As always, message and data rates may apply for any messages sent to you from us and to us from you, and Sage Hills Dental is not liable for the cost of any such messages. Frequency of messages may vary. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. If you have any questions about your text plan or data plan, it is best to contact your wireless provider. For all questions about the Messaging Service, you
can send an email to ashley@sagehillsdentalcody.com.

You understand that anyone with access to your mobile phone may be able to view the messages you receive when using the Messaging Service, and you agree that Sage Hills Dental will not be liable to you if this occurs.

You understand that you are not required to consent to the Service to receive any other services from Sage Hills Dental.

By agreeing to these Terms of Service and providing us with your mobile phone number when you opt in to the Messaging Service, you authorize Sage Hills Dental to contact you by text message at your mobile phone number using an automatic telephone dialing system or device, or any other computer assisted technology as applicable.

If you have any questions regarding privacy, please read our Privacy Policy.

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