Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to the Asheville Pain and Wellness Center website. The Asheville Pain and Wellness Center website is provided for information and educational purposes and may contain links to other sites. Once you enter another website (whether through an advertisement, service, or content link), be aware that Asheville Pain and Wellness Center is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage you to look for and review the privacy statements of each and every website that you visit.

We believe that transparency is the key to any healthy relationship. At Asheville Pain and Wellness Center, we’re all about health. We appreciate that you are trusting us with information that is important to you, and we want to be transparent about how we use it. Here we describe the privacy practices for our website and you will learn about the data we collect, how we use it, the controls we give you over your information, and the measures we take to keep it safe.

Specifically, we’ll cover:

• Information We Collect and How We Use Information
• How Information Is Shared
• Your Rights To Access and Control Your Personal Data
• Data Retention
• Analytics and Advertising Services Provided by Others
• Cookie Policy
• Our Policies for Children
• Information Security
• Our International Operations and Data Transfers
• Changes to This Policy
• Who We Are and How To Contact Us

Information We Collect and How We Use Information

We collect the following personal information from you on the Asheville Pain and Wellness Center website forms.

• First and Last name
• Email address
• Phone number

By entering this information, you are providing personal information that will be used by Asheville Pain and Wellness Center for the sole purpose of scheduling your appointment or returning your contact request.

If you choose to enroll as a subscriber of our website or subscribe to our blog, you will receive recurring practice newsletters, announcements and occasional promotional information via email. These emails will be of a general nature and will in no way disclose your unique health characteristics.

To subscribe to our website, we need certain contact information, such as your name and email address. We may also store any provided demographic information (such as gender, birth date and address), but it is not required. You can unsubscribe from the newsletters or any of our emails by simply clicking on the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of our emails; you will be immediately unsubscribed.

Passive Information We Collect

Like many other websites, we also automatically collect and log other non-identifying information when you interact with the Asheville Pain and Wellness Center website:

Device data. We collect data from the device and application you use to access the Asheville Pain and Wellness Center website, such as your Internet protocol (IP) addresses, operating system, device type, browser type and timestamps.

Usage data. We collect usage data that may include which Asheville Pain and Wellness Center webpages you visit, what you click on, when you performed those actions, and so on. Emails sent by Asheville Pain and Wellness Center collect information about who opened those emails and clicked on links in them. We do this to measure the performance of the Asheville Pain and Wellness Center email messaging and to monitor and improve email deliverability and open rates.

How Information Is Shared

Except as set forth in this Privacy Policy or as specifically agreed to by you, Asheville Pain and Wellness Center will not disclose any Personally Identifiable or Personal Health Information it gathers from you on our website. We will only release Personally Identifiable or Personal Health Information to third parties:

(i) to comply with valid legal requirements such as a law, regulation, search warrant, subpoena or court order.

(ii) in special cases, such as a physical threat to you or others. In the event that we are legally compelled to disclose your Personally Identifiable or Personal Health Information to a third party, we will attempt to notify you unless doing so would violate the law or court order. In addition, we may disclose Personal Information as described below.

Your Rights To Access and Control Your Personal Data

At the time you choose to enroll as a subscriber of our website or any time thereafter, you can choose to opt-out of receiving emails from us by simply clicking on the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of our emails; you will be immediately unsubscribed.

You may ask us at any time for information about any personal data we hold about you, or ask us to correct or delete that information. We will complete this request within 30 days of the initial request for information being received. Please complete this form to start this process. If you need further assistance regarding your rights, please contact our office, and we will consider your request in accordance with applicable laws.

To the extent required under applicable law, and subject to our rights to limit or deny access/disclosure under applicable law, you have the following rights in your Personal Data. You may exercise your rights by contacting us at the address below.

Access: You may receive a list of your Personal Data that we process to the extent required and permitted by law.

Rectification: You may correct any Personal Data that we hold about you to the extent required and permitted by law.

Deletion: To the extent required by applicable law, you may request that we delete your Personal Data from our database.

Complaint: You have the right to contact or file a complaint with state authorities (Attorney General) or supervisory authorities about our mishandling of Personal Data. To do so, please contact your local data protection or consumer protection authority.

California Resident: Residents of California may request a list of Personal Data we have disclosed about you to third parties. Once you have completed our verification process of custodian of data, you may request that we provide you a copy of your Personal Data, direct us to stop selling or disclosing Personal Data for certain purposes (if we have done so), and receive information regarding: the categories of Personal Data we have collected about you, or that we have sold, or disclosed; the business or commercial purpose for which we collected or sold your Personal Data; the third parties with whom we have disclosed your Personal Data, or sold, or disclosed it for a business purpose.

Data Retention

We keep the information we have about you and your use of the Services for as long as necessary for our legitimate business interests, for legal reasons, historical research and to prevent harm, including as described in the How We Use Information and How Information Is Shared sections.

Analytics and Advertising Services Provided by Others

• Google Analytics. In addition, our website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). The information generated by the cookie about your use of our website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of our website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. Further information may be obtained by visiting Google’s privacy policy.

• AdWords Remarketing. We use Google AdWords Remarketing to advertise Asheville Pain and Wellness Center across the Internet, in particular on the Google Display Network. We use a Google AdWords Remarketing code to log when website visitors view specific pages or take specific actions on our website. Google AdWords Remarketing can display ads to you based on what parts of the Asheville Pain and Wellness Center website you have viewed by placing a cookie on your web browser. This does not in any way identify you or give access to your computer or mobile device.

  Google AdWords Remarketing allows us to tailor our online marketing to better suit your needs and only display ads that are relevant to you. If you do not wish to see ads from Asheville Pain and Wellness Center you may opt out in the following ways:

  1. Opt out of Google’s use of cookies by visiting Google’s Ads settings.
  2. Opt out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page.

• Facebook Remarketing. We use the Facebook pixel for occasional remarketing advertising. We do this to understand and deliver ads and make them more relevant to you. Facebook may use cookies, web beacons, and other storage technologies to collect or receive information on the Smile Marketing website and elsewhere on the internet and use that information to provide measurement services and target ads. If you do not wish to see ads from Smile Marketing on Facebook you may opt out by visiting Facebook’s Ad Preferences settings.

  To learn more about your choices and the steps you can take to protect your privacy on the internet visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices or http://www.youronlinechoices.eu/.

We use this information to conduct research and analysis to better understand how visitors are using the Asheville Pain and Wellness Center website, so that we can improve our website experience. From time to time, Asheville Pain and Wellness Center or it’s operations contractors acting on their behalf, conduct online research in order to gather feedback about our site through online or email surveys.

Participation in these surveys is completely voluntary and you may choose whether or not to participate and disclose information. Personally Identifiable Information collected through market research will only be used by Asheville Pain and Wellness Center and its operations contractors and will never be given or sold to a third party.

Cookie Policy

We use cookies and other technologies to ensure that everyone who uses Asheville Pain and Wellness Center website has the best possible experience. By continuing to visit or use our services, you are agreeing to the use of cookies and similar technologies for the purposes we describe in this policy. You can find more information about cookies at: cookiesandyou.com.

Most browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings preferences. However, if you limit the ability of websites to set cookies, you may worsen your overall user experience, since it will no longer be personalized to you.

Our cookie table lists some of the third party cookies on our sites. Please note that the names of cookies, pixels and other technologies may change over time. Please note that third parties (including, for example, advertising networks and providers of external services like web traffic analysis services) may also use cookies, over which we have no control. These cookies are likely to be analytical/performance cookies or targeting cookies.

List of cookies used by Asheville Pain and Wellness Center

Our Policies for Children

We are committed to protecting the privacy of children. Neither Asheville Pain and Wellness Center nor any of its services are designed or intended to attract children under the age of 13.

Information Security

We work hard to keep your data safe. We use a combination of technical, administrative, and physical controls to maintain the security of your data. This includes using Transport Layer Security (“TLS”) to encrypt many of our website services. No method of transmitting or storing data is completely secure, however, if you have a security-related concern, please contact our office.

Our International Operations and Data Transfers

Our website hosting company, Perfect Patients, operate internationally and transfer information to the United States for the purposes described in this policy. They rely on multiple legal bases to lawfully transfer personal data around the world. These include your consent, the EU-US and EU Commission approved model contractual clauses, which require certain privacy and security protections.

Changes to This Policy

We will inform you if a material change to the Privacy Policy is made that involves the use of your Personally Identifiable Information. Your continued use of the Asheville Pain and Wellness Center site will indicate acceptance of the changes. Please exit the site immediately if you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy or any revised policy.

Who We Are and How To Contact Us

If you have questions, suggestions, or concerns about this policy, or about our use of your information, please contact us.

Asheville Pain and Wellness Center
1069 Haywood Rd
Asheville North Carolina 28806
(828) 258-2225

This Privacy Policy does not protect you when you send content, questions or ideas to Asheville Pain and Wellness Center via email. If you want to keep them private or proprietary, do not send them in an email. We try to answer every email within 48 business hours, but are not always able to do so.

Last Updated: October 6, 2020

1069 Haywood Road Asheville, NC 28806

September 23, 2013

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THAT INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. Asheville Pain and Wellness Center (“APWC”), in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, (the “Privacy Rule”) and applicable state law, is committed to protecting the privacy of your protected health information (“PHI”). PHI includes information about your health condition and the care and treatment you receive from APWC. We understand that information about your health is personal. This Notice explains how your PHI may be used and disclosed to third parties. This Notice also details your rights regarding your PHI. APWC is required by law to maintain the privacy of your PHI and to provide you with this Privacy Notice detailing our legal duties and practices with respect to your PHI. APWC is also required by law to abide by the terms of this Notice. HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose medical information. For each category of uses or disclosures we will explain what we mean and try to give some examples. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of these categories. For Treatment- We may use your PHI to provide you with treatment. We may disclose your PHI to doctors, nurses, technicians, clinicians, medical students, hospitals and other health facilities involved in or consulting in your care. We may also disclose information about you to people outside the practice, such as other health care providers involved in your care, such as family members, clergy, or others we use to provide services that are part of your care. If we refer you to another health care provider, we would, as part of the referral process share PHI information about you. For example, if you were referred to a specialist, we would contact the doctor’s office and provide such information about you to them so that they could provide services to you. For Payment- We may use and disclose your PHI so we can be paid for the services we provide to you. For example, we may need to give your insurance company information about the health care services we provided to you so your insurance company will pay us for those services or reimburse you for amounts you have paid. We also may need to provide your insurance company or a government program, such as Medicare or Medicaid, with information about your condition and the health care you need to receive prior approval or to determine whether your plan will cover the services. For Health Care Operations- We may use and disclose your PHI for our own health care operations and the operations of other individuals or organizations involved in providing your care. This is necessary for us to operate and to make sure that our patients receive quality health care. For example, we may use information about you to review the services we provide and the performance of our employees in caring for you. Appointment Reminders/ Treatment Options- We may contact you for appointment reminders or to tell you about treatment options, alternatives or other health care related benefits/services that may be of interest to you. Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care- We may disclose to a family member, other relative, a close friend, or any other person identified by you. Certain limited PHI that is directly related to that person’s involvement with your care or payment for your care. We may use or disclose your PHI to notify those persons of your location or general condition. This includes in the event of your death unless you have specifically instructed us otherwise. If you are unable to specifically agree or object, we may use our best judgment when communicating with your family and others. Disaster Relief- We also may use or disclose your PHI to an authorized public or private entity to assist in disaster relief efforts. This will be done to coordinate information with those organizations in notifying a family member, other relative, close friend or other individual of your location and general condition. De-identified Information- We may use and disclose health information that may be relate to your care but does not identify you and cannot be used to identify you. Business Associates- We may use and disclose information to those who perform functions on our behalf or provide us with services. For example, we may share your information with a billing company that helps us obtain payment from your insurance company. Our Business Associates are required through legal agreement to protect the privacy of your information and insure the use of safeguards to prevent any uses or disclosures not permitted other than as specified in the contracts. Personal Representative- We may use and disclose PHI to a person who, under applicable law, has the authority to represent you in making decisions related to your care. Emergency Situations- We may use and disclose PHI for the purpose of obtaining or rendering emergency treatment to you provided that we attempt to obtain your consent as soon as possible. Public Health and Safety Activities- We may disclose your PHI for public health activities and purposes. This includes reporting information to a public health authority that is authorized by law to collect or receive the information. These activities generally include:

• To prevent or control disease, injury or disability
• To report births or deaths
• To report child, elder, or dependent adult abuse or neglect
• To report reactions to medications or problems with products
• To notify people of recalls of products they may be using
• To notify a person who may have been exposed to a disease or may be at risk for contracting or spreading a disease or condition

Victims of Abuse, Neglect or Domestic Violence- We may disclose your PHI to a government authority authorized by law to receive reports of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, if we believe an adult or child is a victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence. This will occur to the extent the disclosure is (a) required by law, (b) agreed to by you, (c) authorized by law and we believe the disclosure is necessary to prevent serious harm, or, (d) if you are incapacitated and certain other conditions are met, a law enforcement or other public official represents that immediate enforcement activity depends on the disclosure. Health Oversight Activities- We may disclose your PHI to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, including audits, investigations, inspections, licensure or disciplinary actions. These and similar types of activities are necessary for appropriate oversight agencies to monitor the nation’s health care system, government benefit programs, and for the enforcement of civil rights laws. Judicial and Administrative Proceedings- We may disclose your PHI in response to a court or administrative order. We also may disclose information about you in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other legal process but only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information to be disclosed. Disclosures for Law Enforcement Purposes- We may disclose your PHI to law enforcement officials for these purposes:

• As required by law
• In response to a court, grand jury or administrative order, warrant or subpoena
• To identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness or missing person
• About an actual or suspected victim of a crime if, under certain limited circumstances, we are unable to obtain that person’s agreement
• To alert a potential victim or victims or intending harm (“duty to warn”)
• To alert law enforcement officials to a death if we suspect the death may have resulted from criminal conduct
• About crimes that occur at our facilities
• To report a crime, a victim of a crime or a person who committed a crime in emergency circumstances

To Avert Serious Threat to Health or Safety- We will use and disclose your PHI when we have a “duty to report” under state and federal law because we believe that it is necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person. Any disclosure would be to help prevent a threat. Coroners, Medical Examiners and Funeral Directors- We may disclose your PHI to a coroner or medical examiner for purposes such as identifying a deceased person and determining cause of death. We also may disclose information to funeral directors so they can carry out their duties. Organ, Eye or Tissue Donation- To facilitate organ, eye or tissue donation and transplantation, we may disclose your PHI to organizations that handle organ procurement, banking or transplantation. Workers Compensation- We may disclose your PHI to the extent necessary to comply with worker’s compensation and similar laws that provide benefits for work-relates injuries or illness without regard to fault. Special Government Functions- If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release your PHI as required by military command authorities. We may also release information about foreign military authority. We may disclose information about you to authorized federal officials for intelligence, counter-intelligence and other national security activities authorized by law. Research- We may use and/or disclose your PHI for research projects that are subject to a special review process. If researchers are allowed access to information that identifies who you are, we will ask for your permission. Fundraising- We may contact you with respect to fundraising campaigns. If you do not wish to be contacted for fundraising campaigns, please notify our Privacy Officer in writing.

AUTHORIZATION

The following uses and/or disclosures specifically require your express written permission: Marketing Purposes- We will not use or disclose your PHI for marketing purposes for which we have received payment without your express written permission. However, we may contact you with information about products, services or treatment alternatives directly related to your treatment and care. Sale of Health Information- We will not sell your PHI without your written authorization. If you do authorize such a sale, the authorization will disclose that we will receive compensation for the information that you have authorized us to sell. You have the right to revoke the authorization at any time, which will halt any future sale. Uses and/or disclosures other than those described in this Notice will be made only with your written authorization. If you do authorize a use and/or disclosure, you have the right to revoke that authorization at any time by submitting a revocation in writing to our Privacy Officer. However, revocation cannot be retroactive and will only impact uses and/or disclosures after the date of the revocation.

YOUR RIGHTS

Right to Revoke Authorization- You have the right to revoke any Authorization or consent you have given APWC, at any time. To request a revocation, you must submit a written request to our Privacy Officer. Right to Request Restrictions- You have the right to request that we restrict the uses or disclosures of your information for treatment, payment or healthcare operations. You may also request that we limit the information we share about you with a relative or friend of yours. You also have the right to restrict disclosure of information to your commercial health insurance plan regarding services or products that you paid for in full, out-of-pocket and we will abide by that request unless we are legally obligated to do so. We are not required to agree to any other requested restriction. If we agree, we will follow your request unless the information is needed to a) give you emergency treatment, b) report to the Department Required or Permitted By Law” section. To request a restriction, you must have your request in writing to our Privacy Officer. You must tell us: a) what information you want to limit, b) whether you want to limit use or disclosure or both and c) to whom you want the limits to apply. Either you or we can terminate restrictions at a later date. Right to Inspect and Copy- You have the right to inspect and request copies of your information. To inspect or copy your information, you may either complete an Authorization to Release/Obtain Information form or write a letter of request, stating the type of information to be released, the date(s) of service being requested, the purpose of the request, and whether you wish to review the record or receive copies of the requested information in your preferred format. We will abide by your request in the format you have requested, if we are able to do so. If we cannot provide your records to you in the requested format, we will attempt to provide them in an alternative format that you agree to. You may also request that your records be sent to another person that you have designated in writing. Direct this request to our Privacy Officer. You may be charged a fee for the cost of copying, mailing or other expenses related with your request. We may deny your request to inspect and copy information in a few limited situations. If your request is denied, you may ask for our decision to be reviewed. APWC will choose a licensed health care professional to review your request and the denial. The person conducting the review will not be te person who denied your request. We will comply with the outcome of that review. Right to Amend- If you feel that your PHI is incorrect, you have the right to ask us to amend it, for as long as the information is maintained by us. To request an amendment, you must submit your request in writing to the Privacy Officer. You must provide a reason for the amendment. We may deny your request for an amendment if it is not in writing or does not include a reason for wanting the amendment. We may also deny your request if the information: a) was not created by us, unless the person or entity that created the information is no longer available to amend the information, b) is not part of the information maintained by APWC, c) is not information that you would be permitted to inspect and copy or d) is accurate and complete. Right to an Accounting of Disclosures- You have the right to request an accounting of disclosures. This is a list of certain disclosures we have made regarding your PHI. To request an accounting of disclosures, you must write to our Privacy Officer. Your request must state a time period for the disclosures. The time period may be for up to six years prior to the date on which you request the list, but may not include disclosures made before April 14, 2003. There is no charge for the first list we provide to you in any 12-month period. For additional lists, we may charge you for the cost of providing the list. If there will be a charge, we will notify you of the cost in advance. You may withdraw or change your request to avoid or reduce the fee. Certain types of disclosures are not included in such an accounting. These include disclosures made for treatment, payment or healthcare operations; disclosures made to you or for our facility directory; disclosures made with your authorization; disclosures for national security or intelligence purposes or to correctional institutions or law enforcement officials in some circumstances. Right to a Paper Copy of this Notice- You have the right to receive a paper copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices, even if you have agreed to receive this Notice electronically. You may request a paper copy of this Notice at any time. Right to File a Complaint- You have the right to complain to APWC or to the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (as provided by the Privacy Rule) if you believe your privacy rights have been violated. To file a complaint with APWC, you must contact our Privacy Officer. To file a complaint with the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, you may write to: Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Ave, S.W., Room 509F, HHH Building, Washington, DC 20201, telephone: 202-619-0257, email: ocrmail@hhs.gov; or to the North Carolina Attorney General, 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 2769909001, telephone: 919-716-6400. All complaints to our office must be in writing.To obtain more information about your privacy rights or if you have any questions about your privacy rights you may contact our Privacy Officer as follows: Asheville Pain and Wellness Center 1069 Haywood Road, Asheville NC 28806 Telephone: 828-258-2225 We encourage your feedback and we will not retaliate against you in any way for the filing of a complaint. APWC reserves the right to change this Notice and make the revised Notice effective for all health information that we had at the time, and any information we create or receive in the future. We will distribute any revised Notice to you prior to implementation.