Notice of Privacy Practices

Effective date: October 7, 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.

Your rights

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.

• Get a copy of your medical record: You can ask to see or get a paper or electronic copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you. We will provide it, usually within 30 days, and may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.
• Ask us to correct your medical record: You can ask us to correct health information you think is incorrect or incomplete. We may say no, but we will tell you why in writing within 60 days.
• Request confidential communications: You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address. We will say yes to all reasonable requests.
• Ask us to limit what we use or share: You can ask us not to use or share certain information for treatment, payment or our operations. We are not required to agree if it would affect your care. If you pay for a service in full out of pocket, you can ask us not to share that information with your health insurer, and we will say yes unless the law requires us to share it.
• Get a list of those with whom we have shared information: You can ask for a list of the times we have shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with and why. We will include all disclosures except those about treatment, payment and operations, and certain others you asked us to make. One list a year is free.
• Get a copy of this notice: You can ask for a paper copy at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically.
• Choose someone to act for you: If you have given someone medical power of attorney or someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights. We will make sure the person has this authority before we take any action.
• File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated: You can complain to us using the information at the end of this notice, or to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights: 200 Independence Avenue S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, 1-877-696-6775, www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Your choices

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share.

• You can tell us whether we may: Share information with your family, close friends or others involved in your care, or in a disaster relief situation. If you are not able to tell us your preference (for example, if you are unconscious), we may share it if we believe it is in your best interest.
• We never share your information without your written permission for: Marketing purposes, sale of your information or most uses of psychotherapy notes.
• Fundraising: If we contact you for fundraising, you can tell us not to contact you again.

Our uses and disclosures

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways:

• Treat you: We can use your information and share it with other professionals who are treating you (for example, a hospital, a physical therapist or a lab).
• Run our practice: We can use and share your information to run our practice, improve your care and contact you when necessary (for example, to schedule or remind you of an appointment).
• Bill for your services: We can use and share your information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities.

How else can we use or share your information?

We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways, usually for the public good, after meeting legal conditions:

• Public health and safety: Preventing disease, helping with product recalls, reporting adverse reactions to medications, reporting suspected abuse, neglect or domestic violence, or preventing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety.
• Research: We can use or share your information for health research, under the protections the law requires.
• Comply with the law: We will share information if federal, state or Puerto Rico laws require it, including with HHS if it wants to see that we are complying with federal privacy law.
• Organ donation and medical examiners: We can share information with organ procurement organizations and with a coroner, medical examiner or funeral director when an individual dies.
• Workers’ compensation, law enforcement and other government requests: Workers’ compensation claims (such as the CFSE), law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official, health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law, and special government functions such as national security.
• Lawsuits and legal actions: We can share information in response to a court or administrative order, or a subpoena.

Our responsibilities

• Privacy and security: We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
• Breach notice: We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
• Follow this notice: We must follow the practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.
• Your authorization: We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. You may change your mind at any time by letting us know in writing.

Changes to this notice

We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, in our offices and on this website.

WhatsApp, email and text message communications

If you choose to communicate with us by WhatsApp, email or text message, please be aware that these channels are not fully secure. We use them only to coordinate your appointment; please don’t send detailed medical information through them. If you prefer that we not contact you through any of them, let us know.

Contact

To exercise your rights, request a copy of this notice or file a complaint, contact:

Lázaro Orthopedics Privacy Officer
Lázaro Orthopedics · Doctors' Center Clinic – Ciudadela, 1507 Ave. Ponce de León, Suite 201, San Juan, PR 00909
(939) 585-8537 · office@lazaroorthopedics.com

Puerto Rico law may give you additional protections; where it applies, we will follow it as well.

How we handle information you send through this website: Website privacy policy.