NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

Vero Health Center

Notice of Privacy Practices

630 S 50th St, West Des Moines, IA 50265, United States

Privacy Officer: Dr. Josiah Fitzsimmons, D.C. · (515) 422-9552 · info@verohealthcenter.com

Effective Date: October 26, 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.

Vero Health Center keeps medical and billing information in paper and electronic form as part of providing health care and operating the practice. We use these records to provide care, obtain payment, run the practice, and meet our professional and legal obligations.

If you have questions about this notice, contact our Privacy Officer, Dr. Josiah Fitzsimmons, D.C., at info@verohealthcenter.com, (515) 422-9552, or 630 S 50th St, West Des Moines, IA 50265, United States.

1. Our Duties

Vero Health Center is required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
We are required to give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your protected health information.
We are required to follow the terms of the notice currently in effect.
We are required to notify affected individuals following a breach of unsecured protected health information.

2. How We May Use and Disclose Your Health Information

The law permits us to use or disclose your health information for the following purposes without your written authorization:

Treatment. We may use and disclose your health information to provide, coordinate, or manage your care. For example, we may share information with physicians, specialists, imaging providers, pharmacies, laboratories, or other health care professionals involved in your treatment.
Payment. We may use and disclose your health information to obtain payment for services we provide. For example, we may submit information to your health plan, a billing service, or others involved in processing claims or reimbursement.
Health care operations. We may use and disclose your health information to operate the practice. For example, we may use it to evaluate quality of care, train staff, conduct audits, manage risk, support compliance, plan the business, and improve how we deliver care.
Business associates. We may share information with companies that perform services on our behalf, such as billing companies, electronic health record vendors, secure form providers, IT vendors, or consultants. We require business associates and their subcontractors to protect your information through written agreements.
Appointment reminders and care communications. We may contact you about appointments, follow-up care, treatment alternatives, or health-related benefits and services that may interest you.
Sign-in sheets and the waiting area. We may ask you to sign in when you arrive and may call your name in the waiting area when we are ready to see you.
People involved in your care or payment. We may share relevant information with a family member, caregiver, personal representative, or other person involved in your care or in paying for your care, unless you object. If you are not present or are unable to agree or object, we will use professional judgment to decide whether sharing is in your best interest. In a disaster or emergency, we may share information with a relief organization to help notify your family.
Required by law. We will use or disclose health information when federal, state, or local law requires it.
Public health and safety. We may disclose information for public health activities, such as reporting disease, reporting abuse or neglect, reporting adverse reactions to medications or products, supporting product recalls, or preventing a serious threat to the health or safety of you or others.
Health oversight. We may disclose information to health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations, inspections, and licensing reviews.
Lawsuits and legal proceedings. We may disclose information in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena or other lawful process, subject to the limits the law places on such disclosures.
Law enforcement. We may disclose information to law enforcement officials when permitted or required by law.
Workers’ compensation. We may disclose information as authorized by workers’ compensation laws or similar programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness.
Research. We may use or disclose information for research when the research has been approved through a process that protects your privacy, or as otherwise permitted by law.
Coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors. We may disclose information to these individuals as needed for them to carry out their duties.
Organ and tissue donation. If you are an organ donor, we may disclose information to organizations that handle organ, eye, or tissue donation and transplantation.
Military and veterans. If you are a member of the armed forces, we may disclose information as required by military command authorities.
National security and protective services. We may disclose information to authorized federal officials for intelligence, counterintelligence, other national security activities, or the protection of the President and other authorized persons.
Correctional institutions and custody. If you are an inmate or in the custody of a law enforcement official, we may disclose information to the institution or official as necessary for your health and safety or the health and safety of others.

3. Uses and Disclosures That Require Your Written Authorization

Marketing. We will not use or disclose your health information for marketing without your written authorization, except for face-to-face communications with you or promotional gifts of nominal value.
Sale of health information. Vero Health Center does not sell your health information. Any sale of protected health information would require your written authorization.
Psychotherapy notes. Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes require your written authorization.
All other uses. Any use or disclosure not described in this notice will be made only with your written authorization.

You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time. Revocation does not apply to information we already used or disclosed in reliance on your authorization.

4. Special Protections for Certain Information

Iowa law. Where Iowa law gives your information more protection than federal law, we follow Iowa law. Iowa law adds protections for certain sensitive information, such as mental health information, HIV-related information, and substance use treatment records.
Substance use disorder treatment records. If we receive records about you from a substance use disorder treatment program covered by federal law (42 CFR Part 2), those records have additional protections, and using or disclosing them may require your written consent.
Legal proceedings involving substance use disorder records. Substance use disorder treatment records received from programs subject to 42 CFR Part 2, or testimony relaying the content of such records, will not be used or disclosed in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceedings against you unless based on your written consent, or a court order after notice and an opportunity to be heard is provided to you or the holder of the record, as provided in 42 CFR Part 2. A court order authorizing use or disclosure must be accompanied by a subpoena or other legal requirement compelling disclosure before the requested record is used or disclosed.
Redisclosure. When we disclose information as permitted by law, the person or organization that receives it may redisclose it, and it may no longer be protected by federal privacy rules.

5. Your Rights

To exercise any of these rights, submit your request in writing to our Privacy Officer using the contact information in this notice.

Right to inspect and get a copy of your records. You may ask to see or get a paper or electronic copy of your medical and billing records. We will respond within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee as permitted by law.
Right to request a correction. You may ask us to correct health information you believe is inaccurate or incomplete. We may deny your request, but if we do, we will tell you why in writing within 60 days.
Right to request confidential communications. You may ask us to contact you in a specific way or at a specific location, such as only by mail, only by phone at a certain number, or only at work. We will not ask you why, and we will agree to all reasonable requests.
Right to request restrictions. You may ask us to limit how we use or share your health information for treatment, payment, or health care operations. We are not required to agree, and we may say no if it would affect your care. If you pay for a service or item out of pocket in full, you may ask us not to share information about it with your health plan, and we will agree unless a law requires us to share it.
Right to an accounting of disclosures. You may ask for a list of the times we shared your health information in the six years before the date of your request, who we shared it with, and why. The list will not include disclosures for treatment, payment, health care operations, or those you authorized, and certain other disclosures. We will provide one accounting a year free of charge, and may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for additional requests within 12 months.
Right to be notified of a breach. You have the right to be notified if a breach compromises the privacy of your unsecured protected health information.
Right to a copy of this notice. You may ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically.
Right to choose someone to act for you. If you have given someone medical power of attorney, or if someone is your legal guardian or personal representative, that person may exercise your rights and make choices about your health information. We will confirm the person has this authority before we act.

6. Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us by contacting our Privacy Officer, Dr. Josiah Fitzsimmons, D.C., at info@verohealthcenter.com, (515) 422-9552, or 630 S 50th St, West Des Moines, IA 50265, United States.

You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights:

Online: ocrportal.hhs.gov
By mail: Centralized Case Management Operations, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Room 509F HHH Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20201
By email: OCRComplaint@hhs.gov

Complaints to the Office for Civil Rights generally must be filed within 180 days of when you knew of the problem. Vero Health Center will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

7. Changes to This Notice

We reserve the right to change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all health information we maintain about you, including information we created or received before the change. The new notice will be posted in our office and on our website at www.verohealthcenter.com, and a copy will be available on request.