Notice of Privacy Practices
Effective date: August , 2026
Your Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities.
This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can access this information.
Please review it carefully.
Your Rights
You have the right to:
Get a copy of your medical record
Ask us to correct your medical record
Request confidential communications
Ask us to limit certain information we use or disclose
Get a list of certain disclosures we have made
Get a paper or electronic copy of this notice
Choose someone to act for you
File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated
Your Choices
For certain health information, you may tell us your preferences about what we share.
In some situations, we will not use or share your information unless you give us written permission.
Our Uses and Disclosures
We may use and disclose your health information to:
Treat you
Run our organization
Bill for services
Help with public health and safety activities
Conduct certain research when legally permitted
Comply with the law
Respond to organ and tissue donation requests
Work with a medical examiner or funeral director
Address workers’ compensation, law-enforcement, and other government requests
Respond to lawsuits and legal proceedings
Your Rights
Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record
You may ask to inspect or receive an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we maintain about you.
We will provide a copy or summary, usually within the time required by law. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee as permitted by law.
Ask us to correct your medical record
You may ask us to correct health information that you believe is incorrect or incomplete.
We may deny the request in certain circumstances, but we will explain the reason in writing within the time required by law.
Request confidential communications
You may ask us to contact you in a particular way or at a particular location.
For example, you may ask us to use a specific telephone number or mailing address.
We will accommodate reasonable requests.
Ask us to limit what we use or share
You may ask us not to use or disclose certain health information for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations.
We are not always required to agree to your request.
When you pay for a service entirely out of pocket, you may ask us not to disclose information about that service to your health plan for payment or healthcare operations. We will agree unless disclosure is required by law.
Get a list of disclosures
You may request a list, sometimes called an accounting of disclosures, showing certain disclosures of your health information made during the period allowed by law.
The list will not include every disclosure. For example, it generally will not include disclosures for treatment, payment, healthcare operations, or disclosures you authorized.
We will provide one accounting in a 12-month period without charge. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for additional requests during the same period.
Get a copy of this notice
You may request a paper copy of this notice at any time, even when you agreed to receive it electronically.
We will provide a paper copy promptly.
Choose someone to act for you
When you have given someone medical power of attorney, or when someone is your legal guardian or authorized personal representative, that person may exercise your rights and make choices about your health information.
We will verify that the person has appropriate authority before taking action.
File a complaint
You may complain to Oak City Physical Therapy if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.
You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.
We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
To file a complaint with Oak City Physical Therapy, contact:
Oak City Physical Therapy Privacy Team
5711 Six Forks Road, Suite 102
Raleigh, NC 27609
Phone: (919) 283-6255
Email:info@oakcitypt.com
Your Choices
For certain health information, you may tell us your preferences about what we disclose.
Family, friends, and others involved in your care
You may tell us whether we may:
Share information with family members, close friends, or others involved in your care
Share information during a disaster-relief situation
Include limited information in a facility directory, when applicable
When you cannot tell us your preference, such as when you are unconscious or unavailable, we may disclose information when we believe it is in your best interest and the disclosure is permitted by law.
We may also disclose information when necessary to reduce a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.
Marketing and sale of information
We will obtain your written authorization before:
Using or disclosing your health information for most marketing purposes
Selling your health information
Making other uses or disclosures that require authorization by law
Fundraising
Oak City Physical Therapy does not currently conduct fundraising communications using patient health information.
Should that change, you may tell us not to contact you again for fundraising purposes.
Psychotherapy notes
Oak City Physical Therapy does not ordinarily create or maintain psychotherapy notes as that term is defined under HIPAA.
When a use or disclosure of psychotherapy notes requires written authorization, we will obtain that authorization.
How We May Use and Disclose Your Health Information
Treat you
We may use and disclose your health information to provide, coordinate, and manage your care.
Example: We may disclose relevant information to a physician, surgeon, or other healthcare professional involved in your treatment.
Run our organization
We may use and disclose health information to operate our practice, improve care, train staff, evaluate performance, conduct quality-improvement activities, and manage business operations.
Example: We may review treatment records to evaluate quality of care and clinical outcomes.
Bill for services
We may use and disclose your health information to bill and obtain payment from health plans or other responsible parties.
Example: We may send information about your evaluation and treatment to your health insurance company so it can determine coverage and pay claims.
Business associates
We may share health information with outside companies or individuals that perform services for us, such as electronic medical record, billing, scheduling, information technology, document-storage, accounting, or legal services.
When required, these business associates must agree to appropriately safeguard your health information.
Help with public health and safety activities
We may disclose health information for certain public-health or safety purposes, including:
Preventing or controlling disease
Reporting adverse reactions to medications or products
Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence when authorized or required
Preventing or reducing a serious threat to health or safety
Supporting product recalls
Complying with workplace-surveillance requirements when applicable
Conduct research
We may use or disclose health information for research only when permitted by law, such as when an institutional review board or privacy board has approved the activity or when you have provided written authorization.
Oak City Physical Therapy does not currently anticipate routinely conducting clinical research using identifiable patient information.
Comply with the law
We will disclose information when federal or state law requires it, including disclosures to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to demonstrate HIPAA compliance.
Respond to organ and tissue donation requests
We may disclose health information to organ-procurement organizations or other entities involved in organ, eye, or tissue donation when applicable.
Work with a medical examiner or funeral director
We may disclose health information to a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when authorized by law.
Address workers’ compensation, law-enforcement, and government requests
We may use or disclose health information:
For workers’ compensation claims
For certain law-enforcement purposes
To health-oversight agencies
For certain military, national-security, protective-service, or correctional-institution activities
For other government functions authorized by law
Respond to lawsuits and legal proceedings
We may disclose health information in response to a valid court or administrative order, subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process, subject to applicable safeguards.
Avert a serious threat
We may use or disclose health information when necessary and permitted by law to prevent or reduce a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public.
Reproductive healthcare information
We will handle information related to reproductive healthcare in accordance with applicable federal and state law.
When required by law, we may request an attestation or other documentation before disclosing potentially related health information for certain healthcare-oversight, judicial, administrative, law-enforcement, or coroner and medical-examiner purposes.
HHS updated Notice of Privacy Practices requirements effective in 2026, including modifications connected to reproductive-health information and certain substance-use-disorder records.
Substance-use-disorder records
Certain substance-use-disorder records may receive additional protection under federal law, including 42 C.F.R. Part 2.
Oak City Physical Therapy is not a federally assisted substance-use-disorder treatment program. However, when we receive records protected by additional law, we will handle them according to applicable requirements.
Uses and Disclosures Requiring Your Authorization
Uses and disclosures not described in this notice will be made only with your written authorization unless otherwise permitted or required by law.
You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time. Revocation will not affect actions already taken in reliance on the authorization.
Our Responsibilities
We are required by law to:
Maintain the privacy and security of protected health information
Provide you with this notice describing our legal duties and privacy practices
Follow the terms of the notice currently in effect
Notify affected individuals when a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of their information
We will not use or disclose your information other than as described in this notice unless you authorize us in writing.
When you give us written authorization, you may revoke it in writing at any time, subject to actions already taken.
Changes to This Notice
We may change the terms of this notice, and the changes may apply to all health information we maintain, including information created or received before the change.
The revised notice will be available:
On our website
At our clinic
Upon request
The notice will display its effective date.
Questions or Complaints
Contact our Privacy Team with questions, requests, or complaints:
Oak City Physical Therapy Privacy Team
5711 Six Forks Road, Suite 102
Raleigh, NC 27609
Phone: (919) 283-6255
Email:info@oakcitypt.com
You may also submit a complaint to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.
We will not retaliate against you for making a complaint or exercising your privacy rights.