Florida sinus & Snoring Specialists, LLC, d/b/a Florida Sinus & Snoring Specialists
Effective 10.14.2026
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.
1. Our Duties
We are required by law to:
- Maintain the privacy of your protected health information (“health information”)
- Give you this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices
- Notify you following a breach of your unsecured health information
- Follow the terms of the Notice currently in effect
2. How We May Use and Disclose Your Health Information Without Your Written Authorization
Treatment. We use and disclose health information to provide and coordinate your care. For example, we may send your CT scan findings and operative report to your primary care physician or to a sleep medicine physician involved in your care.
Payment. We use and disclose health information to bill and collect payment for our services. For example, we may send your diagnosis and procedure information to your health insurer to obtain prior authorization or payment.
Health care operations. We use and disclose health information to run the practice. For example, we may review records to assess the quality of care, train staff, or conduct audits.
Appointment reminders and treatment information. We may contact you by phone, mail, email, or text message with appointment reminders and with information about treatment alternatives or health-related services that may interest you.
Persons involved in your care. We may share relevant health information with a family member, friend, or other person you identify who is involved in your care or payment for your care. You may object, and we will honor that objection. If you are unable to agree or object, we will use our professional judgment. We may also share information with a disaster relief organization to coordinate notification of your family.
Business associates. We share health information with vendors that perform services for us, such as billing and electronic health record companies, under written agreements that require them to protect it.
Other uses and disclosures permitted or required by law. We may also use or disclose health information:
- When required by federal, state, or local law
- For public health activities, such as reporting diseases, adverse events, or product defects
- To report suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence as the law requires
- To health oversight agencies for audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure
- In judicial and administrative proceedings, in response to a court order, or in response to a subpoena where the conditions required by law are met
- To law enforcement in limited circumstances permitted by law
- To coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors
- To organ procurement organizations
- For research, subject to the approvals and conditions the law requires
- To prevent a serious and imminent threat to health or safety
- For specialized government functions, such as military and national security activities
- To correctional institutions regarding inmates in their custody
- For workers’ compensation, as authorized by law
- To the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine our compliance with HIPAA
3. Florida Law and Other More Protective Laws
Where Florida law or another federal law protects your information more strictly than HIPAA, we follow the more protective law. Florida law generally requires your written authorization before we release your medical records to persons other than you, your legal representative, and health care providers involved in your care, subject to exceptions stated in the statute. Florida law also provides special protection for certain categories of information, including HIV test results, mental health records, and substance abuse treatment records.
4. Substance Use Disorder Treatment Records
If we have substance use disorder treatment records about you that are subject to 42 C.F.R. Part 2, we will not use or disclose those records, or testimony about their content, in any civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative investigation or proceeding against you without (1) your written consent or (2) a court order accompanied by a subpoena, as federal law requires.
5. Uses and Disclosures That Require Your Written Authorization
We will obtain your written authorization before:
- Using or disclosing psychotherapy notes, where applicable
- Using or disclosing your health information for marketing, except as the law permits
- Selling your health information
- Using your testimonial, photograph, or video on our website or in advertising
Any other use or disclosure not described in this Notice will be made only with your written authorization. You may revoke an authorization at any time in writing. The revocation will not apply to actions we took in reliance on the authorization before we received it.
Information disclosed under an authorization may no longer be protected by federal privacy law once it is received. Florida law prohibits a recipient from further disclosing your medical records without your written consent.
6. Your Rights
You have the following rights regarding your health information. Submit requests in writing to the Privacy Officer at the address below.
Right to inspect and copy. You may inspect and obtain a copy of your medical and billing records, including an electronic copy where we maintain the records electronically. You may direct us to send a copy to another person. We will provide a copy or a summary of your records within 30 days of your written request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee as permitted by law. We may deny access in limited circumstances, and you may request review of certain denials.
Right to amend. You may ask us to amend health information you believe is incorrect or incomplete. We may deny the request in certain circumstances. If we deny your request, we will explain why in writing within 60 days, and you may submit a statement of disagreement.
Right to an accounting of disclosures. You may request a list of certain disclosures we made of your health information during the six years before your request. The list will not include disclosures for treatment, payment, or health care operations, disclosures you authorized, and certain others. The first list in any 12-month period is free. We may charge a reasonable fee for additional lists.
Right to request restrictions. You may ask us to limit how we use or disclose your health information for treatment, payment, or health care operations. We are not required to agree, with one exception. If you pay for a service in full out of pocket and ask us not to disclose information about that service to your health plan for payment or operations purposes, we will agree unless the law requires the disclosure. If we agree to a restriction, we may still share the information if you need emergency treatment.
Right to confidential communications. You may ask us to contact you in a specific way or at a specific location. We will accommodate reasonable requests.
Right to a paper copy of this Notice. You may obtain a paper copy of this Notice at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically.
Right to notice of a breach. We will notify you if a breach of your unsecured health information occurs.
Personal representatives. A person with legal authority to act for you, such as a health care surrogate or the parent of a minor, may exercise these rights on your behalf as the law permits.
7. Electronic Communications
If you choose to communicate with us by unencrypted email or text message, there is some risk that the message could be read by a third party. If you ask us to communicate with you by those methods after being advised of the risk, we will honor your request.
8. Changes to This Notice
We reserve the right to change this Notice and to make the new terms effective for all health information we maintain, including information we created or received before the change. We will post the current Notice in our offices and on our website at https://www.southfloridasinusandallergy.com/, and we will provide a copy on request.
9. Complaints
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with our Privacy Officer or with the Secretary of 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, https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/index.html. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
10. Contact
Lee Mandel, M.D., F.A.C.S., Privacy Officer
Florida Sinus & Snoring Specialists
1301 E Broward Blvd Suite 240, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
954-983-1211 | appts@fl-sss.com
