Notice of Privacy Practices

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.

Heart of Texas Healthcare System, which includes Heart of Texas Memorial Hospital, Brady Medical Clinic, and Heart of Texas Patient Services (collectively, "Heart of Texas"), is required by law to protect the privacy of your individual health information ("Protected Health Information" or "PHI") and to provide you with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to PHI. Heart of Texas Memorial Hospital may dispose of your medical records on or after the 10th anniversary of your last treatment at the hospital.

Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information

Heart of Texas may use and disclose your PHI without your authorization for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations purposes. This includes sharing information within the Heart of Texas system, with other healthcare providers, health plans, and those who process healthcare claims, benefits, and related information. Your PHI may also be exchanged electronically.

• Treatment: We may use and disclose your PHI to provide, coordinate, or manage your healthcare services. For example, your primary care physician may consult with us about your condition or treatment. We don't limit the use or disclosure of your PHI for the purpose of your care or treatment. Otherwise, we limit the use and disclosure of PHI to what is reasonably necessary for a permitted purpose.
• Payment: We may use and disclose your PHI to obtain payment or reimbursement for providing healthcare services. For example, we may send a claim to your insurer, health plan, or a government benefit program.
• Healthcare Operations: We may use and disclose your PHI for internal purposes, such as quality assessment and improvement, planning, development, management, and administration. For example, your information could be used to evaluate the quality of services you received. Healthcare operations also include training programs for students, trainees, or practitioners.

Additionally, we may contact you to provide appointment reminders, information about treatment alternatives, or other health-related benefits and services that may interest you. We may also contact you to raise funds for Heart of Texas.

Opportunity to Object

Unless you object, we may also disclose:

• Your name, location at Heart of Texas Memorial Hospital, and your condition, to people who ask for you by name. We may also disclose your religious affiliation to members of the clergy.
• PHI that is directly relevant to their involvement with your care or payment to a family member, a close personal friend, or any other person you identify.
• PHI to notify, identify, or locate a family member, your personal representative, another person responsible for your care, or certain disaster relief agencies about your location, general condition, or death. If you are incapacitated or in an emergency, we will use our judgment to disclose only the information that is directly relevant to the person's involvement with your healthcare.
• PHI for the purpose of fundraising communications from Heart of Texas.

We will also use our judgment and experience regarding your best interest in allowing people to pick up filled prescriptions, medical supplies, test results, or other similar actions involving disclosure of PHI. If you object to any of the disclosures listed above, please contact the Privacy Officer listed below.

Authorized by Law

Heart of Texas is also permitted to share your PHI, without your authorization, as required by law and in the following instances:

• To public health authorities to prevent or control disease or for other public health purposes.
• To appropriate government authorities to report on victims of suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.
• To the Food and Drug Administration to report on the quality, safety, or effectiveness of FDA-regulated products or activities.
• In certain limited circumstances, to an employer, such as if we are asked to evaluate or treat a work-related illness or injury.
• To qualified health authorities for health oversight activities.
• In response to subpoenas, discovery requests, or other lawful legal processes in a judicial or administrative proceeding.
• To law enforcement authorities as required or permitted by law, such as to report a death, a crime on our premises, or to alert them to an emergency.
• For certain research purposes.
• To people involved with matters pertaining to a deceased person, or relating to cadaveric organ, eye, or tissue donation.
• If we believe it's necessary to prevent a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public.
• For certain specialized government functions, including to Armed Forces Authorities for military personnel or for national security purposes.

Authorization

Other uses and disclosures will only be made with your written authorization, including the use and disclosure of PHI for marketing purposes and disclosures that constitute a sale of PHI. Written authorization will generally always be required for the release of psychotherapy notes. You may revoke your authorization at any time by contacting our Privacy Officer as described below.

Your Privacy Rights

You have the following rights with respect to your PHI:

• Request Restrictions: You may ask us to restrict the use and disclosure of your PHI for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations, or to restrict disclosures to family members, relatives, friends, or others involved in your care. We're not required to agree to these restrictions, except for restrictions on disclosures to a health plan for payment or healthcare operations where the disclosure pertains solely to a healthcare item or service for which you paid out-of-pocket. If you wish to make such a request, you must advise our Privacy Officer in writing.
• Alternative Communications: You may request to receive communications of PHI by alternative means or at alternative locations. We will accommodate reasonable requests.
• Access, Amend, and Account: You have the right to:
  • Inspect and copy your PHI, including an electronic health record.
  • Request to amend your information.
  • Receive an accounting of the disclosures of your information by us, including disclosures made using an electronic health record.
  • Receive a paper copy of this notice upon request.
• Breach Notification: You have the right to be notified if there has been a breach of confidentiality with respect to your unsecured PHI.

To exercise any of the above rights, you must notify our Privacy Officer, identified below, in writing.

Heart of Texas is required to abide by the terms of the Privacy Notice currently in effect. We reserve the right to change the terms of this notice and to make the new provisions effective for all PHI we maintain, including PHI created or received before the revised notice. We will promptly revise and distribute a new Privacy Notice whenever there is a material change to our uses or disclosures, your rights, our legal duties, or other privacy practices. If we revise this notice, the revision date will be the effective date, and we will post the revised notice on our website: www.heartoftexashealthcare.org.

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you have the right to file a complaint with us by contacting the Privacy Officer below and/or with the Department of Health and Human Services by contacting its website (http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacyhowtofile.com) or calling them toll-free at 1-800-368-1019. We will not retaliate against you in any way for filing a complaint.

For further information concerning our privacy policy, your privacy rights, or the complaint procedure, please contact our Privacy Officer at:

Attn: Privacy Officer
2008 Nine Rd.
Brady, TX 76825
325.597.2901

Heart of Texas Notice of Privacy Practices/September 4, 2025

Heart of Texas Healthcare System Digital Privacy Policy

Note: This policy relates specifically to our website. For the HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices, please see above.

We recognize that you may be concerned about our use and disclosure of your personal information. Your privacy is very important to us. The following informs you of the information we may collect from you and how it is used. By using our website, www.heartoftexashealthcare.org, you are accepting the practices described in this policy.

Information Collection

We may collect non-personal information, such as a domain name and IP address. This information doesn't personally identify you, except for the IP address from which you accessed our site. We may also collect information about your internet browser, operating system, what brought you to our website, and which of our web pages you have accessed.

We may contact you via email in the future to inform you about special offers, new products or services, or changes to this privacy policy.

Information Use

We use the collected information primarily for our own internal purposes, such as providing, maintaining, evaluating, and improving our services and website, fulfilling requests for information, and providing customer support.

Security

We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it.

If we collect sensitive information (such as credit card data), that information is encrypted and transmitted to us securely. You can verify this by looking for a closed lock icon at the bottom of your web browser or by checking for "https" at the beginning of the web page's address.

While we use encryption to protect sensitive information transmitted online, we also protect your information offline. Only employees who require access to personally identifiable information to perform a specific job, such as billing or customer service, are granted access. The computers/servers where we store this information are kept in a secure environment.

Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our Digital Tools may use cookies and similar technologies for record-keeping purposes. When you revisit our site, these technologies allow us to recognize you, your interests, and your preferences. They also help us measure the performance of our marketing efforts and assess the channels that were most helpful in supporting you on your journey to better health.

Your browser software can be set to reject these technologies. If you reject them, certain functions and conveniences of our Digital Tools may not work correctly. You don't have to accept these technologies to use our Digital Tools.

Sharing

We will not sell or otherwise provide the information we collect to outside third parties for the purpose of direct or indirect mass email marketing.

We will disclose personal information and/or an IP address when required by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to:

• Cooperate with investigations of purported unlawful activities and conform to legal requirements.
• Protect and defend the rights or property of our website and related properties.
• Identify people who may be violating the law, the rights of third parties, or otherwise misusing our website.

Please remember that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information online, for example, through email or discussion boards, that information can be collected and used by others. You are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your personal information. Please be cautious and responsible online.

Links

Our website may contain links to other sites. We aren't responsible for the content or privacy practices of these other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of any other site that collects personally identifiable information.

Surveys

From time to time, our site may request information via surveys. Your participation is voluntary. The requested information may include contact details and demographic information. Contact information may be used for any required or requested follow-up. Survey information will be used to monitor and improve the use and satisfaction of this site.

Protecting Children's Privacy

We're committed to protecting children's privacy online and don't knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13.

Changes to This Policy

Heart of Texas Healthcare System reserves the right to modify or update this Privacy Policy at any time without notice. Please review it periodically to stay informed of any changes. If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or concerns about how we collect, use, or protect your personal information, please contact us as listed below.

By using this website, you consent to the collection and use of information as specified above. If we make changes to our Privacy Policy, we will post those changes on this page. Please review this page frequently to remain up-to-date.

If you believe we are not adhering to this digital privacy policy, please contact us immediately by telephone at 325.597.2901 or by mail, addressed to:

Attn: Privacy Officer
2008 Nine Rd.
Brady, TX 76825
325.597.2901

SMS/Text Communications

When you sign up for text messages, also referred to as "SMS" (short message service), from Heart of Texas Healthcare System, you're signing up to receive text messages related to your relationship with us, including updates about your visits, MyChart account, one-time passcodes, billing notifications, appointment reminders, prescription reminders, and care management.

You can opt out of SMS messages by texting STOP to any text message you receive. Your opt-out request will generate one final message confirming that you've been unsubscribed. You will then no longer receive SMS messages from that short code.

If you want to join again, you can text HELP to 60657 or subscribe using MyChart.

If you are experiencing issues with the messaging program, you can reply with the keyword HELP for more assistance or contact us directly at 325.597.2901.

Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency may vary.

For more information about Heart of Texas Healthcare System’s privacy practices, please see our Digital Privacy Policy above.