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.

Effective date: July 14, 2026

Applies to: Hearing-Doctors (Gabriel Pitt, Au.D.) and all staff at our Hazlehurst, Swainsboro, and Thomson, Georgia offices.

Who We Are

Hearing-Doctors is an audiology practice providing hearing evaluations, hearing aid fittings and service, tinnitus care, balance assessment, and related hearing healthcare. This notice covers all three of our offices and everyone who works at them. We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information ("health information"), to give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, to follow the terms of the notice currently in effect, and to notify you if a breach of your unsecured health information occurs.

How We May Use and Disclose Your Health Information

The following categories describe the ways we may use and disclose health information without your written authorization, with examples of each. Not every use or disclosure in a category is listed, but all permitted uses and disclosures fall within one of the categories.

For Treatment

We use your health information to provide your hearing care — for example, reviewing your hearing test results to program your hearing aids, or sharing your audiogram with your physician, an ear, nose & throat specialist, or another provider involved in your care, such as when we refer you for medical evaluation.

For Payment

We use and disclose your health information to bill and collect payment for services — for example, sending a claim with your diagnosis and the services provided to Medicare or your insurance plan, verifying your coverage before an appointment, or providing information a plan requires to process a claim.

For Health Care Operations

We use and disclose your health information to run the practice — for example, quality review of our services, staff training, scheduling, record keeping, and business planning. We may also share your information with business associates (such as our practice management software, secure document storage, billing clearinghouse, or messaging vendors) that perform services for us; each is required by written agreement and by law to safeguard your information.

Appointment Reminders and Communications

We may contact you by phone, mail, email, or text message to remind you of appointments, follow up on your care, tell you about test results, or let you know about treatment options or services we offer that may benefit you (for example, a hearing aid cleaning or annual re-check). You may ask us to contact you a certain way or at a certain location — see "Your Rights" below. Text messaging is optional and you may opt out at any time by replying STOP.

Family Members and Others Involved in Your Care

Unless you object, we may share information relevant to their involvement with a family member, friend, or caregiver who is involved in your care or in payment for your care — for example, discussing hearing aid settings with the spouse or adult child who accompanies you to appointments.

Other Uses and Disclosures Permitted or Required by Law

• As required by law — when federal, state, or local law requires the disclosure.
• Public health activities — such as reporting to public health authorities, or reporting adverse events related to medical devices (including hearing aids) to the manufacturer or FDA.
• Victims of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence — to authorized government authorities as permitted or required by law.
• Health oversight activities — audits, inspections, and investigations by agencies that oversee the healthcare system (for example, Medicare audits).
• Judicial and administrative proceedings — in response to a court or administrative order, or in some cases a subpoena or discovery request with required protections.
• Law enforcement — in limited circumstances defined by law, such as responding to a warrant.
• Coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors — as needed to carry out their duties.
• To avert a serious threat to health or safety — when necessary to prevent a serious and imminent threat to you or others.
• Workers' compensation — as authorized by workers' compensation laws, including occupational hearing loss claims and related disability assessments (with any authorization those programs require).
• Specialized government functions — such as military, national security, or protective services purposes as authorized by law.

Uses and Disclosures That Require Your Written Authorization

Except as described above, we will not use or disclose your health information without your written authorization. In particular, we will obtain your written authorization before: (1) most uses and disclosures for marketing purposes; (2) any sale of your health information (we do not sell your health information); and (3) any other use or disclosure not described in this notice. We do not create or maintain psychotherapy notes. If you give us an authorization, you may revoke it in writing at any time; the revocation will stop future uses and disclosures except to the extent we have already relied on the authorization.

Your Rights Regarding Your Health Information

• Right to inspect and copy. You may ask to see or receive a copy of your health record, on paper or electronically. We will respond within the time required by law and may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for copies.
• Right to amend. If you believe information in your record is incorrect or incomplete, you may request an amendment in writing, with a reason. We may deny the request in certain cases, and if we do, we will tell you why in writing and how you may respond.
• Right to an accounting of disclosures. You may request a list of certain disclosures we have made of your health information (this does not include disclosures for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations, or ones you authorized) for up to six years before your request.
• Right to request restrictions. You may ask us to limit how we use or disclose your information. We are not required to agree to every request, but we will accommodate reasonable ones. Exception we must honor: if you pay for a service in full out of pocket and ask us not to tell your health plan about it, we must agree (unless the law requires the disclosure).
• Right to confidential communications. You may ask us to contact you in a specific way or at a specific location — for example, only by cell phone, or only by mail. We will accommodate reasonable requests.
• Right to a paper copy of this notice. You may ask for a paper copy at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically. It is also posted in each office and at hearing-doctors.com/privacy-practices.
• Right to be notified of a breach. We will notify you if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your unsecured health information.

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Privacy Officer using the information below.

Changes to This Notice

We reserve the right to change this notice and to make the new notice apply to health information we already have as well as information we receive in the future. The current notice is always posted in each office and on this page, with its effective date at the top. You may request a copy of the current notice at any visit.

Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us by contacting our Privacy Officer (below), 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, phone 1-800-368-1019 (TDD 1-800-537-7697), or online at www.hhs.gov/ocr. You will not be penalized or retaliated against in any way for filing a complaint.

Privacy Officer & Contact