Privacy Policy for AUDICA SPEECH & HEARING CLINIC

Effective Date: 28-12-2022

This Privacy Policy describes how AUDICA SPEECH & HEARING CLINIC (“we,” “us,” or “our”), located at “Flat No 202, House No 13, M.K Plaza, 6-437/1/B, above Tiger Gym, opposite Prime Health Pharmacy, Khader Bagh, Indira Nagar, Toli Chowki, Hyderabad, Telangana 500008″, collects, uses, processes, and protects the personal data of our patients, website visitors, and individuals who interact with our services. We are committed to safeguarding your privacy and ensuring the security of your personal information.

Our Website: www.audicaspeechandhearing.com

1. Information We Collect

We collect various types of information to provide our diagnostic, treatment, and product services effectively. This may include:

a. Personal Identification Information:

• Name, address, phone number, email address.
• Date of birth, gender.
• Government-issued identification (if required for specific services or insurance processing).

b. Sensitive Personal Data (Health Information):

• Medical history relevant to speech and hearing, including past diagnoses, treatments, and medications.
• Hearing test results (audiograms, tympanograms, etc.).
• Speech assessment results.
• Details of hearing aids prescribed, fitted, and serviced.
• Speech therapy session notes and progress reports.
• Information about your symptoms, concerns, and overall health status related to speech and hearing.

c. Website Usage Data:

• IP address, browser type, operating system.
• Pages visited, time spent on pages, referral sources.
• Clicks, interactions with our website forms and content.
• Information collected through cookies and similar tracking technologies (see Section 6).

d. Payment Information:

• Details required for processing payments for services and products (e.g., credit/debit card details, bank account information). Note: We generally use secure third-party payment processors and do not store sensitive payment card details on our servers.

2. How We Collect Your Information

We collect information through various channels, including:

• • Directly from you: When you fill out patient registration forms, during consultations, assessments, therapy sessions, over the phone, or via email.
  • Through our website: When you fill out contact forms, appointment request forms, or interact with our online services.
  • From third parties: With your explicit consent, we may receive information from other healthcare providers, referrers, or insurance companies.
  • Automatically: Through cookies and other tracking technologies when you visit our website.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information for the following purposes:

• To provide diagnostic services: Accurately assess hearing loss and speech-related issues.
• To provide treatment and therapy: Develop and implement personalized speech therapy plans and hearing aid solutions.
• To dispense and fit hearing aids: Ensure proper selection, fitting, and ongoing support for hearing devices.
• To manage your patient care: Maintain accurate patient records, schedule appointments, and facilitate follow-up care.
• To communicate with you: Send appointment reminders, updates about your care, and respond to your inquiries.
• For billing and payment processing: Process payments for services and products, and manage insurance claims.
• For internal operations: Improve our services, conduct quality assurance, and for administrative purposes.
• For legal and regulatory compliance: Meet our obligations under applicable laws and regulations, including maintaining health records and responding to lawful requests from authorities.
• For marketing and promotional purposes (with your consent): To send you information about our services, promotions, or health-related content that may be of interest to you. You will always have the option to opt-out.
• To improve our website: Understand how visitors use our website and make improvements to user experience and content.

4. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We understand the sensitive nature of your health information. We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. We may share your information only in the following limited circumstances:

• With your explicit consent: We will obtain your consent before sharing your information with other healthcare providers, family members, or third parties (e.g., for referrals or coordination of care).
• To third-party service providers: We may engage trusted third-party vendors to perform functions on our behalf, such as IT support, secure cloud storage, payment processing, or analytics. These providers are contractually obligated to protect your data and only use it for the purposes for which it was disclosed.
• For legal and regulatory requirements: When required by law, court order, or government regulation (e.g., health authorities, law enforcement).
• In case of a medical emergency: To provide immediate care and assistance.
• For insurance purposes: To process claims and obtain payment from your insurance provider (with your consent).
• In aggregated or de-identified form: We may use and share aggregated or de-identified data (where personal identifiers have been removed) for research, analytical, or statistical purposes, which cannot be used to identify you personally.

5. Data Security

We implement robust technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. These measures include:

• Secure electronic health record (EHR) systems: Encrypted and access-controlled systems for storing patient data.
• Access controls: Limiting access to personal data to authorized personnel only on a “need-to-know” basis.
• Data encryption: Encrypting data both in transit and at rest where appropriate.
• Regular security audits and updates: Continuously monitoring and updating our security practices.
• Staff training: Educating our staff on data privacy and security best practices.
• Secure website protocols: Using SSL/TLS encryption (HTTPS) on our website to protect data transmitted online.

While we strive to protect your personal information, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

6. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your Browse experience, analyze website traffic, and for advertising purposes.

• What are cookies? Cookies are small text files placed on your device by websites that you visit.
• How we use cookies: We use cookies for:
  
  • Essential functionality: To make our website work correctly (e.g., session management).
  • Analytics: To understand how visitors interact with our website, identify popular pages, and improve content (e.g., Google Analytics).
  • Advertising: To deliver relevant advertisements to you on other websites based on your interests and interactions with our site (e.g., Google Ads remarketing).
• Your choices regarding cookies:
  
  • Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies or to notify you when a cookie is being placed.
  • You can also opt-out of personalized advertising by visiting Google’s Ads Settings or by using the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page.
  • Please note that disabling cookies may affect the functionality of our website.

7. Google Ads Advertiser Verification

As part of our Google Ads Advertiser Verification process, we may be required to demonstrate our commitment to data privacy. This privacy policy serves as a key document for this verification, outlining our data handling practices in a transparent manner.

8. Your Data Privacy Rights

You have certain rights regarding your personal data, subject to applicable laws. These may include:

• • Right to Access: You have the right to request access to the personal data we hold about you.
  • Right to Rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.

• • Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): You may have the right to request the deletion of your personal data under certain circumstances (e.g., if the data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected).

• • Right to Restriction of Processing: You may have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data under certain circumstances.

• • Right to Data Portability: You may have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit that data to another controller.

• • Right to Object: You may have the right to object to the processing of your personal data for certain purposes, such as direct marketing.

• • Right to Withdraw Consent: Where we rely on your consent to process your personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided in Section 11. We may require you to verify your identity before processing your request.

9. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. The retention period for medical records is governed by specific healthcare regulations in India. When your personal data is no longer required, we will securely dispose of it.

10. Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites. This Privacy Policy applies only to AUDICA SPEECH & HEARING CLINIC. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party websites you visit.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, services, or legal requirements. We will post the updated policy on our website with a revised “Effective Date.” We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically. Your continued use of our services or website after any changes indicates your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

AUDICA SPEECH & HEARING CLINIC
Flat No 202, House No 13, M.K Plaza, 6-437/1/B, above Tiger Gym, opposite Prime Health Pharmacy, Khader Bagh, Indira Nagar, Toli Chowki, Hyderabad, Telangana 500008
Phone: 9090305009
Email: contact@audicaspeechandhearing.com
Website: www.audicaspeechandhearing.com