Privacy Policy

Consent to Use and Store Personal Health Information

CanAm Smile Makeover is committed to ensuring a professional, safe and trusted office environment. To provide you with optimized oral health care and excellent service we use, store and analyze certain personal health information that we (a) collect from you, (b) generate through diagnostic testing and treatment planning, or (c) receive from your other health care providers.

We will not collect, disclose, or use any of your information without your knowledge or consent. Only persons with a clinical (or related administrative) who need to know a piece of information will be granted access to that information. We embrace the principle that only the necessary amount of information shall be disclosed for any task or function. Our staff is trained on the importance of keeping your information safe, secure, and confidential.

 

What information do we collect?

There are a few categories of information we may collect to ensure the utmost customer service. The first is personal information such as name, address, other contact information, insurance information, and financial or billing information, which may include credit card numbers and other such information. To the extent we collect credit card information, it is done in compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).

We also collect and generate personal health information including such things as:
Medical history
Medications
Dental history
Records of dental visits, recall exams, and appointment scheduling Results of diagnosis and testing
Treatment recommendations, treatment plans, and progress notes
Records of consent conversations and when appropriate, signed consent forms Referral/Specialists reports and recommendations

 

How do we use your information?

We only collect, use, and disclose information about you for the following purposes:
To deliver safe and efficient patient care To ensure high-quality service
To assess your dental need needs
To advise you of treatment options
To provide you with information about services offered at our clinic
To inform you of changes to our office policies or hours
To establish and maintain communication with you, including to schedule and remind you of appointments
To enable us to contact you
To communicate with other health care providers, including specialists and general dentists involved in your care
To allow us to efficiently follow-up for treatment, care, and billing For teaching and demonstrating purposes on an anonymous basis
To complete and submit dental claims and estimates for third party adjudication and payment
To comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including communication with the provincial dental regulator, privacy commissioner or any statutory review board as required under legislation
To comply with a court order in the event of legal proceedings To invoice for goods and services
To process credit card, cash and personal cheque payments To collect unpaid accounts
To send you surveys relating to our business and services
For internal management purposes, such as resource planning, policy development, quality assurance, and human resource management
To comply with regulatory requirements and the law generally

In the event that a decision to sell the practice is made:
To permit potential purchasers to evaluate the dental practice
To allow potential purchasers to conduct an audit in preparation for a sale

While many of the items listed above are unlikely to apply to you, we strive to be as thorough as possible.

Before personal information is used or disclosed for a purpose not previously identified, we will advise you of this new purpose or disclosure and will only proceed with your consent.

 

Electronic Communication

When we communicate with you, we may communicate via electronic means, such as e-mail or SMS text message. We strive to ensure that our Commercial Electronic Messages (“CEMs”) are sent with consent, identifying information and unsubscribe mechanisms. We require all CEMs from our Office to be in compliance with privacy and anti-SPAM laws. If and when we communicate with you using CEMs, you can opt out of receiving such messages by following the “Unsubscribe” link included at the bottom of such messages or by contacting our office practice manager. Any questions or concerns with respect to CEMs from our Office may be addressed by phone 1-800-687-7930 or you may contact us through email at contact@canamsmilemakeover.com. If our Office inadvertently sends out a CEM without consent, we commit to investigating every such instance and assisting the employee(s) or managers involved with renewing their understanding and awareness of our compliance responsibilities.

 

How information stored and who can access it

Your information may be kept in physical form (files, models) in which case it is either guarded by staff or stored in a locked and secure file cabinet or safe. Digital information may be stored on encrypted file servers in secure/access-controlled locations. Digital information is password protected and stored on systems which save audit trails in the event unauthorized access must be investigated. Our systems are protected by industry standard IT security hardware and software measures.

We may enter into agreements with third-party providers specializing in data storage and protection. Sometimes that data is securely stored in the cloud, which may include locations outside of Canada. In those instances, only persons contractually obligated to secure and protect your data will be able to access that data. We will only enter into contractual agreements with providers which meet Canadian legal standards and requirements for storage and protection of personal health information.

 

FOR USERS OF OUR ONLINE SERVICES

We may use Remarketing to advertise our practice across the Internet.

Remarketing will display ads to you based on what parts of our website you have viewed by placing a cookie on your web browser.

This cookie does not in any way identify you or give access to your computer or mobile device.

The cookie is used to indicate to other websites that “This person visited a particular page, so show them ads relating to that page.”

Remarketing allows us to tailor our marketing to better suit your needs and only display ads that are relevant to you.

If you do not wish to see ads from us, you can opt-out in several ways:
1. Opt-out of Google’s use of cookies by visiting Google’s Ads Settings
2. Opt-out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page
3. Opt-out information for Facebook ads visit: www.facebook.com/help/568137493302217