Privacy Policy

Accountability

At Ottawa Valley Denture Clinic, we are committed to ensuring a professional, safe, and trusted office environment. To provide you with optimized care and service we use, store, and analyze certain personal health information that we (a) collect from you, (b) receive from your health care providers.

We will not disclose, collect, or use any of your information without your consent or knowledge.Your information will only be accessed on a need-to-know basis by your clinical provider at Ottawa Valley Denture Clinic or by the designated staff member(s). Our staff know and understand the importance of keeping your information secure, confidential, and safe.

Purpose

With your consent, we may collect Personal Information from you over the telephone, in person or by corresponding with you via e-mail, fax, text, or if applicable, the internet. Some of the information that we collect is as follows: personal information such as name, address, other contact information, insurance information, in rare instances it may also include credit card and other such information for an account to be settled.

We also collect and generate personal health information including such things as:

• Medical history & medications

• Dental history provided your Dentist(s)

• Treatment plans, recommendations, and progress notes

• Records of consent conversations and when appropriate or required, signed consent forms

• Referral reports and recommendations from you Dentist or Specialists

We only collect, use, and disclose information for the following purposes:

• To deliver safe and efficient patient care

• To provide consistent, quality, and personalized services

• To assess your health needs and requirements

• To advise you of different treatment options

• To provide you with information about services provided by the clinic, promotions and sending any marketing information we feel might be of interest to you.

• To inform you of any changes to our office policies and/or hours

• To establish and maintain communication with you, this may include scheduling and reminders of your appointments

• To enable and allow us to contact you through the contact information provided

• To enable us to contact you or respond to queries received by you via the website contact portal or if applicable messenger.

• To communicate with other health care providers involved in your care

• To allow us to accurately and efficiently follow-up on treatment re-care

• To complete dental claims and pre-authorisation forms on your behalf

• To comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including communication with the provincial denturist regulator, privacy commissioner or any statutory review board as required under legislation

• To invoice for any services received by this office

• To process credit card, cash, and personal cheque payments

• To collect and process payment for any unpaid accounts

• For internal management purposes, such as policy development, quality assurance, and resource planning

• To comply with all legal processes and requests from government authorities

• To prevent, detect and investigate fraud and any fraudulent activity and security breaches that are or may potentially be illegal in nature or prohibited.

• Should the practice be sold?

• To permit potential purchasers to evaluate the dental practice

• To allow potential purchasers to conduct an audit in preparation for a sale

Many of the items listed above are unlikely to apply to you. We feel that we would rather be elaborate with such information than not provide enough.

Should any information be required that is not previously identified or mentioned, we will make reasonable effort to advise you of such a reason or purpose and will only proceed to use your information with your consent.

Consent

Your personal information will only be used, collected, or disclosed with your express consent and knowledge, except in emergencies and any other occasions permitted or required by law. Once your consent is received, we will not seek your consent again unless the purpose, use, or disclosure changes.

You may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to contractual or legal restrictions and reasonable notice.

Limiting collection

We limit the collection of your personal information to the amount and type of information deemed necessary for the purposes we have identified.

If we want to collect information for a different purpose, we will advise you of that purpose and obtain your consent.

Limiting use, Disclosure & Retention

Ottawa Valley Denture Clinic will only use or disclose Personal Information for the purposes for which it was collected unless it is required for a different purpose or by law.

If we want to use or disclose your Personal Information for a new purpose, we will advise you of this purpose and obtain your consent. We may keep Personal Information for as long as deemed necessary to achieve the purposes for which it was collected in the first place. We may retain certain Personal Information indefinitely if we are required to do so by Canada Revenue Agency or by our insurers.

Accuracy

We will aim to keep all personal information under our control accurate, complete, and as up to date as necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used. If information needs to be updated, we will make every effort to update our records and advise necessary persons with access to the information of such changes.

To change or modify any Personal Information previously provided to Ottawa Valley Denture Clinic can be done so by sending an email to dentures@ov-dc.ca

Safeguards

Your information may be kept in physical form in which case it is stored in a locked and secure file cabinet. Digital files and information are password protected and stored on a secure system/software. Any unauthorized access is and will be investigated.

We may enter into an agreement with a third-party provider that specializes in data storage and protection. This could mean that data is securely stored in the cloud, which may or may notinclude locations outside of Canada. Should that be the case, only persons contractually obligated to secure and protect your data will have access to said data and information. We will only enter into contractual agreements with providers that meet the Canadian legal standards and requirements for storage and protection of all personal health information.

We securely destroy Personal information so that reconstruction is not reasonably possible. This prevents unauthorized parties from gaining access to the Personal Information.

While we are committed to protecting your Personal Information, our security practices and technology measures cannot guarantee absolute security of Personal Information and we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you provide to us. You can reduce risk to your own Personal Information by using strong passwords, keeping your passwords confidential and following other Personal Information security best practices.

Openness

We are open and honest in providing you with specific information about our policies and practices regarding the management of your personal information. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us our office.

Individual Access

It is your right to know what personal information we have of yours and who we have shared it with. With reasonable notice and a written request, we will provide access to the personal information we have in our possession, how it has been used and any third-party disclosures with it.

Challenging Compliance

You have the right to challenge the accuracy and completeness of the Personal Information and have it changed or corrected as needed if there is an error or omission. You can do so by contacting Ottawa Valley Denture Clinic. If we identify a gap in compliance, we will take appropriate steps to remedy the situation, including changing our policies and practices if necessary.

Visitors to our website

By accessing or using our website, you consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy. If you do not consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy, please do not access our website or provide us with any personal information.

We review and make necessary changes on a regular basis to our Privacy Policy. Your continued access to our website following the posting of the changes to this Privacy Policy means that you accept and agree to such changes. Please check this page periodically for any revisions and updates.

Visitors to other websites

Our website may contain links for, educational purposes, to other third-party sites that are not governed by this privacy policy. Although we endeavour to only link to sites with high privacy standards, our privacy policy will not apply once you leave our secure website. Additionally, we are not responsible for the privacy practices employed by third party websites. Therefore, we encourage you to familiarise yourself with the privacy statements of said sites to learn how your information may be collected, used, shared, and disclosed.

Collections of personal information

Information collected through technology and social media

When you visit our website, we may automatically receive information about your browsing history using cookies, server log files and other similar mechanisms. By using our website, you consent to the use of such cookies in accordance with this Privacy Policy. A cookie is a small text or computer file that may be stored on your device when you visit a Site, and it can last for the duration of your visit (a “session cookie”) or for repeat visits (a “persistent cookie”). Some of the cookies used may be necessary for security purposes, to authenticate you and to enable you to use our Site. Other cookies may not be essential but may make it easier for you to use the Site, such as remembering your preferences and helping you navigate the Site. Some cookies are used to help us analyze the performance and use of the website. These cookies may also apply for advertising or tracking purposes, including allowing our advertising partners to track and analyze your preferences on our Site and across the internet (e.g., Google Analytics, which tracks website usage and traffic). The following type of information is collected through cookies:

• your IP addresses

• your approximate geographic location

• the type of operating system you are using (e.g., Windows or Mac)

• the type of device you are using

• the type of browser you are using

• the domain name from which you reached our Site

• which pages you visit on our Site

• the frequency, date, and time you visit our Site.

We may collect Personal Information when you interact with any of our content on any third-party sites or platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, or You Tube. This may include interactions such as comments, “likes” or shares, profile data or even the fact that you viewed or interacted with our content. If you voluntarily post or submit any information on these platforms, your Personal Information could automatically be included in the posts and may be collected and used by others.

Remarketing will display ads to you based on parts of our website you have viewed by placing a cookie on your web browser. It is important to know that 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 websites which page(s) a person visited, which enables them to show ads relating to that page.

Remarketing allows us to tailor our marketing strategy to better suit you and 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 by any of the methods listed below:

1. You can Opt-out of Google’s use of cookies by visiting Google’s Ads Settings

2. To Opt-out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies, start by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page

3. Here is Opt-out information for Facebook ads visit: https://www.facebook.com/help/568137493302217

Protecting the privacy of children and youth

We understand that Personal Information relating to children and youth is particularly sensitive, especially the younger they are. We will not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under the age of 13 unless we have the consent of their parents or guardians.

If you are a child or youth, you should review this Privacy Policy with your parents or guardians to make sure that you and your guardian understand and consent to everything within it. IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 13, you should not proceed to visit our website or provide us with any Personal Information unless your parent or guardian has consented you to do so.

Compliance with Canada’s anti-spam legislation

Electronic Communication

When we communicate with you, we may communicate via electronic means, such as e-mail or SMS text message. Ottawa Valley Denture Clinic does not send out commercial electronic messages (“CEMs”) to any person unless we have express or implied consent from the recipient. If you wish to opt out of receiving communications from our office, you can do so by contacted the office. Any questions or concerns with respect to any electronic communication received from our Office may be addressed by phone or you may contact us through our website or email.