Notice of Privacy Practices Statement

Last Updated: June 9, 2021

Welcome! We at BakoDx (referred to in this Privacy Policy as the “Company,” “we”, “us,” “BakoDX,” or “our”) have a proud history as the premier provider of diagnostic and therapeutic services focusing on the skin, soft tissue and bone of the lower extremity.  Our pathology team provides not just information, but also intelligence to enable better patient care.

We greatly respect your privacy and value the relationship we have with you and your patients.  That is why we have this Privacy Policy: it describes the types of personal information we may collect on our website (bakodx.com) (the “Site”), how we may use that information, with whom we may share it, and the measures we take to protect the security of the information.  In addition, we describe the choices you can make about how we use the information you provide to us. We also provide you direction on how you can reach us to update certain information you’ve given us, ask us not to send you future communications, or answer any questions you may have about our privacy practices.

Bako Pathology Services (“BAKO”) is committed to protecting the confidentiality of your medical and health information (“Protected Health Information”) as described in this Notice and maintains the privacy of your Protected Health Information as required by law. Protected Health Information is information, including demographic information, that may identify you and that relates to health care services provided to you, the payment of health care services provided to you, or your physical or mental health or condition, in the past, present or future. We have provided this notice to you to describe the way we may use and share your Protected Health Information. This Notice describes our privacy practices relating to Protected Health Information, including how we may use your Protected Health Information within BAKO and how under certain circumstances we may disclose it to others outside BAKO. This Notice also describes the rights you have concerning your own Protected Health Information. Please review it carefully. If you have questions about any part of this Privacy Notice or if you want more information about the privacy practices of BAKO, please contact the Privacy Officer listed at the end of this Notice.

Please note this Privacy Policy applies only to this Site and does not apply to any other websites, services, products, or applications operated or provided by us or a third party.

This Privacy Policy is organized as follows:

The primary users of our Site are health care providers.  While the Site may include limited information for patients about how they can understand insurance claims or make payments to their providers, we do not collect protected health information (“PHI”) directly from any patients via our Site.  If you are a patient and would like more information on how we may obtain health information about you from your healthcare provider and how we may use or disclose that information, please review our Notice of Privacy Practices.

Our Site may collect the following categories of information from and about you:

  • Identifiers: such as your name, postal addresses, licensure information, email addresses, social networking account information, telephone numbers, or other addresses at which you are able to receive communications;
  • Location information: such as information related to your state/province, city, or neighborhood;
  • Internet and network activity information: such as information about your browsing behavior and interactions with our site or advertisements, including data from cookies, pixel tags, and web beacons;
  • Inferences regarding preferences and other characteristics: such as our assessment of the types of products or services you may have an interest in;
  • Financial information: such as information collected from you as needed to process payments for products or services that you buy such as your payment card or account number, expiration date, and card verification number;
  • Professional information, employment history, and related information: such as information you include when applying for fellowships posted to our Site or creating an account with us; and
  • Commercial information: such as information on services you have purchased from us or other information that enables us to determine interests and product preferences.

We may collect personal information about you from a variety of sources, including:

From you: We collect information that you submit to us. For example, when you create a profile on one of our Site or register to receive information, products, or services available through one of the Site, you may choose to give us certain location, demographic, or commercial information.  You may also choose to apply for one of our fellowships.  We will collect any information you voluntarily provide, and we may also request optional information to support your use of our Site.  If you send an e-mail to us at any of the addresses provided on our Site or use one of our portals for the secure submission of clinical images, we will collect your e-mail address, name, and the full content of your e-mail, including attached files and other information you choose to provide to us.

From your device: When you visit our Site, we may collect information about the devices you use to access the Site, including hardware model, operating system and version, Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, and other unique device identifiers, mobile network information, and information about the device’s interaction with our Site. We also collect information about how you use our Site, including your access times, browser types, and language. This type of data enables us to understand how often individuals use parts of the Site so we can analyze and improve it. To collect this information, we may use cookies and web beacons, and other similar technologies. To learn more about how we automatically receive and record information when you interact with our Site, please review the section below titled “How We Use Cookies.”  Click here to learn more about how Google collects and uses data when you use our site.

Location information: We may collect different types of information about your location, including general information, such as the city, state, and/or zip code associated with your IP Address. You may be able to disallow our use of certain location data through your device or browser settings.

Social media networks and other third parties: We may obtain information about you or your use of our Site from third party sources, such as our vendors, like web hosting providers or analytics providers.  You may give us permission to access your information from services offered by third parties, including social media networks.  The information we obtain from third party services depends on your account/privacy settings with those third parties and the third parties’ privacy policies, so be sure to check those policies and to adjust your settings to meet your preferences.  Please keep in mind that any information provided to us by a third party may also be subject to that third party’s privacy policy.

We may use information collected as described in this Privacy Policy to:

  • Operate, maintain, and improve the Site and other programs, features, and functionality related to the Site;
  • Provide you with interest-based BakoDx ads, communications, and offers for products or services from us;
  • Evaluate your eligibility for certain types of offers, products, or services that may be of interest to you, and analyze advertising effectiveness;
  • Answer your questions and respond to your requests;
  • Perform analytics and conduct customer research;
  • Manage our everyday business needs, such as administration of the Site, fulfillment, analytics, fraud prevention, and enforcement of our corporate reporting obligations, or to comply with the law;
  • Verify your requests made pursuant to this Privacy Policy;
  • Enhance other information we have about you to help us better understand you;
  • Allow you to apply for fellowships with us; and
  • Facilitate and fulfill orders.

We also may use information collected as described in this Privacy Policy with your consent or as otherwise required or permitted by law.

We may share your information as follows:

  • as required to comply with the law or legal obligations, such as to comply with legal orders and government requests, or as needed to support auditing, compliance, and corporate governance functions;
  • in response to a subpoena, or similar legal process, including to law enforcement agencies, regulators, and courts in the United States;
  • with our vendors and service providers who perform a variety of services and functions for us, such as data storage, website hosting, transmitting emails, and managing digital content. ●        If we go through a business transition such as a merger, acquisition by another company, bankruptcy, reorganization, or sale of all or a portion of our assets;
  • to combat fraud or criminal activity, to enforce any applicable Terms of Use or customer agreements, to respond to claims that any content violates the rights of third parties, and to protect our rights, users, and business partners, or as part of legal proceedings affecting us;
  • with our affiliates and subsidiaries who may only use the information for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy;
  • if the information has been aggregated, de-identified, or otherwise does not identify you personally; and
  • otherwise with your consent.

The law permits us to use your Protected Health Information for treating you, billing for services and for health care operations, all of which are explained below. Certain types of Protected Health Information have additional protection under state or federal law. For example, information about genetic testing and mental health treatment or condition may have added protections. For disclosure of those types of information, BAKO is required to get your authorization as described below before disclosing it to others.

Please note that state law may offer more stringent protections than those listed in this Notice. We will follow the more stringent law regarding the use and disclosure of your Protected Health Information where there is a conflict.
Your Protected Health Information may be used and disclosed only for the following purposes:

For Treatment: We may use your Protected Health Information to provide you with medical treatment and other services. We may also disclose your Protected Health Information to others who need information to treat you, such as doctors, physician assistants, nurses, medical and nursing students, technicians, therapists, emergency service and medical transportation providers, medical equipment providers, and others involved in your care. For example, we will allow your physician to have access to your laboratory results to assist in your treatment and for follow-up care. In addition, we may contact you to provide appointment reminders or information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you, provided that we abide by restrictions on third-party funding for such communications.

For Payment: We may use and disclose your Protected Health Information to get paid for the medical services and supplies we provide to you. For example, your health plan or health insurance company may ask to see parts of your medical record before they will pay us for your treatment. If you want us to limit the information that we provide to your health plan or health insurance company when you pay for our services out of pocket, contact BAKO’s Privacy Officer, as provided below.

For Health Care Operations: We may use and disclose your Protected Health Information for Health Care Operations, which include internal education, administration, planning, and other various activities that improve the quality of care we provide to patients. We may disclose Protected Health Information to outside companies to support administrative functions such as data analysis, accounting or legal services, but we will only do so after they have signed an agreement stating that they will abide by our privacy policy.

To Family Members and Others Involved in Your Care: We may disclose your Protected Health Information, unless prohibited by applicable federal or state law, to a family member, other relative, a close personal friend, or any other person identified by you who is involved in your medical care, or to someone who helps to pay for your care. If we disclose information to a family member, other relative, or a close personal friend, we will confirm the authority of the individual to receive your Protected Health Information and we would only disclose information that we believe is directly relevant to the person’s involvement in your medical care. If you do not want us to disclose your Protected Health Information to family members or others, please contact BAKO’s Privacy Officer, as provided below.

For Research: We may use or disclose your Protected Health Information without your consent or authorization for research projects, such as studying the effectiveness of a treatment you received, if an Institutional Review Board approves a waiver of authorization for disclosure. These research projects must go through a special process that protects the confidentiality of your Protected Health Information.

For Public Health Activities: We may also use and disclose certain Protected Health Information for public health purposes such as preventing or lessening a serious and/or imminent threat to an individual’s or the public’s health or safety. We may also use and disclose your Protected Health Information (1) to report child abuse or neglect to public health authorities or other government authorized authorized by law to receive such reports; (2) to report information about products and services under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; (3) to alert a person who may have been exposed to a communicable disease or may otherwise be at risk of contracting or spreading a disease or condition; and (5) to report information to your employer or the State Workers’ Compensation Program as required under laws addressing work-related illness and injuries or workplace medical surveillance.

For Victims of Abuse, Neglect, or Domestic Violence: If we reasonably believe that you are a victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, we may disclose your Protected Health Information to a governmental authority, including a social service or protective services agency, authorized by law to receive reports of such abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.

To Law Enforcement Officials: We may disclose Protected Health Information to law enforcement officials as required by law or in compliance with a search warrant, subpoena or court order. We also may disclose Protected Health Information to assist law enforcement officials in identifying or locating a person, to prosecute a crime of violence, to report deaths that may have resulted from criminal conduct, and to report criminal conduct at BAKO.

For Military, Veterans, National Security, and Other Government Purposes: If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release your Protected Health Information as required by military command authorities or to the Department of Veterans Affairs. We may also disclose Protected Health Information to federal officials for intelligence and national security purposes, or for Presidential Protective Services.

For Judicial and Administrative Proceedings: We may disclose your Protected Health Information if we are ordered to do so by a court or administrative order or if we receive a subpoena or a search warrant.

For Health Oversight Activities: We may disclose Protected Health Information to a government agency that oversees BAKO or its personnel, such as the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the federal agency that oversees Medicaid and Medicare (CMS), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to ensure compliance with state and federal laws.

To Coroners, Medical Examiners, and Funeral Directors: We may disclose Protected Health Information concerning deceased patients to coroners, medical examiners and funeral directors to assist them in carrying out their duties.

For Organ and Tissue Donation: We may disclose Protected Health Information to organizations that facilitate organ, eye or tissue donation or transplantation.

For Breach Notifications: We may use Protected Health Information in order to notify you in the event that we suspect or determine with certainty that your Protected Health Information has been compromised or breached.

As Required by Law: Additional federal, state, or local laws sometimes require us to disclose Protected Health Information for purposes beyond those already stated in this Notice. Therefore, we may use and disclose your Protected Health Information when required to do so by any other law not already discussed in this Notice.

BAKO cannot use your Protected Health Information for anything other than the reasons mentioned above, without your signed “Authorization.” An Authorization is a written document signed by you giving us permission to use or disclose your Protected Health Information for the purposes you specifically set forth in the Authorization. For instance, we may not sell your Protected Health Information to any party without your specific authorization. Additionally, we must obtain your authorization for (1) any communications regarding products or services relating to your treatment, case management or care coordination, or alternative treatments, therapies, provides or care settings when they are subsidized by a third party that may benefit from the communication; and (2) prior to using your Protected Health Information to send you any marketing materials that are not permissible treatment or health care operations communications as stated above.

You may revoke the Authorization, at any time, by delivering a written statement to the BAKO Privacy Officer identified below. If you revoke your Authorization, BAKO will no longer use or disclose your Protected Health Information as permitted by your Authorization. However, your revocation of Authorization will not reverse the use or disclosure of your Protected Health Information made while your Authorization was in effect.

You have the right to request that BAKO limit its uses and disclosures of Protected Health Information in relation to treatment, payment, health care operations, and health services, or not use or disclose your Protected Health Information for these reasons at all. You also have the right to request BAKO restrict the use or disclosure of your Protected Health Information to family members or personal representatives. Any such request must be made in writing to BAKO’s Privacy Officer listed below and must state the specific restriction requested and to whom that restriction would apply. BAKO is not required to agree to a restriction that you request, except that we must honor your request to restrict disclosures of Protected Health Information to a health plan that you have paid for in full out of pocket. BAKO may not be able to honor a restriction that you request if it conflicts with disclosure requirements mandated by law. However, if it does agree to the requested restriction, it may not violate that restriction except as necessary to allow the provision of emergency medical care to you.

We use physical, electronic, and administrative safeguards to protect your information from unauthorized or inappropriate access. However, regardless of the effectiveness of our security measures, no security system is impenetrable. We cannot guarantee the security of our databases, nor can we guarantee that information you supply will not be intercepted while being transmitted to us over the Internet. We ask that you do your part by, at a minimum, keeping any computer passwords you use to access the Internet or our Site strictly confidential.

When you visit our Site, your browser automatically sends us certain Internet-related information (such as the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer you’re using). We also may use cookies and Web beacons to better understand how visitors use our Site.

Cookies are small text files that websites often store on the computer hard drives of visitors to their sites. A cookie contains a unique code, which is used to recognize your computer when a user of your computer returns to a website that was visited previously. Web beacons are Internet tools that help us determine, for example, whether a website page has been viewed. We use cookies and web beacons to enhance the online experience of our visitors and to better understand how our Site is used. Cookies and Web beacons may tell us, for example, whether you have visited our Site before or whether you are a new visitor.

The “help” portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to stop accepting new cookies, how to be notified when you receive a new cookie, and how to disable existing cookies. Remember, though, without cookies, you may not be able to take full advantage of all our Site’s features.

We may provide links to other websites for your convenience and information. These sites operate independently from our Site and are not under our control. These sites may have their own privacy notices in place, which we strongly suggest you review if you visit any linked websites. We are not responsible for the content of these sites, any products or services that may be offered through these sites, or any other use of these sites.

If you would like to update your contact information or prefer not to receive certain communications from us (such as e-mail), please call us or write us using one of the options provided below.

Right to Request Your Protected Health Information: In most cases, you have the right to look at or get copies of your Protected Health Information, including test result reports, and BAKO must honor requests for electronic copies of your Protected Health Information by delivering it either to you or to a third party that you identify. Prior to disclosing your Protected Health Information, we will take reasonable steps to confirm your identity such as through a photo identification. We will respond to your request within thirty (30) days unless we inform you that we require an additional thirty (30) days to respond. To request access to your Protected Health Information, write to BAKO’s Privacy Officer as set forth below. We may charge a fee for the costs of copying, mailing or other supplies associated with your request, but we will let you know about the fee in advance.

Right to Request Amendment of Protected Health Information You Believe Is Erroneous or Incomplete: If you examine your Protected Health Information and believe that some of the information is wrong or incomplete, you may ask us to amend your record. We will comply with your request unless we are not the originator of the information or we believe that the information you request to be amended is accurate and complete, the information is not available for inspection or special circumstances apply. To ask us to amend your Protected Health Information, write to BAKO’s Privacy Officer as set forth below.

Right to Receive an Accounting of Disclosures of Your Protected Health Information: You have the right to request a list of certain disclosures we make of your Protected Health Information, for reasons other than disclosures for treatment, payment and health care operations, as described above, disclosures made to you or your personal representatives or pursuant to a written authorization obtained from you, disclosures for national security or intelligence purposes as provided by law and disclosures to correctional institutions or law enforcement officials, as provided by law. If you would like to receive such a list, write to BAKO’s Privacy Officer as set forth below. Your request must state a time period desired for the accounting, which must be within six years prior to the date of your request. We will provide the first list to you free of charge, but we may charge you for any additional lists you request during the same twelve (12) month period. We will tell you in advance what this list will cost, at which time you may withdraw or modify your request.

Right to Request Restrictions on How BAKO Will Use or Disclose Your Protected Health Information for Treatment, Payment, or Health Care Operations: You have the right to request us not to make uses or disclosures of your Protected Health Information to treat you, to seek payment for care, or to operate our laboratories. We will consider your requests carefully, but we are not required to agree to your requested restriction. If you want to request a restriction, submit your request in writing to BAKO’s Privacy Officer and describe your request in detail. BAKO’s Privacy Officer will reply within 30 days of receiving your request.

Right to Request Special Communications: You have the right to ask us to communicate your Protected Health Information by alternative means of communication or at alternative locations. For example, you can ask us not to call your home, but to communicate with you only by mail. To make such a request, write to BAKO’s Privacy Officer.

Right to Receive a Paper Copy of This Notice: If you have received this Notice electronically, you have the right to a paper copy at any time. You may download a paper copy of the notice from our Web site, at BakoDX.com, or you may obtain a paper copy of the notice by calling or writing to BAKO’s Privacy Officer.

If you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, or if you would like us to update certain information you have provided to us or your communication preferences, contact us by:

Mail:
BakoDx
6240 Shiloh Road
Alpharetta GA 30005
Attention: Donna Millard
Email:  DMillard@bakodx.com
Phone: (816) 506-7074

This section of our Privacy Policy applies to California consumers only.  For ease of reference, we refer to this section as our “California Privacy Notice.”  Most visitors to our Site are representatives of businesses seeking to interact with us as part of their jobs.  This California Privacy Notice does not apply to information that we collect through these business-to-business interactions.

Personal Information Collected on California Consumers, Sources of Collection, and Business Purposes for Collection for the Last Twelve Months

We collect information from users of our Site, as described in detail above in “The Types of Information We Collect,” when users visit and use our Site.  The personal information we have obtained on California residents includes the following:

  • Identifiers such as your name, postal addresses, email addresses, social networking account information, telephone numbers, or other addresses at which you can receive communications;
  • The following categories of personal information described in California Civil Code § 1798.80(e): (1) the personal information listed in the preceding bullet point as “identifiers,” (2) the other information that identifies, relates to, describes, or is capable of being associated with, a particular individual that we describe in “The Types of Information We Collect”  above;
  • Location information;
  • Internet and network activity information;
  • Inferences regarding preferences and other characteristics;
  • Employment history and related professional information; and
  • Commercial information.

Disclosures of Personal Information on California Consumers for Business Purposes for the Last Twelve Months

We have disclosed the categories of personal information identified in this California Privacy Notice to service providers for various business purposes as specified below.  For more information on the service providers with whom we share information, please see “How We Use Your Information” above.

No Sales of Personal information for the Last Twelve Months

We have not sold any personal information described in this California Privacy Notice to third parties within the previous twelve (12) months and will not sell personal information.

Business Purposes for Collecting Personal Information for the Last Twelve Months

We collected the personal information identified in this California Privacy Notice for the business purposes identified above in “How We Use Information.

 

Your California Privacy Rights

If you are a California resident, you have the following rights for purposes of the personal information covered by this California Privacy Notice:

  • Right to Know About Personal Information Collected, Disclosed, or Sold and Right to Access. You have the right to request that we disclose the following information about your personal information we collect, use, and disclose:
      • the categories of personal information we have collected about you;
      • the categories of sources from which the personal information is collected;
      • our business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling personal information;
      • the categories of third parties with whom we share personal information;
      • the specific pieces of information we have collected about you.
      • if any, the categories of personal information about you that we have sold, by category or categories of personal information for each third party to which we sold the personal information; and
      • the categories of personal information about you that we disclosed for a business purpose.
  • Right to Deletion of Personal Information.  You have the right to request deletion of your personal information we collected from you;
  • Right to Non-Discrimination for Exercise of a California Privacy Rights.  We may not discriminate against you because of your exercise of any of the foregoing rights, or any other rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act, including by:
      • Denying you goods or services;
      • Charging different prices or rates for goods or services, including through the use of discounts or other benefits or imposing penalties;
      • Providing you a different level or quality of goods or services; or
      • Suggesting that you will receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.

We may, however, charge different prices or rates, or provide a different level or quality of goods or services, if that difference is reasonably related to the value provided to us by your personal information.

How to Exercise Your California Rights; How We May Verify Your Request

You may request the rights listed above by:

  • emailing us at DMillard@bakodx.com
  • writing us at:

BakoDx

6240 Shiloh Road

Alpharetta GA 30005

Attention: Donna Millard

When you make a request, we may take steps to verify your identity before responding to your request.  In order to verify your identity with respect to the non-sensitive data that is subject to this notice, we will ask you to confirm your email address by sending you an email, or if your request is made via telephone call or via letter, we will ask you to verify your identity by confirming your email, account or asking questions about the scope of your interaction with us. We reserve the right to take additional steps to verify your identity using other information we have about you.

You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf.  You may make such a designation by providing the agent with written permission to act on your behalf. As permitted by law, we may take steps to verify your own identity in response to a request even if you choose to use an agent.

California Do-Not-Track Disclosure

At this time, our Site is not set up to honor web browser do-not-track settings.  Do-not-track is a privacy preference that users can set in their web browsers. When a user activates the do-not-track settings in browsers that offer this setting, the browser sends a message to websites requesting them not to track the user. For more information about do-not-track matters, please visit www.allaboutdnt.org.

Information on Marketing Disclosures

California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us once a year, free of charge, information about the personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year. If applicable, this information would include a list of the categories of personal information that was shared and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us at DMillard@bakodx.com

At times, we may need to update this Privacy Policy. The top of the Privacy Policy shows the date that modifications were last made, which should alert you to any changes since your last visit to the website.  If we make changes that materially alter your privacy rights, we will also alert you by placing a notice on the Site, by sending you an email, and/or by some other means at least 30 days prior to the changes taking effect.  Your continued use of any of the Site is your agreement to the revised Privacy Policy.