Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Collins Dentistry & Aesthetics collects, uses, maintains, and discloses information obtained through our public website, online forms, appointment requests, telephone communications, and text-message program.
How This Policy Applies
This Policy applies to information collected through the public Collins Dentistry & Aesthetics website and related digital communications. It does not replace the separate privacy notices governing patient treatment, payment, health-care operations, or protected health information.
Public Website
This Policy covers information collected when you browse the website, submit a contact or appointment form, interact with embedded content, or request information.
Patient Information
Information maintained as part of your dental care or patient record may be subject to HIPAA, Washington health-information laws, and the practice’s Notice of Privacy Practices.
Third-Party Services
Scheduling, payment, mapping, video, patient-portal, and other external services may operate under their own privacy notices and terms.
Website forms, ordinary email, and standard SMS should not be used for emergencies. Call 911 for a life-threatening emergency. For an urgent dental concern, call the office closest to you.
Information We May Collect
The information collected depends on how you interact with the website and which services you choose to use. You are not required to provide personal information merely to browse most public pages.
Information You Provide
We may collect information that you voluntarily submit through website forms, telephone calls, text messages, mailed correspondence, or other communications.
- Name and preferred form of contact
- Email address and telephone number
- Preferred dental-office location
- Requested appointment dates or availability
- Questions, comments, and message content
- SMS opt-in or opt-out preferences
- Information about the type of service requested
- Information provided on behalf of a minor patient
Appointment And Contact Forms
When you request an appointment or contact our team, we may collect the information required to respond, identify the appropriate office, understand the general nature of your request, and coordinate next steps.
Submitting an appointment form does not guarantee or confirm an appointment. A visit is confirmed only after a member of the practice communicates with you.
Do not include Social Security numbers, complete payment-card numbers, account passwords, detailed medical histories, or other highly sensitive information in a general contact form unless the form specifically states that it is designed and approved for that purpose.
Technical And Device Information
When you use the website, our systems and service providers may automatically receive limited technical information needed to operate, secure, and understand use of the website.
- Internet Protocol address
- Browser and operating-system type
- Device type and approximate screen size
- Date, time, and duration of a visit
- Pages viewed and links selected
- Referring page or search source
- Cookie or similar browser identifiers
- Error, security, and diagnostic information
Payment And Insurance Services
If the website links to a payment, financing, insurance, or patient-account service, information submitted through that service may be collected directly by the applicable provider. Collins Dentistry & Aesthetics may receive transaction confirmation or limited account information needed to complete the requested service.
Review the privacy notice presented by the applicable payment, financing, insurance, or portal provider before submitting information.
Comments, Accounts And Uploads
The public website is not intended to provide public user profiles, public comments, or unrestricted public file uploads. If those features are introduced, this Policy may be updated to explain the additional information collected.
Administrative login features are intended for authorized website personnel. Security and authentication information may be collected when authorized users access those areas.
Why We Use Information
We use information for legitimate operational, communication, patient-service, security, legal, and website-management purposes.
Providing Requested Services
- Responding to questions and contact requests
- Reviewing appointment requests
- Confirming or changing scheduled visits
- Directing inquiries to the appropriate office
- Providing information about available services
- Following up on a patient or visitor request
- Supporting billing or account-related requests
- Maintaining communication preferences
Website Operations And Security
- Operating and maintaining website functionality
- Preventing spam, fraud, and malicious activity
- Diagnosing technical errors and outages
- Maintaining backups and system availability
- Understanding general website performance
- Improving navigation and visitor experience
- Protecting accounts and administrative access
- Complying with applicable legal obligations
Communications And Marketing
We may use contact information to send administrative or service-related communications, including responses to inquiries, appointment information, office updates, and other communications related to a request or existing relationship.
Marketing emails or text messages will be sent when permitted by applicable law and according to the communication preference or consent provided. You may withdraw marketing consent using the unsubscribe or opt-out instructions included with the communication.
When Information May Be Shared
We do not sell personal information collected through this website. Information may be disclosed only for appropriate operational, service, legal, safety, or organizational purposes.
Service Providers
Information may be provided to vendors that perform services on our behalf, subject to applicable restrictions. These providers may include:
- Website hosting and maintenance providers
- Form and appointment-request providers
- Email and text-message communication providers
- Cybersecurity and spam-prevention providers
- Scheduling and patient-communication platforms
- Payment and financial-service providers
- Professional advisers and legal service providers
- Analytics and website-performance providers
Service providers are authorized to use information only for the services they perform or as otherwise permitted by applicable law and contract.
Legal, Safety And Security Purposes
We may preserve or disclose information when reasonably necessary to comply with law, legal process, court order, regulatory request, professional obligations, insurance requirements, or a lawful government request.
Information may also be used or disclosed to investigate, prevent, or respond to suspected fraud, abuse, malicious activity, threats to safety, security incidents, or violations of applicable terms.
Business And Organizational Changes
Information may be transferred as part of a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, sale of assets, succession, or similar organizational transaction, subject to applicable privacy and health-information requirements.
Deidentified And Aggregate Information
We may use or disclose information that has been aggregated or deidentified so that it is not reasonably linked to a specific person, subject to applicable law and the safeguards associated with that information.
Website Privacy And HIPAA Are Not The Same
This Website Privacy Policy addresses general website and communication data. It does not replace the Collins Dentistry & Aesthetics Notice of Privacy Practices, which describes how protected health information may be used and disclosed in connection with treatment, payment, health-care operations, and other legally permitted purposes.
Information submitted through an appointment form may become part of a patient record when it is received, used, or maintained in connection with dental care. That information will be handled according to applicable health-information requirements and practice policies.
- General forms: Avoid submitting highly sensitive health or financial information through a general contact form.
- Patient portals: Use an approved patient portal or other secure process when the practice directs you to do so.
- Email and SMS: Ordinary email and text messaging may not provide the same protections as a designated secure patient-communication system.
- Emergencies: Website forms and text messages are not monitored as emergency communication channels.
- Washington health data: Health information not covered by HIPAA or another applicable exemption will be handled according to any additional law that applies.
SMS Is Optional
Collins Dentistry & Aesthetics may offer text messaging for appointment reminders, office communications, general two-way communication, and marketing messages when the recipient has provided the applicable consent.
Consent to receive marketing text messages is not a condition of purchasing services or receiving dental care.
- Consent: You receive marketing SMS messages only after the applicable opt-in or consent process.
- Frequency: Message frequency varies based on your appointments, interactions, and selected communications.
- Charges: Message and data rates may apply according to your mobile service plan.
- Opting out: Reply STOP to withdraw consent and stop future SMS messages from the applicable messaging program.
- Support: Reply HELP for assistance or call the applicable Collins Dentistry & Aesthetics office.
- Mobile information: Mobile numbers, SMS opt-in records, and text-message consent are not sold or shared with unrelated third parties for their own marketing or promotional purposes.
- Delivery providers: Information may be provided to communications platforms, carriers, and service providers only as needed to administer and deliver the messaging program.
- Security: Do not send detailed health information, payment-card numbers, passwords, or other highly sensitive information by ordinary text message.
Protecting And Maintaining Information
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to the nature of the information and the systems involved.
Information Security
Safeguards may include access restrictions, account controls, secure hosting configurations, encryption where appropriate, system monitoring, backups, vendor management, employee training, and incident-response procedures.
No website, network, storage system, email transmission, or internet communication can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You provide information through the internet at your own risk.
Data Retention
We retain information for the period reasonably needed to fulfill the purposes described in this Policy, respond to requests, maintain records, resolve disputes, protect security, enforce agreements, and satisfy professional, legal, accounting, insurance, or regulatory obligations.
Retention periods vary based on the type of information, how it was collected, whether it became part of a patient record, and which legal requirements apply.
Data Incidents
If an incident involving personal or health information occurs, we will investigate and provide notifications when required by applicable privacy, security, or breach-notification law.
Links And Embedded Content
The website may include content, tools, or links provided by other organizations. Those services may collect information independently under their own policies.
Embedded Media And Maps
Pages may include videos, maps, social-media content, images, reviews, scheduling tools, or other embedded features. Interacting with embedded content may allow the external provider to receive technical information or set cookies as if you had visited the provider’s website directly.
External Websites
We are not responsible for the privacy, security, availability, or content practices of unaffiliated websites. Review the privacy notice of an external service before providing information to it.
Children’s Information
Our dental services may be provided to minors, but the public website is intended for use by adults and by parents, guardians, or authorized representatives acting on behalf of a minor patient.
Parent And Guardian Submissions
A parent, guardian, or legally authorized representative may submit information needed to request an appointment or communicate about a minor patient.
A child should not independently submit personal information through the website without the involvement and permission of a parent or guardian. Contact us if you believe a child submitted information improperly so that we can review the request and take appropriate action.
Requests And Communication Preferences
Depending on the information involved and the law that applies, you may have rights or choices concerning access, correction, deletion, communication preferences, and consent.
Available Requests
Subject to applicable exceptions, verification requirements, and health-record rules, you may ask us to:
- Confirm whether we maintain certain information
- Provide access to qualifying personal information
- Correct inaccurate contact information
- Delete qualifying website information
- Withdraw certain consent for future processing
- Update email or SMS communication preferences
- Opt out of marketing communications
- Ask questions about our privacy practices
Verification
To protect privacy, we may need to verify your identity and authority before completing a request. We may ask for information reasonably necessary to match you with the applicable record.
Requests involving a patient record or protected health information may be handled under the process described in the practice’s Notice of Privacy Practices rather than this Website Privacy Policy.
Marketing Preferences
You may unsubscribe from a marketing email by following the unsubscribe instructions in the message. You may withdraw from an SMS program by replying STOP.
Even after opting out of marketing, we may continue to send non-marketing communications that are necessary to respond to a request, manage an appointment, provide requested services, protect security, or satisfy legal obligations.
Changes To This Policy
Website technology, practice operations, and legal requirements may change over time. We may revise this Privacy Policy to reflect those changes.
Notice Of Revisions
The updated Policy will be posted on this page with a revised “Last Updated” date. When required by applicable law, additional notice or consent will be provided before a material change applies to previously collected information.
Continued use of the public website after an updated Policy becomes effective is subject to the revised Policy, except where applicable law requires a different process.
Contact Collins Dentistry & Aesthetics
Submit privacy questions or requests through our contact page, by calling the appropriate office, or by writing to either office address below. Please identify your message as a “Privacy Request.”
Spokane Office
Collins Dentistry & Aesthetics3151 E. 28th Ave
Spokane, WA 99223
Spokane Valley Office
Collins Dentistry & Aesthetics507 N Sullivan Rd, Suite 110
Spokane Valley, WA 99037
Submit an online request through our Contact Us page . Do not include a Social Security number, account password, full payment-card number, or detailed health information in a general privacy request.