Novalux Psychiatry — Privacy Policy
Effective Date: 8/3/2026
Last Updated: 8/42026
Novalux Psychiatry (“Novalux,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal and health information you share with us through our website, patient portal, online booking system, and related services (collectively, the “Services”). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use and protect it, and the choices available to you.
This Policy applies to our public website and the technical/administrative handling of your data. It works alongside — but does not replace — our HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices (“NPP”), which governs how we use and disclose your Protected Health Information (“PHI”) as a healthcare provider. Where this Policy and the NPP overlap regarding PHI, the NPP controls. You will receive and be asked to acknowledge our NPP as part of patient intake.
1.
a. Information We Collect
- Contact and identity information: name, date of birth, address, phone number, email address.
- Booking and scheduling information: appointment preferences, provider selection, insurance or payment method.
- Health information: information you submit through intake forms, consent forms, symptom questionnaires (e.g., PHQ-9, GAD-7), medical and psychiatric history, medications, and treatment goals.
- Insurance and billing information: insurance carrier and plan details, payment card information (processed by our payment processor — we do not store full card numbers), copay and billing history.
- Communications: messages sent through our secure patient portal, appointment reminders, and any information shared via phone, email, or text with our staff.
- Session content: with your consent, audio from telehealth visits may be processed by our AI-assisted clinical documentation tool to help your provider generate visit notes (see Section 4).
b. Information Collected Automatically
- Website usage data: IP address, browser type, device type, pages visited, and referring URLs, collected via standard web server logs and analytics tools.
- Cookies and similar technologies: used to operate the booking widget, maintain portal login sessions, and understand site usage (see Section 6).
c. Information From Third Parties
- Insurance eligibility and coverage details obtained from clearinghouses when you select insurance as a payment method.
- Verification information from identity or payment processors.
2.
How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Schedule, confirm, and manage appointments
- Provide psychiatric evaluation, treatment, and follow-up care
- Verify insurance eligibility and process billing/payments
- Communicate with you about appointments, forms, and account activity (email, text, and/or phone)
- Maintain your medical record and support continuity of care
- Operate, secure, and improve our website and patient portal
- Meet legal, regulatory, and accreditation obligations
We do not sell your personal or health information.
3.
Your Health Information and HIPAA
As a healthcare provider, Novalux Psychiatry is a “covered entity” under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). PHI you share with us is used and disclosed only as permitted by HIPAA — generally for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations, or as otherwise authorized by you or required by law. Our full HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices, provided at intake and available upon request, describes:
- The circumstances under which we may use or disclose your PHI
- Your rights regarding your medical record (access, amendment, accounting of disclosures, restrictions)
- How to file a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated
4.
Telehealth, AI-Assisted Documentation, and Recording
If your provider uses AI-assisted clinical documentation (“AI scribe”) tools during your visit:
- Use of this tool requires your separate, specific consent, obtained before or at the start of your session.
- Audio is processed to generate a draft clinical note, which your provider reviews, edits, and finalizes before it becomes part of your medical record.
- This processing occurs within our HIPAA-compliant infrastructure under applicable Business Associate Agreements; audio/transcripts are handled as PHI and are not used to train third-party AI models on an identifiable basis.
- You may decline AI-assisted documentation at any time without affecting your care.
5.
Online Booking and Patient Portal
- Our online booking widget collects the minimum information needed to schedule your visit and check insurance eligibility.
- First-time and returning patients must complete required intake and consent forms through our secure patient portal before full access (including secure messaging) is enabled.
- Signed consent forms are retained with a tamper-evident record of the version and language in effect at the time of signing.
- Portal access is authenticated and encrypted; do not share your login credentials with others.
6.
Cookies and Analytics
We use cookies and similar technologies to:
- Keep you securely logged into the patient portal
- Remember booking selections during scheduling
- Understand aggregate website traffic and usage patterns
You can control cookies through your browser settings; disabling certain cookies may limit booking or portal functionality. We do not use cookies to serve third-party behavioral advertising.
7.
How We Share Information
We may share information with:
- Your treating provider(s) and staff involved in your care
- Payment processors to process copays and fees
- Insurance clearinghouses to verify eligibility and process claims
- E-prescribing networks to transmit prescriptions to your pharmacy
- Secure communication vendors to deliver appointment reminders and portal notifications via email/text
- Business associates bound by HIPAA-compliant agreements who support our technology and operations
- Legal or regulatory authorities when required by law, court order, or to prevent serious harm
We do not share your information with third parties for their own marketing purposes.
8.
Data Security
We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect your information, including encrypted data transmission and storage, access controls limiting PHI to authorized personnel, audit logging of record access, and regular risk assessments consistent with HIPAA Security Rule requirements. No system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security of information transmitted online.
9.
Data Retention
We retain medical records and related information for the period required by Georgia law and applicable professional standards, and as needed to provide care, support legal or billing needs, and meet regulatory obligations. Retention periods may be longer for minors’ records.
10.
Your Choices and Rights
Depending on your relationship with us, you may have the right to:
- Request access to or a copy of your medical record
- Request corrections or amendments to your record
- Request restrictions on certain uses/disclosures of your PHI
- Request an accounting of certain disclosures
- Opt out of non-essential text/email communications (appointment and clinical communications may still be necessary to deliver care)
- Withdraw consent for AI-assisted documentation at any time
Requests can be submitted through the patient portal or by contacting us using the information in Section 13.
11.
Third-Party Links
Our website may link to third-party sites (e.g., insurance payer portals). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third-party sites and encourage you to review their policies separately.
12.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable law. The “Last Updated” date above reflects the most recent revision. Material changes affecting how we handle PHI will also be reflected, as required, in our HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices.
13.
Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your privacy rights, please contact:
Novalux Psychiatry
2655 Dallas Highway, Suite 310, Marietta, Georgia, 30064.
+1 770 330 6193
info@novaluxpsychiatry.com
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, at www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints.
This document is a general privacy policy template based on Novalux Psychiatry’s described operations and is not a substitute for review by a healthcare attorney familiar with HIPAA, Georgia telehealth law, and applicable state privacy statutes. Please have it reviewed before publishing.