Policies.

HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices for Swell Health 

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Effective date: March 26, 2025

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THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

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Swell Health is a health care provider that directly delivers laboratory and medical services through its personnel and contracts with licensed providers to deliver health care services (together, our “Services). This Notice of Privacy Practices explains our uses and disclosures of medical information through our Services. 

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IF YOU ARE UNDER 13 YEARS OF AGE OR RESIDE OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES, PLEASE DO NOT USE OR ACCESS OUR SITE.

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What information do we collect from users?

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We collect a variety of medical information about you through different means, including by collecting it from you directly or collecting it from other parties involved in your care. For example:

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Registration. Before using some of our services, we need you to register with the Site and provide your name, email address, your home address, and other personal details. In some cases, we (through our service provider) may create biometric information or collect information from third party databases to verify your identity prior to your use of our services. We will ask for your consent prior to creating biometric information. You may also be asked to complete other forms (e.g. intake forms, medical record unification, informed consent, etc.) depending on the services you choose.

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Enrollment Forms. To fully use our offerings, you may need to fill out forms and input information that ask for or contain personal information such as your name, contact information, health, health history, medical providers, and other personal information.

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Medical Records. In order for us to provide you with the best care, we may ask you to provide us with a list of your providers, patient portal access information, and/or the health systems you’ve visited. We may also ask you for a description of symptoms, a medical history, lifestyle information and other information regarding your past experiences at other health entities, participation in clinical trials, and research. In addition, if you see a provider that orders labs through Swell Health, we will maintain a medical record that contains the details of the care you receive through Swell Health or our affiliates and partners involved in your care.

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Correspondence. If you correspond with us via email, secure message, or text, we may securely store the information that you submit.

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Recordings. If you contact our care team by phone or by email, we may record and retain copies of the interaction for, among other things, quality assurance and training purposes. If you access any apps or other services we offer, we may record your interactions with our software or our providers.

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We will store the above described categories of information for as long as needed to provide our services, and as required to comply with our legal obligations (including those under HIPAA), resolve potential or actual disputes, improve the quality of our services, or enforce our agreements. Biometric information will be kept no longer than three years.

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How does Swell Health use and disclose protected health information about you that we collect?

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We are required to maintain the confidentiality of your medical information, and we have implemented policies, procedures, and other safeguards to help protect your medical information from improper use and disclosure. We protect your medical information in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, including HIPAA. 

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Below, we describe different ways that we may use your medical information amongst ourselves and disclose your medical information to other persons and entities. We have not listed every possible use or disclosure in the list below, but all of the ways that may use and disclose medical information fall within one of the categories below. As we describe below, some uses and disclosures will require your specific authorization.

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Treatment. We use your medical information and share it with other providers involved in your treatment, such as when you visit a new health care provider or are offered services related to your health by other entities. For example, we may identify recommended testing based on your medical history and share that recommendation to another provider involved in your care. 

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Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose your medical information to support various business functions and activities that enable us to provide services to you. These functions may include but are not limited to: quality assessment and improvement activities; reviewing the competence or qualifications of the health care providers in our network; and legal, auditing, and general administrative services. For example, we may use or disclose your medical information to: (i) provide customer services to you; (ii) evaluate our programs and practices to identify improvements in our services; or (iii) investigate potential or actual fraud and abuse. We may also disclose your medical information to non-affiliated third parties where allowed by law to help us fulfill our obligations to you. For example, we may use a third party vendor to analyze and investigate potential or actual fraud and abuse.

Billing and Payment. We may use and share your medical information to confirm eligibility for services and to receive and ensure proper payment. For example, we may request your information from your health plan or employer in order to confirm eligibility for laboratory services.

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Disclosure at Your Request. If you ask us to send medical information about you to a third party, such as a friend, family member, health care provider, or health care company, we will do so if we can authenticate your request. We may ask you to prove your identity before we honor this request. We may need up to 60 days to honor such a request, depending on the information that you request us to disclose. In most cases, however, we can honor this request in seven or fewer days.

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Business Associates. We provide some aspects of our services through contracts with business associates. Examples of our business associates include secure cloud hosting providers, management consultants, quality assurance reviewers, identity verification providers, accreditation agencies, and billing and collection services. We may disclose your medical information to our business associates so that they can perform the jobs that we have asked them to perform. To protect your medical information, we require our business associates to sign written agreements requiring them to appropriately safeguard your medical information and use it in accordance with our instructions and applicable law.

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Other Uses. We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to your benefit or public good, such as public health and research. The following are ways we may share your information:

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• Help with public health and safety issues: We can share health information about you for certain situations such as reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence; preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety; reporting adverse reactions to medications; preventing disease; and helping with product recalls.

• Do research: When you participate in a research study that involves your treatment, we may disclose your medical information to researchers, provided that you have signed a specific authorization for us to do so or an Institutional Review Board has approved the disclosure in connection with its review and approval of the research proposal and the procedures that the research organization has established to protect the privacy of your medical information.

• Comply with the law: We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.

• Work with a medical examiner or funeral director: We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies.

• Help improve your care. For your benefit, we may share information to help optimize care coordination and improve insights into your health related conditions.

• Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests: We can use or share health information about you for workers’ compensation claims; for law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official; with health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law; for special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services.

• Respond to lawsuits and legal actions: We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.

 

Affiliated Covered Entity and Organized Health Care Arrangements. We may participate as part of an Affiliated Covered Entity (ACE) or organized health care arrangement (OHCA). An ACE is a collective designation under HIPAA for a group of legally separate health providers that may work together. These entities may choose to function together for compliance with HIPAA regulations. These entities and arrangements, collectively, are referred to in this policy as “care teams”. This designation allows for the seamless sharing of your protected health information (PHI) for the purposes of treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. This allows us to provide coordinated care and comprehensive services to our patients across care teams. This may allow care teams to share medical information among themselves to facilitate coordinated care and efficient healthcare operations. Swell, a PLLC that we partner with to provide care for patients, may coordinate with health providers and/or business associates (“Clinical Partners”) to carry out specific health services or operate in specific regions. Depending on the service, a Joint Notice of HIPAA Privacy Practices from Swell and our Clinical Partners might apply to you and will be provided to you when it does. Sometimes Clinical Partners may work together to offer access to integrated services and treatment options. To learn more or if you have any questions, email hello@swell.health. 

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You have both the right and the choice to tell us to disclose your medical information to your family, close friends, or others involved in your care; to share your medical information in a disaster relief situation; and other health related functions. If you are not able to tell us your preference, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest or to lessen a serious and imminent threat to public safety.

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We will never share your medical information except as disclosed in this Notice unless you give us written permission to, as allowed by applicable law, or as required to comply with federal or state law. Specifically, we will never use your medical information for marketing purposes, sell your medical information, or share your psychotherapy notes without written authorization from you. We will never share any substance abuse treatment records without your written permission.

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What are your rights regarding your protected health information?

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You have certain rights regarding protected health information that we maintain about you, including rights to:

• Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record. You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you. Contact us using the information below to ask us how to do this. We will provide a copy or a summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

• Ask us to correct your medical and other records. You can ask us to correct health or other information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. We are not required to agree to make the change. For example, we will not generally change our information if we did not create the medical information or if we believe that the medical information is correct. If we accept your amendment request, we will make reasonable efforts to inform others, including people you name, of the amendment and include the changes in any future disclosures of your medical information. Contact us using the information below to ask us how to do this. We may say “no” to your request, but we’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days.

• Request confidential communications. You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address. We will say, “yes” to all reasonable requests.

• Ask us to limit what we use or share. You can ask us not to use or share certain medical information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care.

• Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared information. You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your medical information for 6 years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why. We will include all disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.

• Get a copy of this privacy notice. You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.

• Choose someone to act for you. If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information. We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.

• File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated. You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us using the information below. Please feel free to contact us at hello@Swell.health if you have any concerns about your medical information. You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

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What are Swell Health’s responsibilities with my information?

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We are required by federal law (HIPAA) and state law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information. We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your protected health information. We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it. We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.

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How will I know about changes in the Notice of Privacy Practices?

Swell Health reserves the right to update this Notice of Privacy Practices from time to time, but we may not change this Notice in a way that would violate HIPAA or other applicable law. Please visit this page periodically so that you can be updated of any changes. 

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How to contact us? If you have questions, or need to reach us for any other reason, you may contact the team at Swell at hello@Swell.health