Privacy Policy

At Parkland Health (“Parkland”), we are committed to protecting both your health and the privacy of your medical information. 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.

Your Rights

Your medical information is yours and you have certain rights that we will help you protect. You have the right to:

Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical records. You can inspect or receive an electronic or paper copy of your medical records and other health information we maintain about you. The easiest way to access your health information is through a MyChart patient portal account. Ask us how to set up an account. If you want to access or receive a copy other than through MyChart, please ask us how. We will provide a copy or a summary, usually within 15 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

Ask for corrections to your medical record. You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. Ask us how to do this. We may say “no” to your request, but we will tell you why in writing within 60 days.

Request confidential communication. You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or mobile phone or to send mail to a different address). We will agree to all reasonable requests.

Ask us to limit the information we share. You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may not agree if it would affect your care. If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full at time of service, you can ask us not to share that information with your health insurer and we will agree unless a law requires us to share that information.

Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information. You can ask for an “accounting of disclosures” which lists the times we have shared your health information for six (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 authorized disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We will provide one accounting per year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another within 12 months.

Get a copy of this privacy notice. The current version of this notice is available on our website. You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, and 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 believe your privacy rights have been violated. If you have concerns or believe that we have violated your rights, please let us know by submitting a complaint at parklandhealth.org/integrity line or call the Compliance and Ethics Department at 214-590-1171, or email ComplianceAndEthics@phhs.org attention Privacy Officer. For questions about rights related to information security, you may contact the Parkland Health Chief Information Security Officer, 5200 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75235 or call 214-590-0103. You can also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Your Choices

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions.

In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to: Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care. Share information in a disaster relief situation. Include your information in a hospital directory, including whether to alert clergy you designate to know you are in the directory. If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example, if you are unconscious, we may share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety. If you have authorized us to share information, you may revoke that authorization by notifying us in writing. Any revocation will not affect uses or disclosures made prior to your revocation.

In these cases, we never share your information without your written permission: Marketing purposes. This does not include contacting you about health-related products or services that relate to your health care. Sale of your information. Most sharing of psychotherapy notes.

In the case of records received from Substance Use Treatment Programs: If we receive or maintain any information about you from a Substance Use Disorder treatment program that is covered by 42 CFR Part 2 (a “SUD Program”) through a general consent you signed allowing disclosure for the purposes of treatment, payment or health care operations, we may use and disclose those SUD Program records for treatment, payment and health care operations purposes as otherwise described in this Notice. If we receive or maintain your SUD Program records through a specific consent you provide to us or another third party, we will use and disclose those SUD Program records only as expressly permitted by that consent. In no event will we use or disclose your SUD Program records in any civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceedings by any Federal, State, or local authority, against you, unless authorized by your consent or the order of a court after it provides you notice of the court order. In no event will we use or disclose your SUD Program records for fundraising purposes.

In the case of fundraising: The Parkland Foundation may contact you for our fundraising efforts, but you have the right to tell us not to contact you for this.

Our Uses and Disclosures

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways:

To treat you. We use your health information and share it with other health professionals who are treating you. Example: A doctor treating you for an injury asks another of your doctors about your overall health condition.

To run our organization. We can use and share your health information to run our organization, improve your care, and contact you when necessary. Example: We use health information about you to manage your treatment and services. This includes sharing your information with our “business associates” – vendors who we contract with to perform services on our behalf. Our business associates are required to provide the same privacy protections that we provide. Example: We provide your information to a vendor who performs quality reviews to ensure we are providing the best possible care.

To bill for your services. We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities. Example: We send your health information to your health insurance plan so they will pay for the care we have provided.

How else can we use or share your health information?

We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html. We may use and share your information as we:

Coordinate your care through health information exchanges (HIEs) and Organized Health Care Arrangements (OHCAs). Parkland participates in Health Information Exchanges (“HIEs”) which allow providers to share health information about patients who they are caring for to improve treatment and outcomes and ensure that your care team has the most complete information possible. You have the right to ask Parkland not to share your health information through an HIE or by other electronic methods, but Parkland may be unable to agree to your request. If we agree to comply with your request, we will do so except in the case of an emergency or when necessary for treatment or payment. Parkland may also participate in Organized Healthcare Arrangements (“OHCAs”) that allow Parkland and the other hospitals and providers in the OHCAs to have one complete medical record for patients that are cared for across the OHCA.

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

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 are complying with federal privacy laws.

Do research. We can use or share your information for health research.

Respond to organ and tissue donation requests. We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.

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.

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, with authorized officials for armed forces, national security, and/or intelligence activities.

Respond to lawsuits and legal actions. We can share health information about you in the course of a judicial or administrative proceeding; or in response to a court order, subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process.

Interact with Health Oversight Agencies. We may disclose health information to health oversight agencies authorized by law to conduct audits, perform inspections and investigations, license hospitals and health care providers, and to enforce regulatory requirements.

Education of health care professionals . We may disclose health information to doctors, nurses, technicians, house-staff (including residents and interns), medical students, other health care students and personnel involved in training and education programs.

Correctional Institutions. If you are an inmate, we may disclose your health information to your correctional institution for treatment purposes or to ensure the safety of yourself or others.

Artificial Intelligence (AI). Parkland may utilize computer-assisted technology called “artificial intelligence” to assist your physician or care provider to better and more efficiently diagnose or otherwise provide care to you or to help our employees do their jobs. An example of this technology is using artificial intelligence to quickly review your medical record to determine if you are at risk for developing a deadly infection and notifying your care team if you have a high risk so they can act quickly to treat the potential infection.

Our Responsibilities

• We are required by 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 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. You may change your mind at any time, just let us know in writing if you change your mind.

Future Changes

We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, in our office, and on our web site.

Effective: February 16, 2026

Text Message Program Terms of Use

Read the text messaging program terms of use here: (English) | (Spanish)